KR20180099101A

KR20180099101A - Dental prosthesis detecting oral acidity

Info

Publication number: KR20180099101A
Application number: KR1020170026110A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 권지용; 강민정; 권지민; 권지안
Original assignee: 권지용; 권지민; 권지안; 강민정
Priority date: 2017-02-28
Filing date: 2017-02-28
Publication date: 2018-09-05
Also published as: KR102012551B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to oral acidity-sensing prostheses, And an oral acidity measuring device provided in the crown for detecting an acidity in the oral cavity, wherein the oral acidity measuring device comprises: an acidity measuring unit for measuring an acidity in the oral cavity; A controller for controlling the external terminal to send an alarm signal based on the measured acidity; And a communication unit for transmitting the warning signal to an external terminal.

Description

Dental prosthesis detecting oral acidity

The present invention relates to a prosthesis, and more particularly, to a oral acidity-sensing prosthesis designed to detect oral acidity.

Cavities are most commonly recognized as diseases that seek dentistry. Despite the progress made in preventing tooth decay, more work needs to be done to solve the problem.

When we look at the principle of tooth decay, when we eat food, and the food remains in the mouth, bacteria in the mouth eat food and release acid. And the tooth is destroyed by this mountain. In the case of foods we eat daily in our daily lives, carbohydrates, especially sugars, contained in food are closely related to the caries of teeth as a metabolite of bacteria in the mouth.

The destruction of teeth by acid is largely divided into caries and erosion. In the case of caries, dissolution of the tooth occurs when the acidity of the critical acidity is exceeded. As mentioned above, food is the main factor. In case of erosion, it is accompanied by exposure to stronger acidity. Typically, when gastric acid is refluxed into the mouth, there are carbonated beverages.

Measuring the change in acidity in the mouth during daily life is important for preventing and treating tooth destruction by acid because it is directly influenced by the acidity of the mouth by the food and drink ingested.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a oral acidity-sensing prosthesis capable of sensing acidity in the oral cavity which is important for preventing and treating tooth destruction.

The oral acidity sensing prosthesis according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a crown; And an oral acidity measuring device provided in the crown for detecting an acidity in the oral cavity, wherein the oral acidity measuring device comprises: an acidity measuring unit for measuring an acidity in the oral cavity; A controller for controlling the external terminal to send an alarm signal based on the measured acidity; And a communication unit for transmitting the warning signal to an external terminal.

The acidity measuring unit may include: first and second metals having different ionization tendencies.

The acidity measuring unit may generate electrical energy by a redox reaction occurring between the oral electrolyte solution and the first and second metals.

The control unit may generate the warning signal when the electric energy exceeds a preset threshold value.

The controller and the communication unit may operate using the electric energy generated by the acidity measuring unit.

And an auxiliary power unit for supplying auxiliary power to the control unit and the communication unit.

Further, the communication unit may transmit the warning signal to the user's terminal through short-range communication.

The first metal may be formed in a ring shape to have a through-hole, and the second metal may be inserted into the through-hole so that the first and second metals are exposed in the oral cavity.

Wherein the first metal and the second metal are arranged in a bent or curved shape so as to be exposed in the oral cavity in parallel with each other.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an oral acidity sensing prosthesis that can sense the acidity in the oral cavity, which is important for preventing and treating tooth destruction.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the oral acidity sensing has an effect of transmitting an alarm signal based on the acidity measured through the prosthesis to clean the oral hygiene.

The use of the oral acidity sensing prosthesis according to the embodiment of the present invention can effectively detect the oral acidity and reduce the inconvenience of the user.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a coupling relation between oral acidity measuring prostheses and teeth according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
2 is a cross-sectional view of an oral acidity measurement prosthesis and teeth according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of an apparatus for measuring oral acidity according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a view illustrating a state where a first metal and a second metal are disposed in an acidity measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a schematic diagram showing an acidity measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings attached hereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following examples are intended to illustrate the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, equivalent inventions performing the same functions as the present invention are also within the scope of the present invention.

In the following description, the same reference numerals denote the same components, and unnecessary redundant explanations and descriptions of known technologies will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a coupling relation between oral acidity measuring prostheses and teeth according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1.

As a prosthesis used for a tooth, a filler such as a resin or an amalgam or a crown covering the entirety can be used. Hereinafter, a crown is shown and described as an example for convenience of the drawings and the description.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the oral acidity sensing prosthesis according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a crown 10 and an oral acidity measuring device 20. As shown in FIG.

The crown 10 can be coupled to the teeth 30 by mounting an acidity measuring device 20 therein. The tooth 30 having the caries advanced for the connection with the crown 10 is removed according to a specific line and the removed portion of the tooth 30 can be restored by being joined with the crown 10, The acidity measuring device 20 may be located in the removed portion of the apparatus. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the acidity measuring apparatus 20 is shown as being completely filled in the removed portion, but this is only an example, and may be located in only a part of one of the removed portions.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the acidity measuring apparatus 20 is provided inside the crown 10 so that one side of the acidity measuring apparatus 20 is in contact with the surface of the tooth 30.

The contacted one side detects a redox reaction on the surface of the teeth 30 or the surface of the crown 10 and outputs a signal for informing that there is a change in acidity in the oral cavity when the redox reaction is detected .

The acidity measuring apparatus 20 may be embodied as a flexible material. The acidity measuring device 20 implemented in a flexible material is mounted inside the crown 10 to increase the degree of contact between the crown 10 and the teeth 30 when the crown 10 is engaged with the teeth 30, It is possible to protect the modules included in the acidity measuring apparatus 20 from impacts transmitted from the crown 10.

At this time, the acidity measuring apparatus 20 may be located in the cavities 25 of the teeth 30. In this case, the cavities 25 are not completely filled with the cores, May be filled with the device 20.

There is no problem in the degree of tightness when the acidity measuring apparatus 20 is mounted inside the crown 10 and is engaged with the tooth 30 and the contact between the crown 10 and the tooth 30 is not affected by the impact transmitted from the crown 10, If it is possible to protect the modules, it is also possible to implement the acidity measuring device 20 as a rigid material. However, the position of the acidity measuring device 20 is not limited to the inside of the crown 10 but may be designed to be located on the external surface.

The size of the acidity measuring device 20 may be mounted on the inner or outer surface of the crown 10 and may be connected to the crown 10 when the acidity measuring device 20 is located inside the crown 10 The size of the upper surface of the tooth 30 may be smaller than the size of the upper surface of the tooth 30 but the size of the tooth 30 may be any size as long as it does not interfere with the engagement between the crown 10 and the teeth 30. [ .

The shape of the acidity measuring apparatus 20 may be circular, but it is not limited thereto, and any shape such as square, ellipse, and rhombus may be used as long as it can perform the function of the acidity measuring apparatus 20.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a crown 10 having an acidity measuring device 20 therein can be closely attached to the surface of the tooth 30. The crown 10 can not feel a foreign body and the coupling between the crown 10 and the tooth 30 is maintained and the coupling period is also increased.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an apparatus for measuring oral acidity according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an apparatus for measuring acidity of a mouthpiece according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an acidity measuring unit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

3, the oral acidity measuring apparatus 20 includes an acidity measuring unit 100 for measuring the acidity in the oral cavity, a controller 200 for generating a warning signal based on the measured acidity, and a communication unit 300).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the acidity measuring unit 100 is in contact with the surface of the tooth 30 in the crown 10, and the contacted one side is in contact with the surface of the tooth 30 or the crown The redox reaction can be detected on the surface of the substrate 10.

The acidity measuring unit 100 may contact the surface of the tooth 30 or the surface of the crown 10 and a redox reaction may occur at the contact surface of the acidity measuring unit 100. As to the oxidation-reduction reaction, oxidation-reduction reaction occurs by electron transfer between reactants, and oxidation and reduction occur at the same time. It is said that the side that lost electrons was oxidized and the side that got electrons was reduced. At this time, the number of electrons lost is equal to the number of electrons obtained.

Specifically, when two metals having different reactivity are immersed in an electrolytic solution, and the two metals are connected by a lead wire, a current flows. This is called a chemical battery, and a current flowing in a chemical cell is due to the fact that a large reactive metal ionizes and dissolves in an electrolyte solution, and electrons generated at this time are transferred to form a current. Chemical cells are the most representative reaction of redox reactions.

In a chemical cell, a metal having a low ionization tendency is a (+) pole and a metal having a high ionization tendency is a (-) pole. The larger the difference in ionization tendency between the two metals constituting the battery, the larger the current intensity. In the (+) electrode, a reduction reaction occurs. In the (-) electrode, oxidation occurs. The electrons move from the (-) pole to the (+) pole and the current flows in the opposite direction. At this time, hydrogen gas is generated at the (+) electrode which is the reduction electrode.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the acidity measuring unit 100 includes a first metal 112 and a second metal 114 having different ionization tendencies so that a redox reaction may occur. Any metal that is harmless to the human body and can be a (+) or (-) pole of an oxidizing source reaction may be the first metal 112 and the second metal 114, depending on the ionization tendency.

The first metal 112 and the second metal 114 having different ionization tendencies included in the acidity measuring unit 100 are positioned inside the crown 10 so that the crown 10 can measure the acidity in the oral cavity. And can be exposed to the outside.

A part of the acidity measuring unit 100 is exposed to the outside of the crown 10 and when the electrolyte comes into contact with the electrolyte in the oral cavity, the redox reaction occurs in the acidity measuring unit 100.

A part of the acidity measuring part 100 is brought into contact with the surface of the tooth 30 according to the design change and the first metal 112 and the second metal having different ionization tendencies disposed on the contact surface of the acidity measuring part 100, When the metal 114 comes into contact with an electrolyte solution corresponding to an acid generated by the occurrence of caries, the oxidation-reduction reaction may occur in the acidity measuring unit 100. At this time, the first and second metals 112 and 114 may be designed to contact the surface of the tooth 30.

The first metal 112 and the second metal 114 having different ionization tendencies included in the acidity measuring unit 100 may each be configured in the form of two rings as shown at reference numeral 510. The first metal 112 and the second metal 114 are arranged in a ring shape in order to facilitate contact with the electrolyte solution.

At this time, the second metal 114 may be inserted into the through-hole of the ring-shaped first metal 112, and if the second metal 114 is inserted into the through-hole, The shape can be changed into a shape other than the ring shape.

The first metal 112 and the second metal 114 may be arranged in parallel with each other in the form of a square wave so as to maximize the contact area with the electrolytic solution, Bent, amorphous, zigzag, curved or bent line shape so that the first metal 112 and the second metal 114 do not overlap with each other in the lower part of the mouth acidity measuring apparatus 20. [ As shown in FIG.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first and second metals 112 and 114 are disposed so as not to overlap with each other. The reason why the first and second metals 112 and 114 are not placed on the acidity measuring unit 100 without overlapping is that if the first and second metals 112 and 114 are disposed to overlap with each other, Electrons can be directly transferred between the contact surfaces of the second metals 112 and 114, so that the redox reaction can not be detected from the outside.

However, the arrangement of the first and second metals 112 and 114 having different ionization tendencies included in the acidity measuring unit 100 is not limited to this, and the redox reaction may occur in the acidity measuring unit 100 Any arrangement is possible.

The controller 200 detects whether the oxidation-reduction reaction occurs in the acidity measuring unit 100.

The controller 200 may include a current sensor, a potential difference sensor, or a hydrogen sensor to detect whether the oxidation-reduction reaction occurs in the acidity measuring unit 100.

When the oxidation-reduction reaction occurs in the acidity measuring unit 100, electrons move from the (-) pole to the (+) pole and the current flows in the opposite direction. Therefore, the current sensor included in the controller 200 is electrically connected to the acidity measuring unit 100, so that the acidity measuring unit 100 can sense a current generated as a result of the oxidation-reduction reaction.

In addition, when the redox reaction occurs in the acidity measuring unit 100, hydrogen gas is generated at the (+) electrode which is the reducing electrode. Therefore, when the hydrogen sensor included in the controller 200 senses the hydrogen generated in the acidity measuring unit 100, the controller 200 detects that the oxidation and reduction reaction has occurred in the acidity measuring unit 100. Then, the controller 200 generates a warning signal when the electric energy exceeds a preset threshold value.

Referring to FIG. 3, the communication unit 300 outputs a detection signal for informing the outside that there is a change in the acidity in the oral cavity. That is, the communication unit 300 transmits the warning signal to the user terminal through the short distance communication. Here, a terminal (not shown) means a well-known means for receiving a known display module for receiving data through communication.

The control unit 200 and the communication unit 300 may operate using the electric energy generated by the acidity measuring unit 100 and may be operated to supply auxiliary power to the control unit 200 and the communication unit 300 And may further include a power unit (not shown).

The terminal (not shown) in the present invention may be a medical device used in a smart phone or a dental clinic, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Any means capable of receiving a signal output from the communication unit 300 may be a terminal ).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, communication means a wired and wireless local area and wide area data transmission and reception network capable of transmitting and receiving data.

In addition, the terminal (not shown) may include an antenna or a probe for use in the oral cavity or for contacting the surface of the crown 10 to better receive the signal output from the communication unit 300.

5, the crown 10 has an oral acidity measuring apparatus 20, and the acidity measuring unit 100 is placed in contact with the crown outer surface to measure the acidity in the oral cavity, One side of the measuring section 100 can be brought into contact with the tooth 30.

When the first and second metals 112 and 114, which are included in the acidity measuring unit 100 and are disposed on the surface contacting with the surface and have different ionization tendencies, contact the electrolyte solution in the oral cavity, A redox reaction occurs through the first and second metals 112 and 114.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the oxidation-reduction reaction occurs in the acidity measuring unit 100, the controller 200 including the current sensor, the potential difference sensor, or the hydrogen sensor senses the oxidation-reduction reaction. When the control unit 200 senses the redox reaction, the communication unit 300 outputs a warning signal to inform the outside that there is a change in the acidity in the oral cavity.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to send an alarm notification to a terminal interlocked with the mouth acidity measuring apparatus of the oral acidity detecting prosthesis when the acidity in the oral cavity and pH can be measured, The user is aware of this and has the effect of wiping teeth or taking additional measures.

The term " module " as used herein refers to a logical unit, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the component is not necessarily physically separated.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. That is, within the scope of the present invention, all of the components may be selectively coupled to at least one.

In addition, although all of the components may be implemented as one independent hardware, some or all of the components may be selectively combined to perform a part or all of the functions in one or a plurality of hardware. As shown in FIG. The codes and code segments constituting the computer program may be easily deduced by those skilled in the art.

The present invention can also be embodied as computer-readable codes on a computer-readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored.

Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like. (E.g., transmission over the Internet).

The computer readable recording medium may also be distributed over a networked computer system so that computer readable code can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. And functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

It is also to be understood that the terms such as " comprises, "" comprising," or "having ", as used herein, mean that a component can be implanted unless specifically stated to the contrary. But should be construed as including other elements.

All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.

Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

10: Crown
20: Oral acidity measuring device
30: Teeth
100: acidity measuring unit
112: first metal
114: second metal
200:
300:

Claims

In oral acidity-sensing prostheses,
Crown; And
And an oral acidity measuring device provided in the crown for detecting acidity in the oral cavity,
The apparatus for measuring oral acidity comprises:
An acidity measuring unit for measuring the acidity in the oral cavity;
A controller for controlling the external terminal to send an alarm signal based on the measured acidity; And
And a communication unit for transmitting the warning signal to an external terminal.

The method according to claim 1,
The acidity measuring unit includes:
A oral acidity sensing prosthesis comprising first and second metals having different ionization tendencies.

The method of claim 2,
The acidity measuring unit includes:
A oral acidity sensing prosthesis that generates electrical energy by an oxidation-reduction reaction occurring between an electrolytic solution in the oral cavity and the first and second metals.

The method of claim 3,
The control unit includes:
Wherein the warning signal is generated when the electrical energy exceeds a predetermined threshold.

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the controller and the communication unit are operated using the electric energy generated by the acidity measuring unit.

The method of claim 5,
Further comprising an auxiliary power unit for supplying auxiliary power to the control unit and the communication unit.

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the communication unit comprises:
Wherein the warning signal is transmitted to the user's terminal through local communication.

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the first metal is formed in a ring shape so as to have a through groove and the second metal is inserted in the through groove so that the first and second metals are exposed in the oral cavity.

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the first metal and the second metal are arranged in a bent or curved shape so as to be exposed in the oral cavity in parallel with each other.