JP7315944B2 - Method for manufacturing dentition-compatible toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a dentition-adaptive toothbrush manufacturing method for manufacturing a dentition-adapted toothbrush capable of simultaneously brushing a large number of teeth (dentitions).

It takes a long time to finish brushing all the teeth with a common toothbrush having brushes (bristles) at the tip of the handle. In addition, even if you intend to brush your teeth carefully, it is easy to leave unbrushed teeth. In view of such actual circumstances, mouthpiece-type toothbrushes have been proposed so far (see Patent Documents 1 to 5, for example). A mouthpiece-type toothbrush has a mouthpiece-shaped brush base with a tooth-row insertion groove for inserting the user's tooth row, and a brush (hair) is planted on the inner surface of the tooth-row insertion groove. It has become. With a mouthpiece-type toothbrush, it is possible to brush a large number of teeth at once by inserting the row of teeth into the row of teeth insertion groove of the brush base. Among mouthpiece-type toothbrushes, there is one in which the brush base can be mechanically vibrated by a vibrating device (see, for example, paragraph 0050 of Patent Document 5).

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 02-088531 JP-A-2002-034658 Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-180718 JP 2005-334104 A Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 2016-537050

However, the three-dimensional shape (tooth alignment) of the dentition varies from person to person. In this regard, all of the conventionally proposed mouthpiece-type toothbrushes have been mass-produced and general-purpose, not custom-made for specific users. For this reason, even if a mouthpiece-type toothbrush is used, unbrushed portions still occur depending on the alignment of the user's teeth, the size of the jaw, and the like. On the contrary, depending on the case, there is a possibility that the dentition itself cannot be properly inserted into the dentition insertion groove. If the mouthpiece-type toothbrush can be custom-made according to the user's dentition, the above problems can be solved, but it is not always easy to provide custom-made mouthpiece-type toothbrushes. .

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and is a dentition-compatible toothbrush (such as the above mouthpiece-type toothbrush) that can brush a large number of teeth at once with little unbrushed teeth. , a toothbrush in which the teeth are inserted into the tooth-row insertion grooves to brush the teeth; the same shall apply hereinafter).

The above issues are
a dentition shape acquiring step of acquiring a three-dimensional shape of the dentition of the user (the user of the dentition-compatible toothbrush; the same shall apply hereinafter);
A brush base having a tooth row insertion groove whose inner wall surface is formed in a shape that follows the surface of the user's tooth row, is formed based on the three-dimensional shape of the tooth row obtained in the tooth row shape obtaining step. a molding process;
a bristle planting step of planting a large number of bristles of approximately equal length on the inner wall surface of the dentition insertion groove in the brush base formed in the brush base molding step. solved by providing

In this way, the inner wall surface of the tooth row insertion groove in the brush base is shaped to follow the surface of the user's tooth row, and a large number of bristles of approximately equal length are planted on the inner wall surface to produce a tooth row matching brush. The model toothbrush is sometimes referred to as "the dentition-matched toothbrush of the first embodiment".

By acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition like the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the first embodiment, a dentition insertion groove having an inner wall surface shaped to follow the surface of the user's dentition is formed. It can be easily formed into a brush base. In addition, by planting a large number of hairs having approximately the same length on the inner wall surface of the tooth row insertion groove thus formed, the positions of the tips of the hairs can be adjusted without cutting the hairs afterwards. can be adapted to the surface shape of the user's dentition. For example, while the tip of the bristles should reach the central part of the labial and lingual sides of the teeth, the tip of the bristles that brush the deep part of the gap between the teeth (proximal surface of the tooth) should not It is possible to set the position to reach a deep place. Therefore, it is possible to easily manufacture (order-made) a dentition-matching toothbrush capable of brushing a large number of teeth at once with little unbrushed teeth.

In addition, the above problem is
a dentition shape acquiring step of acquiring a three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition;
Based on the three-dimensional shape of the dentition acquired in the dentition shape acquiring step, a brush base having a dentition insertion groove inside and an outer wall surface formed in a shape that follows the surface of the dentition of the user is obtained. a brush base molding step to be molded;
and a bristle planting step of planting a large number of hairs of approximately equal length in a state of protruding from the outer wall surface side of the brush pedestal formed in the brush pedestal forming step into the dentition insertion groove. The problem is also solved by providing a method for manufacturing a toothbrush.

In this way, the outer wall surface of the brush base is shaped to follow the surface of the user's dentition, and a large number of bristles of approximately equal length are planted in a state of protruding from the outer wall surface side into the dentition insertion groove. The dentition-fitting toothbrush to be manufactured is sometimes referred to as the 'second embodiment dentition-fitting toothbrush'.

By acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition like the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the second embodiment, the brush base having the outer wall surface shaped to follow the surface of the user's dentition can be easily obtained. can be formed. In addition, by planting a large number of bristles of approximately equal length in a state of protruding from the outer wall surface side of the brush base thus formed into the dentition insertion groove, the dentition-adaptive toothbrush of the first embodiment is obtained. Similarly to , the position of the tip of the bristles can be adjusted according to the surface shape of the user's dentition without cutting the bristles or the like afterwards. Therefore, it is possible to easily manufacture (order-made) a dentition-matching toothbrush capable of brushing a large number of teeth at once with little unbrushed teeth.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention makes it possible to easily manufacture a dentition-matching toothbrush capable of brushing a large number of teeth at once with little unbrushed teeth.

1 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a dentition-compatible toothbrush of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a state in which the dentition is inserted into the dentition insertion groove in the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which the dentition is inserted into the dentition insertion groove in the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a state in which the dentition is inserted into the dentition insertion groove in the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the second embodiment. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which the dentition is inserted into the dentition insertion groove in the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the second embodiment.

The method for manufacturing the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the drawings.

1. Teeth-matching Toothbrush of First Embodiment First, a method for manufacturing a tooth-matching toothbrush of the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state in which the tooth row 20 is inserted into the tooth row insertion groove 11a in the tooth row-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing a state in which the dentition 20 is inserted into the dentition insertion groove 11a of the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment. 2 and 3, the tooth row 20 is indicated by dashed lines.

As shown in FIG. 1, the method of manufacturing the dentition-matching toothbrush of the first embodiment includes a dentition shape acquiring step, a brush base forming step, and a bristle planting step.

1.1 Tooth Row Shape Obtaining Step The tooth row shape obtaining step is a step of obtaining the three-dimensional shape of the user's row of teeth 20 . Methods of acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition 20 include a method of acquiring it manually and a method of acquiring it as electronic data. As a method of manually acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition 20, a method of covering the user's dentition 20 with an impression material or the like to prepare a user's dental model is exemplified. On the other hand, as a method of acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition 20 as electronic data, a method of acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition 20 using a measuring device is exemplified. When acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition 20 using a measuring device, the user's dentition 20 may be directly measured, or the user's dental model may be measured. may

As a means (measuring device) for acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the dentition 20 as electronic data, a three-dimensional shape measuring device is usually used. Examples of the three-dimensional shape measuring device include a computed tomography device such as a micro X-ray CT device and a surface imaging device such as an intraoral camera. However, the computed tomography apparatus is large and expensive, and in addition, the micro X-ray CT apparatus and the like have the risk of being exposed to radiation. On the other hand, the surface imaging apparatus has the advantages of being smaller and less expensive than the computed tomography apparatus and having no risk of radiation exposure.

Three-dimensional shape measurement devices such as surface imaging devices are broadly classified into active type and passive type according to their measurement principles. An active three-dimensional shape device irradiates a measurement medium such as light or ultrasonic waves to a measurement target (the tooth row 20), and from the information of the measurement medium obtained by being reflected by the measurement target, determines the three-dimensional shape of the measurement target. It is to be measured. On the other hand, the passive type three-dimensional shape measuring device measures the three-dimensional shape of the object to be measured from the information obtained from the object to be measured without irradiating the object to be measured (row of teeth 20) with the measurement medium from the device. ing.

In the dentition shape acquisition step, both the active three-dimensional shape measuring device and the passive three-dimensional shape measuring device can be used. However, many active three-dimensional shape measuring devices are relatively complicated and large, and are often inconvenient for measuring the dentition in the oral cavity. On the other hand, many passive three-dimensional shape measuring devices are simple and small, and can often be suitably used for measuring the dentition in the oral cavity.

Passive three-dimensional shape measuring apparatuses are further classified into those using a lens focus method, those using a passive stereo method, and the like, as the principle of measurement. For example, the lens focus method extracts the most focused image (optimal image) from multiple images obtained while changing the focal length of the lens, and the distance from the focal length when the optimal image is taken to the measurement target is a method for obtaining The lens focus method can measure with high resolution, but requires a special camera that can change the focal length of the lens. On the other hand, the passive stereo method is a method of finding corresponding points from two images and finding the distance to the corresponding points using the principle of triangulation. The passive stereo method has the advantage of being able to measure a three-dimensional shape with only two images.

Considering the above, it is preferable to use an intraoral camera using a passive stereo method as a means (three-dimensional shape measuring device) for acquiring the three-dimensional shape of the dentition 20 as electronic data in the dentition shape acquisition step. . Electronic data of the three-dimensional shape of the dentition 20 measured by the three-dimensional shape measuring device is stored in a computer (personal computer, etc.). After completing the row-of-teeth shape obtaining step, the brush base forming step is performed.

1.2 Brush Base Forming Step In the brush base forming step, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tooth row insertion groove 11a is formed such that the inner wall surface α follows the surface of the user's tooth row 20. This is the step of molding the brush base 11 . In this brush base forming step, the inner wall surface α of the row-of-teeth insertion groove 11a is formed based on the three-dimensional shape of the row of teeth 20 acquired in the row-of-teeth shape acquiring step.

At the stage when the above tooth row shape obtaining process is finished, the three-dimensional shape of the user's tooth row 20 (a set of three-dimensional coordinates of the tooth surface) has been obtained. In this regard, in the brush base forming process, for example, processing is performed on a computer so that a similar surface obtained by enlarging the surface shape of the row of teeth 20 acquired in the row of teeth shape acquisition step becomes the inner wall surface α of the row of teeth insertion groove 11a. By doing so, the molding data can be generated. In addition, when the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition 30 is obtained manually (when a dental model (such as a plaster model) is manually prepared), the identification of the inner wall surface α of the dentition insertion groove 11a is A method of enlarging the surface shape of the tooth row 20 obtained by measuring the tooth model with the above-mentioned three-dimensional shape measuring device etc. on a computer, and a method of applying a top coating material such as wax on the surface of the tooth model. This can be done by applying a uniform thickness. The width of the gap between the surface of the tooth row 20 and the inner wall surface α of the tooth row insertion groove 11a is adjusted so as to be substantially constant regardless of location. The width of this gap is usually in the range of 0.5 to 5 mm, preferably 1 to 3 mm.

When the three-dimensional shape of the inner wall surface α of the tooth-row insertion groove 11a to be formed is specified by a computer or by hand, the brush base 11 having a desired shape is formed by various forming devices, processing devices, and the like. A three-dimensional printer or the like is exemplified as a molding device for the brush base 11 . Moreover, as a processing device for the brush base 11, an NC grinding device or the like is exemplified.

The specific form of the brush base 11 is not limited as long as it can be put into the oral cavity and has a tooth row insertion groove 11a into which the user's tooth row is inserted. In the dentition-compatible toothbrush of the first embodiment, the brush base 11 has a mouthpiece shape (a shape that can be placed in the oral cavity and held by the teeth. Usually, it is a "U" shape corresponding to the dentition 20). ). In this case, the brush base 11 for the upper jaw, which is held by the teeth on the upper jaw side, and the brush stand for the lower jaw, which is held by the teeth on the lower jaw side, can be separated. It can also be integrated with the one for the lower jaw. Further, the brush base 11 can have a portion covering the front side (labial side) and a portion covering the back side (lingual side) of the row of teeth 20 separately, or the portion covering the labial side and the tongue side can be separated. The covering part can also be integrated. In the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the brush base 11 for the upper jaw and the brush base 11 for the lower jaw are integrally formed, and the part covering the labial side and the tongue side are formed integrally. The part that covers the is also integrally formed. The tooth row insertion groove 11a into which the tooth row 20 of the upper jaw is inserted has a tooth row insertion opening on the upper surface side of the brush base 11. It has a dentition insertion opening on the side.

1.3 Flocking Step In the flocking step, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a large number of hairs having substantially equal lengths are attached to the inner wall surface α of the tooth row insertion groove 11a in the brush base 11 formed in the brush base forming step. This is the step of planting the hair 12 .

As already described, in the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment, the inner wall surface α of the dentition insertion groove 11 a in the brush base 11 has a shape that follows the surface of the dentition 20 . Therefore, by simply planting the hairs 12 having the same length on the inner wall surface .alpha. It can be made according to the surface shape of the tooth row 20.

The bristles 12 may be planted only on a specific region of the inner wall surface α of the tooth-row insertion groove 11a, but are preferably planted on substantially the entire inner wall surface α of the tooth-row insertion groove 11a. As a result, the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 can not only brush a large number of teeth at once, but also leave no unbrushed teeth. The planting density of the bristles 12 may be constant irrespective of the location of the inner wall surface α of the dentition insertion groove 11a. You can also increase the density. A portion that is likely to be left unpolished appears as a convex portion on the inner wall surface α of the row-of-teeth insertion groove 11a.

The bristles 12 can be implanted using various methods used in conventional toothbrushes. The hairs 12 may be planted one by one, or may be planted in bundles of a plurality of hairs. When a plurality of bundles of bristles 12 are to be implanted, a large number of recesses are provided in advance on the inner wall surface α of the tooth row insertion groove 11a, and root portions (binding portions) of the bundles of bristles 12 are provided in each of the recesses. can also be pushed. In this case, a fastener (a fastener that expands inside the recess to prevent the base of the bundle of hairs 12 from slipping out of the recess) is preferably pushed into the recess together with the bundle of hairs 12 . After completing the brush base forming process, the manufacturing of the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 is completed.

The bristles 12 may be all planted so as to be substantially perpendicular to the surface of the dentition 20, but as shown in FIG. It may be implanted in a state of being inclined rather than perpendicular to the surface of the dentition 20 . This makes it possible to polish the cervical region more effectively. In this case, the angle of inclination of the bristles 12 of the part that polishes the neck (angle of inclination from the direction perpendicular to the surface of the row of teeth 20) is not particularly limited, but is usually 10 to 70°, preferably 30 to 60°. It is said that The bristles 12 for brushing the neck need to be longer than the bristles 12 for brushing the other parts due to the inclination. For this reason, the bristles 12 for brushing the cervical region can be implanted by a method different from the bristles 12 for brushing other portions. Also, it is possible to lengthen the bristles 12 in the part where the cervical part is to be polished in advance and cut the bristles 12 in that part after planting. Since the bristles 12 for brushing the cervical region are planted in a relatively shallow portion of the dentition insertion groove 11a, it is relatively easy to cut later.

1.4 Others The dentition-matching toothbrush 10 may be manually moved, but preferably is mechanically vibrated by a vibrating device. This makes it possible to reduce the effort required for brushing teeth. Examples of the vibrating device include those using an electric motor. A vibration output part (vibrating shaft, etc.) of the vibrating device is connected to the brush base 11 of the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 . Although it is not particularly limited to which point on the brush base 11 the vibration output section of the vibrating device is connected, it is usually the central portion in the left-right direction of the brush base 11 .

2. Dentition-fitting Toothbrush of Second Embodiment Next, a method for manufacturing the dentition-fitting toothbrush of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state in which the dentition 20 is inserted into the dentition insertion groove 11a of the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which the dentition 20 is inserted into the dentition insertion groove 11a of the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment. 4 and 5, the tooth row 20 is indicated by dashed lines.

The dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment already described is manufactured through the dentition shape obtaining step, the brush base forming step, and the bristle flocking step. The same applies to the dentition-fitting toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment for manufacturing through the brush base forming process and the bristle planting process.

In the following, mainly different parts of the dentition-matching toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment from the dentition-matching toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment will be described. A description of common parts is omitted. For the configuration not particularly mentioned in the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment, the same configuration as that of the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment can be adopted.

In the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. It was formed into a shape that imitated. On the other hand, in the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. formed into a shape.

The three-dimensional shape of the brush base 11 having such a form can be acquired either by computer or by hand. For example, a similar surface obtained by enlarging the surface shape of the dentition 20 obtained in the dentition shape obtaining step is processed on a computer so that it becomes the outer wall surface β of the dentition insertion groove 11a, thereby obtaining molding data. can do. On the other hand, specifying the outer wall surface β of the dentition insertion groove 11a when the three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition 30 is manually obtained (when a dental model (such as a plaster model) is manually prepared) is A method of enlarging the surface shape of the tooth row 20 obtained by measuring the tooth model with the above-mentioned three-dimensional shape measuring device etc. on a computer, and a method of applying a top coating material such as wax on the surface of the tooth model. It can be done by applying a uniform thickness, etc.

In addition, in the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. was planted on the inner wall α of On the other hand, in the dentition-matching toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment, a large number of bristles 12 having approximately the same length protrude from the outer wall surface β side of the brush base 11 into the dentition insertion groove 11a in the bristle transplanting process. planted in the state The brush base 11 is provided with a large number of bristle insertion holes 11b through which the bristles 12 are inserted.

Unlike the dentition-matching toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment, the bristles 12 are implanted based on the inner wall surface α having a shape that follows the user's dentition 20, but the dentition-matching toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment is used. Like the toothbrush 10, even if the bristles 12 are planted with reference to the outer wall surface β having a shape that follows the user's dentition 20, the position of the tip of the bristles 12 can be changed according to the surface shape of the user's dentition 20. can be assumed.

In the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment, the dentition insertion groove 11a in the brush base 11 is not particularly limited as long as the user's dentition 20 can be inserted therein. The inner wall surface α need not have a shape that follows the user's tooth row 20 . However, in order to improve the feeling of use of the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10, it is preferable that the inner wall surface α of the dentition insertion groove 11a also has a shape that follows the dentition 20 of the user.

By the way, in the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the brush base 11 for the upper jaw and the brush base 11 for the lower jaw are integrally formed. However, in the dentition-compatible toothbrush 10 of the second embodiment, in which the length of protrusion of the bristles 12 into the dentition insertion grooves 11a is adjusted according to the shape of the outer wall surface of the brush base 11, the brush base 11 for the upper jaw and the lower jaw When the brush base 11 for the upper jaw is integrally formed, the lower surface of the brush base 11 for the upper jaw and the upper surface of the brush base 11 for the lower jaw are connected, so that the lower surface (occlusal surface) of the row of teeth 20 of the upper jaw is formed. The projection length of the bristles 12 (upward bristles 12) provided in the portion to be polished into the dentition insertion groove 11a, and the bristles 12 (downward bristles 12) provided in the portion to be polished on the upper surface (occlusal surface) of the dentition 20 of the lower jaw. ) into the tooth row insertion groove 11a cannot be adjusted.

In this regard, if the upper jaw brush base 11 and the lower jaw brush base 11 are separately provided as shown in FIG. It becomes possible to adjust the amount of protrusion into the row insertion groove 11a according to the surface shape of the row of teeth 20 . In this way, when the brush base 11 for the upper jaw and the brush base 11 for the lower jaw are separated and the vibrating device described in the above "1.4 Others" is adopted, the brush for the upper jaw The base 11 and the lower jaw brush base 11 are preferably connected to a common vibrator (vibration output unit).

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 dentition-compatible toothbrush 11 brush base 11a dentition insertion groove 11b bristle insertion hole 12 bristles 20 user's dentition α inner wall surface of dentition insertion groove β outer wall surface of brush base

Claims (2)

a dentition shape acquiring step of acquiring a three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition;
A brush base having a tooth row insertion groove whose inner wall surface is formed in a shape that follows the surface of the user's tooth row, is formed based on the three-dimensional shape of the tooth row obtained in the tooth row shape obtaining step. a molding process;
a hair-planting step of planting a large number of hairs having approximately the same length on the inner wall surface of the tooth-row insertion groove in the brush-base formed in the brush-base forming step, and cutting the hairs after performing the hair-planting step. A method for manufacturing a dentition-compatible toothbrush , characterized in that the tip of each bristle is positioned according to the surface shape of the user's dentition.
a dentition shape acquiring step of acquiring a three-dimensional shape of the user's dentition;
Based on the three-dimensional shape of the dentition acquired in the dentition shape acquiring step, a brush base having a dentition insertion groove inside and an outer wall surface formed in a shape that follows the surface of the dentition of the user is obtained. a brush base molding step to be molded;
a flocking step of flocking a large number of hairs having approximately the same length in a state of protruding from the outer wall surface side of the brush base formed in the brush base forming step into the dentition insertion groove; A method for manufacturing a dentition-compatible toothbrush , characterized in that the tip of each bristle is positioned according to the surface shape of the user's dentition without cutting the bristles.

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