JPH0312147A - Bracket with protection color cover for orthodonics - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To present the same color as the natural color of a tooth, to improve aesthetical ability and to easily fix an arch wire to a bracket by covering the protruding body of the bracket with a plastic composite material, which is hard and equipped with flexibility, so as to be easily attached and detached. CONSTITUTION:A bracket base 10 is adhered to the surface of the tooth and an arch wire W is inserted through a slot 14. Afterwards, when a cover 20 is pressed to the main body of the bracket while an engaging edge 23 in the lower end of the cover is set along an inclined wing part 15 in a main body 12 of the bracket, the engaging edge 23 is fitted into a notched part 16 while being guided on the wing part 15. An inner surface 21a on an upper surface 21 of the cover 20 presses an upper surface 13 on the main body of the bracket and the upper surface of the wire W. Thus, the wire W is easily held to the bracket not to be separated. A tooth end (e) of an upper tooth Tu is not abutted to a lower tooth Tl normally. However, when masticating operation is executed, the tooth end (e) is abutted to a bracket 1 of the lower tooth. However, since the tooth end (e) rides on an inclined part 22 and the tooth tip takes a form to suppress the inclined part 22 of the roof-shaped cover, the cover and bracket are strongly coupled instead of the abutting.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention covers the entire body with a protective colored cover that is the same color as the natural color of the teeth, so that the wearer does not feel uncomfortable and has an aesthetically pleasing appearance. The present invention relates to an elevated orthodontic bracket.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

Orthodontic brackets are generally made of small metal, especially stainless steel, about a few millimeters square. They are lined up on the surface of several teeth and fixed with adhesive, etc., and an archwire is inserted through each bracket and ligated. It is used to apply orthodontic force to specific teeth.

As mentioned above, conventional orthodontic brackets are generally made of metal such as stainless steel, so when the orthodontic patient wearing them opens their mouth, the metal color shines and stands out, spoiling the aesthetics and causing a sense of discomfort. There is an undesirable problem. Brackets made of matte metal are available on the market, but even though they don't look shiny, you can't help but feel like you have a foreign object attached to your teeth.

Attempts have been made to manufacture orthodontic brackets using transparent ceramics, but this method involves forming protrusions (bracket bodies) for holding orthodontic archwires on a small base of about 3 to 4 nm in length and width. , a ligation part (for ligating the archwire with a ligature wire to the protrusion)
It is not easy to perform fine processing such as forming wing portions on ceramic materials, and therefore ceramic brackets are extremely expensive and unsuitable for general use. In addition, although transparent ceramic brackets themselves are not noticeable, the archwire inserted through them is not hidden in any way and is exposed, so even if ceramic brackets are used, the entire length of the archwire will stand out on the tooth surface. The obvious problems have not been resolved in any way.

Thus, although there is a need for an orthodontic bracket that is relatively inexpensive and has the same color as the natural color of the teeth, it has not been possible to achieve this.

Another problem with conventional orthodontic wires is that the archwire inserted into the brackets must be ligated to each bracket using a ligature wire, making the orthodontic treatment extremely complicated and requires detailed techniques. It required skill. An improved bracket with a simple fixing method that makes it possible to fix the archwire to the bracket without the need for such detailed and complicated operations (for example,
No. 3816.

and Special Publication No. 62-33900, etc.) have also been developed.

However, these simple fixation type brackets do not necessarily provide satisfactory results when the archwire must be tightly ligated to the bracket due to the necessity of the treatment. Therefore,
This requires the double effort of attaching and replacing the bracket with a conventional ligating bracket, which has the disadvantage of wasting time, effort, and materials.

Thus, no orthodontic bracket has been obtained so far that has the dual functionality of being able to easily fix an archwire to the bracket and also to strongly ligate the archwire if necessary.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Therefore, the present invention is relatively inexpensive, exhibits the same color as the natural color of the teeth, improves aesthetics, and can be used both as a method for simply fixing the archwire to the brackets or as a method for strongly ligating the archwire. The objective is to realize orthodontic brackets.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a protrusion (bracket main body) having a roof-shaped sloped wing part formed on both sides of the upper surface, which is formed with a slot for accommodating an archwire, and is spaced apart on the bracket base. The lower end of the inclined wing part is placed as close to the bracket base as possible, and a notch is provided below it, and the bracket base and the protrusion are made of metal, especially stainless steel, as in the past, and on the other hand,
A roof-shaped cover is made of a hard and flexible plastic composite material that covers the upper surface of the surface protrusion and all of the inclined wings and is snap-fitted into the notch below the wing. The cover is manufactured in the same color as the natural color of the teeth, and this natural color or protective color cover is easily attached to and removed from the bracket protrusion to cover the metal part of the bracket and give aesthetics. be.

The roof-shaped protective color cover has an area that sufficiently covers the bracket base and protrusion, so it does not expose the metal color of the brackets attached to the teeth, and also covers the archwire on the bracket, making the metal color less noticeable. In addition to providing aesthetics, this cover engages the bracket protrusion in a tight fit, allowing the archwire inserted into the slot to move relative to the wire in the longitudinal direction, while easily fixing the archwire so that it does not separate from the bracket. I also work. If you want to inhibit relative movement of the archwire in the longitudinal direction, you can fit a stopper body that firmly fits the archwire between a pair of bracket protrusions onto the wire, and then cover the wire with a roof-shaped cover. good.

The inclined wing part of the bracket protrusion has a notch part at its lower part, and this part is used to engage the inwardly bent engagement edge of the lower end of the roof type cover in a snap-fitting manner. It can also be used as a ligature part for ligature wire. Therefore, the bracket of the present invention has a structure that can be used for both a simple fixing method using a roof type cover or a stopper body and a roof type cover, and a strong ligation method using a ligature wire.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1st
1 and 2 are an exploded perspective view and an assembled perspective view, respectively, showing the first nest embodiment of the present invention.

The bracket 1 according to the first embodiment basically consists of a bracket main body 1 erected on a metal bracket base IO.
2, and a protective color cover 20 placed over it.

A pair of bracket bodies 12 erected on the bracket base 10 each have a slot 14 for accommodating an archwire W (FIG. 2) in the middle of the upper surface 13, and are inclined from the upper surface 13 to both the left and right sides. The wing portion 15 is formed, and the wing portion 15
The lower part thereof is connected to the base 1° via a notch 16. Therefore, the bracket body 12 of the present invention has a roof shape, and the lower end of the roof is close to the base. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bracket base 10 and the bracket main body 12 are essentially made of integral and continuous material.
It can be manufactured by machining a stainless steel bar by the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-64035 owned by the present applicant.

On the back surface of the base 10, a known metal net-like body can be attached or fine grooves can be processed to strengthen the adhesion to the tooth surface.

The protective color cover 20 covers a pair of bracket bodies 12°12
It has an upper surface 21 long enough to completely cover the upper surface, sloped portions 22 and 22 extending continuously from both sides of the upper surface 21, and an engaging edge 23 bent inward from the lower end of the slope. It has a triangular roof shape. The lower edge of the roof is closest to the base.

The cover is preferably made of a plastic or resin composite material that is relatively hard and yet has some degree of flexibility or elasticity, and can be manufactured by molding or cutting. The color of the material of the cover should be the same as the natural color of the teeth, and it is most suitable if it is made of the same material and in the same color as the artificial teeth or imitation teeth used for orthodontic training.

The inclination angle θ of the inclined wing portion 15 of the bracket main body 12 and the inclination angle θ2 of the inclined portion 22 of the cover 20 are such that θ2 is slightly smaller than θ1.
It is better to set it to be smaller. roof type cover 20
It is desirable that an insertion hole 24 facing a part of the inner end of the bent engagement edge 23 be formed in one of the inclined portions 22 .

This is used to remove the snap-fit cover from the base.

A stopper rib 25 that engages with the inner surface 12a of the bracket body 12 is formed on the inner surface of the inclined portion 22 of the roof-type cover 20. Preferably, two stopper ribs 25 are provided along the edge of each inclined portion 22. The purpose of this rib 25 is to prevent the roof type cover 20 from shifting in the length direction when it is placed over the bracket body 12.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a roof-type cover 20 is placed on the bracket main body 12. bracket base 10
After adhering the cover 20 to the surface of the tooth and inserting the archwire W into the slot 14, the cover 20 is pressed against the bracket main body while aligning the engagement edge 23 at the lower end with the inclined wing part 15 of the bracket main body 12. The engagement edge 23 is guided over the wing 15 and snaps into the notch 16 . The inner surface 21a of the upper surface 21 of the cover 20 presses down the upper surface 13 of the bracket main body and the upper surface of the wire W. The wire W is now easily held by the bracket and will not come off.

Since the roof-shaped cover 20 is tightly fitted into the bracket body, it will not come off even if the orthodontic treatment patient makes teeth-biting movements. In this respect, it is important that the lower ends of the sloping wings 15 and the roof-shaped slants 22 that fit tightly therein extend to a point close to the base 10. In conventional conventional brackets, the wings extending laterally from the bracket body terminate significantly above the base 10. Therefore, when the teeth meshed together, the tip of the other tooth could hit the end of this wing and get in the way. However, in the combination of the roof-type bracket main body and the roof-type cover of the present invention, the distal end is lowered to a place close to the base 10, so that it hardly interferes with the meshing of the teeth, and therefore, the roof-type cover is moved from the other side by the meshing movement. There is no risk of it being flipped up or removed by the tips of the teeth.

The functions and effects of the triangular roof type cover of the present invention will be further explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the bracket of the present invention, for example, the bracket 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is attached to the upper tooth Tu and the lower tooth TQ, respectively.

The tooth tip e of the upper tooth Tu normally does not come into contact with the bracket 1 of the lower tooth TQ, but when the user performs mastication movements, the tooth tip e comes into contact with the bracket 1 of the lower tooth. However, at this time, the roof type cover of the bracket of the present invention has an inclined part 22, and the lower end of this inclined part is close to the surface of the tooth, so that the tooth tip e is connected to the inclined part 22 as shown by the chain line. This causes the roof type cover 20 to be strongly pressed against the bracket body 12. Thus, according to the invention, the triangular roof-shaped cover 2
0, even if the teeth come into contact with the brackets due to the masticatory movements, the brackets will not come off.On the contrary, the tips of the teeth will press down on the sloped part 22 of the roof-shaped cover, so the cover The connection between the and the bracket body becomes stronger.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating yet another working feature of the roof-type cover ramp 22. When food is chewed in 60, the food flows along the tooth surface and hits the bracket, and if Sometimes it gets stuck or jammed. However, according to the present invention, such a flow of food F is guided along the sloped part 22 of the roof type cover and clears the bracket, so that there is no chance of food getting caught or stuck in the bracket part. There is no problem of the roof type cover being shifted due to the flow of food.

Furthermore, the roof type cover 20 is attached to the base 10 as described above.
Because it goes down close to the surface, it covers all the metal brackets and also covers the archwire inside the brackets, so the visible part shows the same protective color as the natural color of the teeth.
The aesthetics can be improved without giving the viewer a sense of discomfort due to the metallic color as in the past. When it is necessary to remove the cover 20, the cover 20 can be removed from the wing portion 15 by inserting a pin-like object into the insertion hole 24 formed in the inclined portion 22 and prying the inner end of the engaging edge 23.

Note that in the illustrated example, only one archwire slot 14 is shown, but if two archwires are used in parallel, two slots can be provided in the bracket body 12 accordingly. can be formed.

FIG. 3 shows a bracket according to a second embodiment.

This embodiment shows a bracket main body that can be manufactured by punching and bending a thin metal plate using a press, unlike the previous example. The base 30 is made of a thin metal plate and is manufactured separately from the bracket body. The bracket main body 32 is erected at both ends of the flat portion 31 by bending.

A slot 34 for an archwire is formed in the center of the upper surface 33 of the bracket main body 32, inclined wings 35 are formed on both sides of the upper surface 33, and notches 36 are formed below the wings. Same as the previous example. In addition, in this embodiment, it is easy to provide the hook 37 projecting from one side of the flat portion 31 via the bent arm 38, if necessary.

Flat part 31 with bracket main body 32 standing up on both ends
is fixed to the base 30 by adhesive or the like. The back surface of the base 30 may be processed with a net-like body, a rough surface, fine grooves, etc. The protective color cover to be applied to this embodiment is the previous cover 20.
The snap-fitting and removal of the cover after inserting the wire is also the same as in the previous example.

4 and 5 show a third embodiment of the invention. A bracket body 42 is erected at both ends of the bracket base 41, and a slot 44 is formed in the upper surface 43 of the bracket body. The slot 44 is formed slightly deeper than the height of the wire W. A notch 46 is formed at the lower end of the inclined wing portions 45 on both sides, and the notch 46 is formed slightly deeper than the length of the inwardly bent engagement edge 63 of the cover 60 to be hooked thereon. The base 41 and the bracket main body 42 may be manufactured by press working as shown in FIG. 3, or may be machined from a bar material as shown in FIG.

The third embodiment is characterized by a pair of bracket bodies 42.4.
The stopper body 50 has a length equal to the distance between the two. This stopper body 50 has an inverted U-shaped cross section, and the distance between its side walls 51 and 51 is set to be slightly smaller than the width of the wire W. Therefore, as shown by the chain line in FIG.
When the wire W is fitted into the wire, the frictional force between the side walls 51, 51 and the wire prevents the wire W from moving in the longitudinal direction. In this way, the wire W is easily fixed to the bracket body. If the protective color cover 60 is placed over this, the second
A bracket with an aesthetic appearance similar to that of the embodiment shown in the figure can be obtained, and the wire is more strongly fixed because a stopper body is used.

Yet another feature of the third embodiment is that it allows stronger wire ligation when required. That is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 5, without using the stopper body 50, the ligature wire L is passed through the top of the archwire W and the notch 46 below the wing part 45 and ligated strongly as in the conventional case. Bye.

The depth of the slot 44 is determined so that the height of the upper surface of the ligature wire L that crosses over the archwire W is the same height as the upper surface 43 of the bracket body, and the notch 46 is connected to the ligature wire L. The first advantage is that if the depth is deep enough to accommodate the folded engagement edge 63 of the cover, the protective color cover 60 can be placed over it to cover the metal bracket and improve aesthetics.
and the same as in the second embodiment.

In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, when strong ligation of the archwire W is required, the ligature wire L can be used in the same manner as in FIG.
In this sense, it can be used both as a simple fixation method and as a strong ligation method.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the metal bracket is covered with a protective colored cover made of an exceptionally inexpensive material such as ceramic, which improves aesthetics above all. It is extremely effective in eliminating the discomfort caused by metal brackets. Since this protective color cover also functions to easily fix the archwire to the bracket body, it has the effect of omitting a complicated ligation operation under conditions that allow relative movement of the archwire with respect to the bracket.

In addition, when using a stopper body that tightly fits the archwire and is sandwiched between the bracket bodies, it is possible to easily prohibit relative movement and fix the archwire and bracket relatively, thereby eliminating the need for the same complicated ligation operation. Therefore, orthodontic treatment can be simplified. moreover,
When strong ligation is required, strong ligation can be performed using conventional ligature wires without replacing the bracket body, and these ligature wires and metal brackets are entirely covered with a protective colored cover made of the same natural food as the teeth. It has the effect of increasing aesthetics by covering it.

Furthermore, the bracket of the present invention uses a triangular roof-shaped cover, and since the lower end of this roof-shaped cover is close to the surface of the tooth, even if the tip of the other tooth hits the bracket due to the meshing movement of the tooth, This has the effect of allowing the tips of the teeth to ride on the sloped part of the roof-shaped cover, strongly connecting the cover to the bracket body, and preventing the cover from being removed by the flow of chewed food, rather allowing the flow of food to flow more smoothly. This has the effect of eliminating the negative effects of getting caught or jammed in the bracket.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of a bracket with a protective color cover according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the same embodiment in a combined state, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the bracket of the second embodiment, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the bracket of the third embodiment, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a different usage of the third embodiment; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the working features of the triangular roof-type cover of the bracket of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating still another operational feature. [Main code] 103041...Bracket base 123242...Bracket body 133343...Top surface 14.34.44...Wire accommodation slot 15.35
45... Slanted wing part 163646... Notch part 20.60... Protective color cover 21... Top surface 22
．． 62... Inclined portion 23, 63... Engagement edge 50 bent inward... Stopper body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A slot for accommodating an archwire is formed on the upper surface;
A pair of bracket bodies each having sloped wing portions formed on both sides of the upper surface are erected on the bracket base, the lower ends of the sloped blade portions are extended to a point close to the bracket base, and a notch is provided below, The bracket has an upper surface and an inclined portion that cover all of the upper surface and the inclined wing portion of the bracket body, and has an engaging edge bent inwardly and hooked into a notch below the inclined wing portion.
A bracket with a protective colored cover for orthodontics, characterized in that a protective colored cover made of a flexible composite material of substantially the same color as the natural color of teeth is easily attached to and detached from the bracket body. 2. The bracket according to claim 1, wherein the bracket main body and the bracket base are essentially machined from a single rod-shaped metal material. 3. The bracket according to claim 1, wherein the bracket main body is formed by bending a thin metal plate to stand up on both ends of a flat part, and the back surface of the flat part is fixed to a separate base. 4. The bracket according to claim 1, wherein the protective color cover is manufactured by molding or cutting a material of an artificial tooth or imitation tooth. 5. The slot is formed deeper than the height of the archwire to be inserted therein, and both side walls are formed with a wall thickness corresponding to the difference between this height and depth, and with an interval equal to or smaller than the width of the archwire. The bracket according to claim 1, wherein a stopper body having an inverted U-shaped cross section is fitted onto an archwire between the bracket bodies. 6. The bracket according to claim 5, wherein the difference between the height and the depth is approximately equal to the thickness of the ligature wire. 7. The bracket according to claim 6, wherein the depth of the cut portion is large enough to accommodate the inwardly bent engagement edge of the sloped portion of the cover and the ligature wire.