KR20130107811A - Apparatus for protruding lower jaw - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A device for protruding the lower jaw is provided to easily move the lower jaw without a structure. CONSTITUTION: A device for protruding the lower jaw includes an upper jaw wearing unit (100), a support rod (10), a lower jaw wearing unit (200), and a hanging plate (20). The support rod is fixed to the rear of the upper jaw wearing unit through a fixing unit formed on both ends of the support rod. The hanging plate protrudes upwardly from the front of the lower jaw wearing unit. When the hanging plate hangs on the support rod, the forwardly moved lower jaw is maintained by the restoring force of the lower jaw wearing unit.

Description

Mandible Forward Device {Apparatus for Protruding Lower Jaw}

The present invention relates to a device for advancing the mandible (lower jaw) to the front of the mouth. More specifically, the present invention relates to a mandibular advancement device capable of advancing the mandible forward to the face more than the original position and easily adjusting the advancing distance.

Severe snoring or apnea during sleep results from the narrowing of the airway in the lying state. The upper jaw (upper jaw) and the lower jaw (lower jaw) of the human body are occupied in a substantially constant position. Advancing the lower jaw forward in front of the face reduces air snoring or apnea because of the expansion of the airways.

In order to alleviate snoring or apnea during sleep, devices for artificially advancing the mandible forward are known. Although snoring may use surgical therapies to expand the airways, there is an advantage in that it is easy to widen the airways by using a physical mandibular advancement device.

As an example of such a mandible forward device, the mandible forward device is composed of the upper jaw and the lower jaw worn in the upper teeth and lower teeth respectively. Physically, the lower jaw is manufactured and installed such that the lower jaw protrudes forward (ie, to the front of the face after wearing) than the upper jaw. Therefore, the upper jaw and the lower jaw are worn on the upper and lower teeth respectively, and the lower jaw is easily advanced.

However, in the conventional mandible forward device, because the mandible wearing mouth and the mandible wearing mouth are fixed, the upper and lower jaw cannot be moved from side to side or up and down when worn, resulting in large discomfort due to wearing during sleep and talking or yawning. There is a difficult problem. Some products can move the mandible, but the range of movement is limited and the structure is complicated, so there is a feeling of inconvenience.

It is also impossible or cumbersome to control the degree of advancement of the mandible. Because each person has different mandibular advancement distances to relieve snoring and apnea, or even the same person, it is necessary to adjust the mandibular forward distance so as not to impair jaw joints or muscles.

In order to solve the shortcomings of the conventional mandible forward device, the present inventors have an improved mandible forward device that can freely move the mandible and can easily adjust the mandible forward distance, without having a simple structure and imparting structure to the oral cavity. Invented about.

An object of the present invention includes a maxillary wearer fitted to the upper teeth of the upper jaw, and a mandibular wearer fitted to the lower teeth of the mandible, and in the mandibular advancement device for advancing the mandible forward, the shape of the upper upper teeth installed in the maxillary wearer It is to provide a mandrel forward device consisting of a support rod and a mandatory plate that is attached to the mandrel wearing port and is caught on the support rod.

The present invention for achieving the above object, the upper jaw fitted to the upper jaw, and the lower jaw including the lower jaw worn to fit in the lower teeth of the lower jaw provides a mandibular advancement device for advancing the mandible forward.

The lower surface of the upper jaw wearer is provided with a support rod of a shape substantially similar to that of the upper teeth (eg, a U-shape), and a locking plate is provided on the upper face of the lower jaw wearer. The support rod is fixed to the rear of the upper jaw wearer through a fixing part located at both ends, and the locking plate protrudes upward from the front portion (lip side) of the lower jaw wearer.

As a result, when the mandible is moved forward and the force that the stopping plate is retracted by the supporting rod is prevented, the lowering member is caught by the supporting rod by the force of returning the mandible wearing member back to the rear of the mouth by the biophysical action of the lower jaw. It will remain

In the above configuration, it may be further provided with means for moving the support rod up and down on the fixing portion axis. The support rod up and down movement means can be configured by attaching a support string behind the fixing part of the support rod to fix it to the maxillary wearing hole, and attaching a limit setting line to any upper surface of the fixing part to connect and fix it to the maxillary wearing hole. have.

In another embodiment, the support rod up and down movement means is attached to the fixing portion of the support rod to be fixed to the hanging on the maxillary fastener, so that the support rod is lowered when opening the mouth and the rear portion of the fixing portion is the surface of the maxillary fastener It can be configured so that it can no longer come down by contacting.

In addition, the present invention may further include a mandible forward distance adjusting means for adjusting the mandible forward distance by moving the support rod back and forth (ie, between the throat and the lips). The mandible forward distance adjusting means may be configured to adjust the forward and backward positions of the support rods by screws, including a fixing portion at the rear of the support rods and a screw coupled thereto.

The above structure may be transformed into a vertically symmetrical structure through appropriate structural changes. That is, the support rod can be installed in the lower jaw, and the stopping plate can be installed in the upper jaw. The structural change required in this case is within the technical scope of the present invention and can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art.

According to the present invention, it is possible to advance the mandible through a relatively simple configuration, it is possible to easily open the mouth up and down and move from side to side even in the state of wearing the device can solve the wearer's inconvenience. In addition, even when the mandible forward device of the present invention is worn, the mandible forward distance can be easily adjusted.

1 is a side view of a basic embodiment of the mandible advancement device according to the present invention;
Figure 2a is a bottom photo of the maxillary wearing device 100 of FIG.
Figure 2b is a plan view of the lower jaw worn 200.
Figure 3a is a simplified view for explaining another embodiment of the mandible forward device in accordance with the present invention, the mandibular wearing port 200 is omitted.
Figure 3b is a simplified view for explaining another embodiment of the mandible forward device in accordance with the present invention, the mandibular wearing port 200 is omitted.
Figure 4a is a simplified view for explaining another embodiment of the mandibular advancement device according to the present invention, the mandibular wear 200 is omitted.
Figure 4b is a simplified view for explaining another embodiment of the mandible forward device according to the present invention, the mandibular wearing port 200 is omitted.
Figure 5 is a photograph showing the actual appearance of the actual implementation of Figure 4b.
6 is a side view of another embodiment modified from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A-5.
FIG. 7 is a side view of an embodiment in which the structure of the FIG. 6 embodiment is changed to upper and lower symmetry. FIG.

1, 2a, 2b briefly illustrate the concept of a basic embodiment of the mandibular advancement device according to the present invention. In the following description, "front", "front", "front" refers to the front of the mouth, i.e., the face side, and "back" or "back" refers to the back of the mouth, i.e., the throat side. do.

1, 2a, and 2b, there is an upper jaw wearing hole 100 and a lower jaw wearing hole 200 to be fitted to the upper teeth (1) and the lower teeth (2), respectively. The support rod 10 is installed on the lower surface of the upper jaw wearer 100, and the locking plate 20 is provided on the upper surface of the lower jaw wearer 200. Although the locking plate 20 is shown in the figure in a smooth plate shape, in practice, it is also possible to place a step or jaw in order to increase the effect of the locking (e.g., like a barb in a hook). The shape of the step or jaw will be readily determined by those skilled in the art.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the support rod 10 has a shape similar to that of the upper jaw 100, that is, a shape similar to that of the upper teeth (eg, U-shaped), and has a fixing part 15 positioned at both ends. It is fixed to the rear of the maxillary wearing port (100). The support rod 10 may be manufactured using iron or plastic material having a diameter of about 1.5 to 3 mm, but is not necessarily limited thereto.

The locking plate 20 protrudes upward from the lower jaw wearer 200. Although FIG. 2B shows a state in which the lower jaw wearer is molded integrally, a separate material may be attached as described conceptually in FIG. 1. The width W of the locking plate 20 is arbitrary. However, since the locking action (specifically, the action of preventing the retraction of the locking plate by the support rod is prevented) by contacting the bent portion of the U-shaped support rod 10 can be processed into a form similar to the curvature of the support rod 10. have. However, if it is more advantageous to have no curvature, it would be more desirable to process without curvature.

The position of the locking plate 20 is installed to be shifted from the position of the support bar 10. The degree of misalignment is determined by the position where the mandible wearing hole 200 can be fixed in a state in which the mandible of the mandible is advanced forward than the original position.

Wearing the upper jaw (100) and the lower jaw (200) on the upper and lower teeth, respectively, and then advance the mandible forward, if the catch plate 20 is caught on the support rod 10, the lower biophysics The force F, which tries to return the lower jaw 200 to the rear of the oral cavity by the action, is blocked by the stopping plate 20 in contact with the support rod 10 so that the mandible is in an advanced state.

As such, when the device according to the present invention is worn on the upper teeth and lower teeth, the mandible is advanced because the mandible is prevented from being restored to its place by the support rod 10 and the stopping plate 20 in the state where the mandible is advanced forward than the original position. Staying in place can extend your airway.

3A is an improvement of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and shows an embodiment embodied in a structure capable of moving the support rod 10 up and down (in FIG. 3A, the lower jaw is omitted). In this embodiment, the support rod vertical movement means is provided. The support rod up and down movement means, as shown in Figure 3a, by attaching a support string 16 to the back of the fixing portion 15 of the support rod 10, it is fixed to the maxillary wearing hole 100, fixed portion 15 Attached to the upper surface of the upper limit wearing straps (17) fixed to any upper surface of the fixed. In the state where the proximal end of the supporting rod 10 is suspended from the maxillary wearing opening 100 by the supporting string 16, the supporting rod 10 is moved up and down within the range Rud defined by the length of the limiting string 17. I can move it.

The support rod up-and-down movement means can also be comprised simply like the Example book of FIG. 3B. In other words, as shown in Figure 3b, by fixing the support line 14 to the fixing portion 15 of the support rod 10 is fixed to hang on the maxillary wearing port (100). When the mouth is opened in this state, the support rod 10 which is in contact with the locking plate 20 descends and the rear portion 19 of the fixing portion 15 comes into contact with the surface of the upper jaw wearer 100 so that the support rod ( 10) can no longer come down. This eliminates the need for the support string 16 of FIG. 3A. In this embodiment, the rear portion 19 of the fixing portion 15 may be the body of the fixing portion 15 itself, or may be integrally formed or separately attached protrusions (not shown) to protrude to a predetermined length. It may be.

Therefore, the mouth can be opened up and down while wearing the device according to the present embodiment. For example, the user can speak or yawn while wearing the mandible forward device of the present invention.

In FIGS. 3A and 3B, a spring may be used as the support string 16, 14 or the limit string 17. In addition, the specific coupling structure may be easily implemented by those skilled in the art.

Figure 4a shows an embodiment of the mandible forward device adopting a structure that can adjust the support rod 10 back and forth. According to a person, it is necessary to adjust the forward position of the mandible, or even in the same person, it is necessary to adjust the forward position of the mandible as needed. In this embodiment, the mandible forward distance adjustment means can adjust the forward position of the mandible. have. The mandatory forward distance adjusting means includes a fixing part 15 and a screw 18 coupled thereto at the rear of the supporting rod 10, and can adjust the position of the supporting rod 10 within the range of Rfb in the front-rear direction. Specific mechanisms are apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus detailed descriptions are omitted.

FIG. 4B shows another embodiment of the support rod vertical movement means corresponding to FIG. 3B. The description thereof is the same as described with reference to FIG. 3B and thus will be omitted. However, the rear portion 19 of the fixing portion 15 may be the head of the screw 18 or may be a separate protrusion (see the description regarding FIG. 3B). Figure 5 shows the actual appearance of the maxillary wearing gear that actually embodied the concept of Figure 4b.

6 is a side view illustrating an embodiment modified from the above-described embodiments. There is no support string 14, 16 or limit setting string 17 connected to the fixing portion 15 on the rear side of the mouth, and only the second fixing portion 15 'is provided on the rear side of the mouth. An intermediate fixing part 24 is installed at a position away from the second fixing part 15 'by a predetermined distance to support the supporting rod 10'. The support rod 10 ′ supported by the intermediate fixing part 24 is coupled to move up and down by a predetermined distance W. For example, the support rod 10 'may be formed in an elliptical shape in the middle fixing part 24 so as to move the support rod 10' up and down. In the present embodiment, there are no support strings 14 and 16 or limit setting strings 17. Instead, the upper and lower movable ranges of the support rods 10 'are defined by the intermediate fixing portion 24. Correspondingly, the second fixing part 15 'should be machined so that the support rod 10' can move up and down.

Further, in the supporting rod 10 'in this embodiment, a thread is formed between the second fixing portion 15' and the intermediate fixing portion 24, and the nut 22 is coupled thereto. The nut 22 can reciprocate in the longitudinal direction (ie, D direction) along the thread of the supporting rod 10 '. This structure is for the same purpose as the mandible forward distance adjustment means applied in the other embodiments above. The operation of the mandible forward distance adjusting means using the nut 22 will be described. As the nut 22 is moved back and forth in the D direction, the nut 22 moves between the rear end of the intermediate fixing part 24 and the front end of the second fixing part 15 '. Referring to FIG. 6, when the position of the nut 22 is properly selected, when the lower jaw is moved forward and the latching plate 20 is brought into contact with the support rod 10 ′, the support rod 10 ′ is pushed backward to move the nut ( 22) comes in contact with the front end of the second fixing part 15 ', and the advancing distance of the mandible is determined. That is, by moving the nut 22 between the second fixing part 15 'and the intermediate fixing part 24 to a desired position, the distance between the supporting rod 10' and the stopping plate 20 is changed, thereby reducing the The forward distance can be adjusted.

In the above-described embodiment, the support rods 10 and 10 'are shown to be installed in the maxillary wearing hole 100. On the contrary, the support rods 10 and 10' are installed in the lower wear hole 200. Even if the locking plate 20 is installed in the upper jaw wearer 100, the object of the present invention can be achieved. That is, the structure shown in FIGS. 1-5 and all the components are provided in a vertically symmetrical structure. However, in this case, the position of the support rods 10 and 10 'is positioned in front of the position of the locking plate 20 so that the support rods 10 and 10' of the lower jaw are caught in front of the locking plate 20 of the upper jaw. will be.

Thus, the operation of the mandible forward distance adjusting means shown in FIG. 6 when the upper and lower structures are changed will be described. Referring to FIG. 7, when the position of the nut 22 is selected, the lower jaw is advanced such that the support rod 10 ′ is brought into contact with the engaging plate 20 installed in the upper jaw wearer 100. The nut 22 contacts the rear end of 24 to adjust the advancement distance of the mandible. That is, by moving the position of the nut 22, it is possible to adjust the advance distance of the mandible.

Upper teeth (1), lower teeth (2), upper jaw (100), lower jaw (200), support rods (10) (10 '), fixing part (15), support string (14) (16), limit Setting file 17, screw 18, rear part 19, locking plate 20, nut 22, second fixing part 15 ', middle fixing part 24

Claims (14)

In the mandibular advancement device that includes the upper jaw fitted to the upper jaw and the lower jaw worn to the lower jaw of the mandible, and advances the mandible forward,
The support rod 10 is provided on the lower surface of the upper jaw wearer 100, and the stopping plate 20 is provided on the upper surface of the mantle wearer 200.
The support rod 10 is fixed to the rear of the upper jaw wearing hole 100 through the fixing portion 15 located at both ends, and the locking plate 20 is the front portion (lip side) of the lower jaw wearing hole 200. Protrude upward from),
By advancing the mandible forward, if the catching plate 20 is caught by the support rod 10, the mandrel wearing hole 200 by the force to return to the rear of the oral cavity by the biophysical action of the mandible 10 The jamming plate 20 is caught, characterized in that the mandible is in the advanced state, mandible forward device. In the mandibular advancement device that includes the upper jaw fitted to the upper jaw and the lower jaw worn to the lower jaw of the mandible, and advances the mandible forward,
The upper surface of the lower jaw wearing hole 200 is provided with a support rod 10, the lower surface of the upper jaw wearing hole 100 is provided with a locking plate 20,
The support rod 10 is fixed to the rear of the lower jaw wearing hole 200 through the fixing portion 15 is located at both ends, the locking plate 20 is the front portion (lip side) of the upper jaw wearing device 100 Protrude upward from),
By advancing the mandible forward, if the support rod 10 is caught by the locking plate 20, the lowering wearer 200 is forced to return to the rear of the mouth by the biophysical action of the mandible. ) Is characterized in that the support rod (10) is caught so that the mandible is advanced. The mandible forward device according to claim 1, further comprising means for moving the support rod up and down about the fixing part (15). According to claim 3, The support rod up and down movement means, the support line 16 is attached to the rear of the fixing portion 15 of the support rod 10, it is fixed to connect to the maxillary wearing hole 100, the fixing portion 15 Any upper surface of the mandatory advancement device, characterized in that it is configured to attach to the upper limit wearing straps (17) attached to the limit set. According to claim 3, wherein the support rod up and down movement means, by holding a support string 14 to the fixing portion 15 of the support rod 10 to be fixed to the upper jaw wearer 100, the support rod (when opening the mouth ( 10) The mandibular advancement device, characterized in that the back portion (19) of the fixing portion (15) is configured to stop the falling down by contacting the surface of the maxillary wearing opening (100). According to claim 3, The support rod vertical movement means, the second fixing part 15 'is provided in the upper jaw wearing port 100 on the rear side of the oral cavity, and the second fixing part 15' is a predetermined distance forward. Intermediate fixing part 24 is installed at a position away from the side to support the support rod 10 ',
The support rod 10 'supported by the intermediate fixing part 24 is supported so as to move up and down, so that the limit of the vertical movement range of the support rod 10' is determined, The mandible forward apparatus. The method of claim 6, wherein the support rod (10 '),
A thread is formed between the second fixing part 15 'and the intermediate fixing part 24
And a nut (22) coupled to the thread and reciprocating along the thread of the support rod (10 '). 3. The mandibular advancement device according to claim 2, further comprising means for moving the support rod up and down about the fixing part (15). The method of claim 8, wherein the support rod vertical movement means, by attaching a support string 16 to the rear of the fixing portion 15 of the support rod 10, it is fixed to the lower wearing hole 200, fixed portion 15 Arbitrary upper surface of the mandatory advancement device, characterized in that it is configured to be fixed to the lower jaw wearing port (17) attached to the limit setting line. The method of claim 8, wherein the support rod vertical movement means is attached to the fixing portion 15 of the support rod 10 by fixing the support rope 14 to the lower jaw wearer 200, the hanging plate 20 The rear part (19) of the fixing part (15) of the support bar (10) is characterized in that the support bar (10) is configured so that it can no longer be raised by contacting the surface of the lower jaw (200), mandible forward device. According to claim 8, The support rod up and down movement means, the second fixing portion 15 'is provided in the lower wear mouth 200 on the rear side of the oral cavity, the second fixing portion 15' and a predetermined distance forward Intermediate fixing part 24 is installed at a position away from the side to support the support rod 10 ',
The support rod 10 'supported by the intermediate fixing part 24 is supported so as to move up and down, so that the limit of the vertical movement range of the support rod 10' is determined, The mandible forward apparatus. The method of claim 8, wherein the support rod (10 '),
A thread is formed between the second fixing part 15 'and the intermediate fixing part 24
And a nut (22) coupled to the thread and reciprocating along the thread of the support rod (10 '). 13. The mandibular forward distance adjusting means according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a mandible forward distance adjusting means for adjusting the mandibular forward distance by moving the supporting rod 10 back and forth (ie, between the throat and the lips). Mandibular advancement device. According to claim 13, wherein the mandatory forward distance adjusting means includes a fixing portion 15 and a screw 18 coupled thereto at the rear of the supporting rod 10, the front and rear of the supporting rod 10 by the screw 18 Mandibular advancement device, characterized in that to adjust the position.

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