TWM669060U - Mouth guard - Google Patents

Abstract

A mouth guard suitable for wearing on the upper dentition is provided, including a base part, an outer peripheral wall, an inner peripheral wall and two lateral limiting parts. The base part has a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall are respectively formed along the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side of the base part, and protrude from the first side of the base part. A plurality of tooth grooves are formed on the first side of the base part, between the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall, for receiving each tooth in the upper dentition. The two lateral limiting parts are formed along the outer peripheral side of the base part and protrude from the second side of the based part. The two lateral limiting parts respectively correspond to the left and right canine teeth in the upper dentition, and the bottom portion of each of the two lateral limiting parts is lower than the portion of the second side of the base part corresponding to the position of the front incisors in the upper dentition.

Description

Tooth Guard

The novel invention relates to a tooth guard, and in particular to a tooth guard used during sports.

A tooth guard is a protective device worn on the teeth. It covers and wraps the teeth and gums to protect the teeth from being injured when the face and head are hit. At the same time, a tooth guard is also one of the key protective measures to prevent the body from being injured due to collisions and falls when playing sports. Generally speaking, when engaging in intense sports such as boxing, football, hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball, skating, and mountain biking, athletes need to wear tooth guards to ensure the safety of their teeth because collisions or falls often occur during these sports.

The upper front teeth are the most vulnerable part of the human body. Once they are hit, they are prone to tooth fracture, dislocation, loss, periodontal tissue tear and other dental injuries of varying degrees. They may also cause lip bite or other oral injuries. Therefore, typical tooth guards are designed to cover the upper teeth and gums.

Mouth guards can also be used to absorb the impact force between the upper and lower jaws, thereby reducing the risk of mandibular joint injury and concussion. However, previous mouth guards cannot effectively prevent the mandibular joint from violent sideways motions caused by violent impacts (for example, when the face is directly hit by gravity during intense sports such as boxing), so the risk of mandibular joint injury is still high.

The novel invention provides a tooth guard which can prevent the mandibular joint from producing drastic lateral movement when worn, so as to improve the protection of the mandibular joint.

The tooth guard of the present novel inventive embodiment is suitable for being worn on the upper tooth row, and includes a base, an outer peripheral wall, an inner peripheral wall and two transverse limiting portions. The base has a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall are formed along the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side of the base, respectively, and protrude from the first side of the base. A plurality of tooth groove portions are formed on the first side of the base, located between the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall, for receiving each tooth in the upper tooth row. The two transverse limiting portions are formed along the outer peripheral side of the base, and protrude from the second side of the base. Among them, the two transverse limiting parts respectively correspond to the left and right canine teeth in the upper tooth row, and the bottom part of each of the two transverse limiting parts is lower than the part of the second side of the base part corresponding to the position of the front incisor in the upper tooth row.

In one embodiment, the inner side of each of the two transverse limiting portions has a slope surface for contacting and guiding the corresponding lower teeth in the lower tooth row.

In one embodiment, the two transverse limiting portions each cross a group of adjacent canine teeth, the first premolar teeth and the second premolar teeth in the upper tooth row along the front-back direction.

In one embodiment, the slope surfaces of the two transverse limiting portions have similar slopes and heights at positions corresponding to the canines, the first premolars, and the second premolars in the upper tooth row.

In one embodiment, the two transverse limiting portions are respectively spaced apart from the inner peripheral side of the base portion at positions corresponding to the first premolar and the second premolar in the upper tooth row.

In one embodiment, when viewed from the second side of the base, the bottommost portion of each of the two transverse limiting portions is substantially aligned with the outer peripheral side of the base.

In one embodiment, when viewed from the front side of the tooth guard, the outer sides of the two transverse limit portions are inclined in the left and right directions.

In one embodiment, the vertical distance between the second side of the base portion and the bottommost portion of each of the two transverse limiting portions is about 3 mm.

In one embodiment, the two transverse limiting portions extend to the outer side of the peripheral wall.

In one embodiment, the base, the outer peripheral wall, the inner peripheral wall and the two transverse limiting portions have the same resin material.

Based on the above, in the tooth guard of an embodiment of the present invention, by forming a transverse limiting portion protruding from the second side (i.e., the occlusal side) on the left and right sides of the tooth guard, the mandibular joint can be restricted and prevented from undergoing drastic lateral movement when worn, thereby improving the protection of the mandibular joint, and is particularly suitable for use during intense exercise.

In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the following specifically cites preferred embodiments and provides detailed descriptions in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The above-mentioned and other technical contents, features and effects of the novel creation will be clearly presented in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the following drawings. The directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments, such as up, down, left, right, front or back, etc., are only referenced to the directions of the attached drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are used to illustrate and are not used to limit the novel creation.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by ordinary technicians in the technical field to which the novel creation belongs. It should be understood that each term defined in a commonly used dictionary should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the background or context of the relevant technology and this disclosure, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal manner, unless otherwise defined herein.

In this document, when "about", "approximately", etc. are used to describe a number or a range of numbers, these terms are intended to cover numbers within a reasonable range, including the described number, such as within +/-10% of the described number or other values understood by a person skilled in the art. For example, the description of "about 3 mm" covers a size range from 2.5 mm to 3.5 mm.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a state in which a tooth guard 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed on an upper tooth row 1. Since the upper tooth row 1 is covered inside the tooth guard 10, it is shown with a dotted line. In the following description, the tooth guard 10 is inserted into the oral cavity and installed on the upper tooth row 1, and the front tooth side is used as the front side, the back tooth side is used as the back side, the left side and the right side of the front teeth are used as the left side and the right side, respectively, the lingual side is used as the inner side, and the buccal side is used as the outer side for explanation. Here, the front teeth include the incisors, namely the left and right front incisors, the left and right lateral incisors, and the left and right canines, and the back teeth include the molars, namely the left and right first and second premolars, and the left and right first and second molars.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the tooth guard 10 of the present embodiment is an arch-shaped molding (tooth guard) that can be installed on the upper tooth row 1 of the upper jaw 2. The tooth guard 10 is formed to completely cover each tooth in the upper tooth row 1 (i.e., the crown portion), and can extend to cover some gingival portions (i.e., the gum portion) around the upper tooth row 1 to provide protection for these teeth and gingival portions. The tooth guard 10 can also be used to absorb (i.e., cushion) the impact force between the upper and lower jaws (for example, when the upper tooth row 1 of the upper jaw 2 and the lower tooth row (not shown) of the lower jaw clench against each other due to impact), thereby reducing the risk of mandibular joint injury and concussion.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tooth guard 10 of the present embodiment also has two (i.e., left and right) transverse limiting portions 20 (such as the area surrounded by a dotted chain line in the figure) protruding from its occlusal side 12B (i.e., the side that forms an occlusion with the lower tooth row, such as the lower side shown in the figure), which can limit the lateral movement of the mandibular joint (not shown) to improve the protection of the mandibular joint, which will be explained in more detail later.

The tooth guard 10 of this embodiment is entirely made of a resin material that is elastic and suitable for placement inside the oral cavity, and is formed by a vacuum forming method commonly used in the technical field to which this novel creation belongs. Specifically, the resin material is selected from, for example, silicone resins, polyolefin resins, styrene resins, and acrylic resins. The resin material is preferably colorless, transparent, or milky white, so that when inserted into the oral cavity, it can be inconspicuously installed on the upper tooth row 1, and has better aesthetics. In some specific cases, the tooth guard 10 can also be made of resin materials of other colors or colors according to the needs of the user, and various decorative patterns can be formed on the outer surface of the tooth guard 10 by any suitable molding method or coating method.

The specific structure of the tooth guard 10 is described in detail below with reference to Figures 2 to 6. Figure 2 is a schematic top view of the tooth guard 10 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a schematic bottom view of the tooth guard 10 of Figure 1. Figure 4 is a schematic front view of the tooth guard 10 of Figure 1. Figure 5 is a schematic rear view of the tooth guard 10 of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a schematic side view of the tooth guard 10 of Figure 1. As shown in Figures 2 to 6, the tooth guard 10 mainly includes a base 12, an outer peripheral wall 14 and an inner peripheral wall 16, forming a space for covering the upper tooth row 1. Furthermore, the tooth guard 10 also has left and right lateral limiting portions 20 (such as the area surrounded by a dotted chain line in the figure) that can limit the lateral movement of the mandibular joint, as described above.

Some components or features of the tooth guard 10 described below correspond to the positions of teeth in the upper tooth row 1, which refers to the state when the tooth guard 10 is installed on the upper tooth row 1 (as shown in Figure 1), although the upper tooth row 1 is not shown in Figures 2 to 6.

The base portion 12 is a portion that contacts each tooth in the upper tooth row 1 when the tooth guard 10 is mounted on the upper tooth row 1. The base portion 12 is also a portion that is sandwiched by the upper tooth row 1 and the lower tooth row when the upper tooth row 1 of the upper jaw 2 and the lower tooth row of the lower jaw are close to each other. As shown in FIG. 2, the base portion 12 is formed in a shape corresponding to the dental arch of the upper tooth row 1 in a top view.

The peripheral wall 14 is formed along the peripheral side of the base 12 and protrudes from the upper tooth contact side 12A (also referred to as the first side) of the base 12. The peripheral wall 14 has a peripheral upper wall 14A located above the base 12, and the peripheral upper wall 14A is the topmost part of the peripheral wall 14. When the tooth guard 10 is worn on the upper tooth row 1, the peripheral upper wall 14A can extend to cover some gum parts around the upper tooth row 1 (see Figure 1). As shown in Figure 2, in a top view, the peripheral upper wall 14A is formed into a bilaterally symmetrical shape with the portion corresponding to the front incisor in the upper tooth row 1 as the center.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the outer peripheral upper wall 14A may be formed with a V-shaped notch 141 at the center of the front teeth side in the left-right direction, into which the upper labial frenulum (not shown) is inserted.

The inner peripheral wall 16 is formed along the inner peripheral side of the base 12 and protrudes from the upper tooth contact side 12A of the base 12. The inner peripheral wall 16 has an inner peripheral upper wall 16A located above the base 12, and the inner peripheral upper wall 16A is the topmost part of the inner peripheral wall 16. Similarly, when the tooth guard 10 is worn on the upper tooth row 1, the inner peripheral upper wall 16A can extend to cover some gum parts around the upper tooth row 1. As shown in Figure 2, in a top view, the inner peripheral upper wall 16A is formed into a left-right symmetrical shape with the part corresponding to the front incisor in the upper tooth row 1 as the center.

In addition, the inner peripheral wall 16 and the outer peripheral wall 14 are connected at two ends 17 (also referred to as the rear end 17) of the arched tooth guard 10.

It should be understood that since the tooth guard 10 is formed using a vacuum forming method, the base portion 12 is not flat, but has a contour that conforms to the occlusal contour of the upper tooth row 1. For example, as shown in FIG. 2 , a plurality of tooth grooves 15 are formed on the upper tooth contact side 12A of the base portion 12, between the inner peripheral wall 16 and the outer peripheral wall 14, for receiving (i.e., accommodating) each tooth in the upper tooth row 1. These tooth grooves 15 have shapes, contours, and sizes corresponding to each tooth in the upper tooth row 1.

Similarly, the occlusal profile of the upper tooth row 1 is also reflected in the occlusal side 12B (also called the second side, opposite to the first side) of the base 12, as shown in Figure 3. For example, the occlusal side 12B of the base 12 has a profile that matches the occlusal profile of the upper tooth row 1.

Furthermore, the buccal (outer) and lingual (inner) contours of the upper dental row 1 are also reflected in the outer side of the outer peripheral wall 14 and the outer side of the inner peripheral wall 16, as shown in Figures 3 to 6. For example, the outer side of the outer peripheral wall 14 and the outer side of the inner peripheral wall 16 have contours that match the buccal and lingual contours of the upper dental row 1. Furthermore, based on the contour of the upper jaw 2 near the front teeth, a portion 161 of the inner peripheral wall 16 near the front teeth in the upper dental row 1 is tilted backward (not vertical) from the base 12 to the inner peripheral upper wall 16A, as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 5.

Furthermore, based on the structure of the upper tooth row 1, the occlusal side 12B of the base portion 12 is formed to protrude more downward at the front teeth (especially the front incisors) than at the back teeth, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. This also causes the height H1 of the peripheral wall 14 at the front teeth (especially the front incisors) (i.e., the vertical distance between the peripheral upper wall 14A and the occlusal side 12B of the base portion 12) to be greater than the height H2 at the back teeth side.

Next, the transverse limiting portion 20 of the tooth guard 10 of this embodiment is further introduced in conjunction with FIG7. FIG7 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram showing the contact between the transverse limiting portion 20 of the tooth guard 10 and the corresponding lower tooth (e.g., lower canine 3c) in the lower tooth row 3, wherein the tooth guard 10 shown in the upper half of the figure is captured along the line A-A in FIG3.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 , two (i.e., left and right) transverse stoppers 20 are formed along the outer peripheral side of the base portion 12 and protrude from the occlusal side 12B of the base portion 12. In the present embodiment, the positions of the two transverse stoppers 20 correspond to the positions of the left and right canine teeth, and the left and right first and second premolar teeth in the upper tooth row 1. For example, in a bottom-up viewing angle (as shown in FIG. 3 ), each transverse stopper 20 crosses a group of adjacent canine teeth, the first premolar teeth, and the second premolar teeth in the upper tooth row 1 in the front-back direction.

In the cross-sectional view (as shown in FIG. 7 ), each transverse stopper 20 has a slope surface 22 formed on its inner side (i.e., the lingual side) for contacting and guiding the movement of the corresponding lower teeth (e.g., the left or right lower canine 3c) in the lower tooth row 3, so it is also called a guiding surface 22. It should be noted that, although not specifically shown, in the cross-sectional view, each transverse stopper 20 has a similar slope surface 22 (slope) and height at the position corresponding to the canine 1c, the first and second premolars in the upper tooth row 1.

Furthermore, in a bottom view (as shown in FIG. 3 ), the bottommost portion 23 of each transverse stopper 20 (i.e., the end of the slope surface 22 farthest from the occlusal side 12B) is substantially aligned with the outer peripheral side of the base portion 12. In addition, each transverse stopper 20 is spaced apart from the inner peripheral side of the base portion 12 at the position corresponding to the first and second premolars in the upper tooth row 1, which can avoid interfering with the occlusion between the upper and lower tooth rows.

In addition, in the front view (as shown in FIG. 4 ), the outer sides of the two transverse limiting portions 20 are inclined in the left-right direction (rather than vertical). Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 , each transverse limiting portion 20 further extends to the outer side of the peripheral wall 14, which is beneficial to improve the structural strength of the transverse limiting portion 20.

In the present embodiment, each transverse limit portion 20 has a thickness T of approximately 3 millimeters (mm) (i.e., the vertical distance between the occlusal side 12B of the base portion 12 and the bottommost portion 23 of the transverse limit portion 20), so that the bottommost portion 23 of the transverse limit portion 20 is located below the portion of the occlusal side 12B corresponding to the front incisor position in the upper tooth row 1. In other words, the bottommost portion 23 of the transverse limit portion 20 is lower than the portion of the occlusal side 12B corresponding to the front incisor position, as shown in Figures 4 to 6.

With the above-mentioned design, when the upper tooth row 1 of the upper jaw 2 and the lower tooth row 3 of the lower jaw 4 bite each other due to impact, the downwardly protruding lateral limiting portions 20 (e.g., the sloped surface 22) located on the left and right sides of the tooth guard 10 can contact the corresponding lower teeth (e.g., the left and right lower canines) in the lower tooth row 3 from the outside and limit the movement of the left and right lower canines along the sloped surface 22, thereby absorbing (i.e., alleviating) the impact force between the upper and lower jaws and limiting the lateral movement of the mandibular joint (not shown), so as to improve the protection of the mandibular joint. In addition, since each transverse limiting portion 20 extends in the front-rear direction (ie, spans across a set of adjacent canine teeth, the first premolar and the second premolar in the upper tooth row 1), it is more effective to prevent the mandibular joint from violent transverse movement.

It should be further explained that the aforementioned transverse stopper 20 is a thickened portion formed on the occlusal side 12B of the tooth guard 10. In the present embodiment, the transverse stopper 20 is first formed on the occlusal side 12B by a vacuum forming method to form a layer of the same resin material as the base 12, the outer peripheral wall 14 and the inner peripheral wall 16, and then the unnecessary parts are removed by a removal method such as grinding to obtain the transverse stopper 20 as described above. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned manufacturing method, and other suitable methods can also be used to form the transverse stopper 20 of the tooth guard 10.

It should be understood that the disclosed embodiment may also have other variations. For example, in different embodiments (not shown), each transverse limit portion 20 may only span across a set of adjacent canine teeth and the first premolar in the upper tooth row 1, and not extend to the second premolar, depending on actual needs.

In summary, the disclosed embodiment has some advantages. By forming the lateral limiting parts protruding from the occlusal side on the left and right sides of the tooth guard, the mandibular joint can be limited and prevented from producing drastic lateral movement when worn, and is suitable for use during intense sports to improve the protection of the mandibular joint.

Although the novel creation has been disclosed as above by way of embodiments, it is not intended to limit the novel creation. A person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the novel creation belongs may make some changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the novel creation. Therefore, the protection scope of the novel creation shall be subject to the scope defined in the attached patent application.

1: Upper teeth 1c: Canines 2: Upper jaw 3: Lower teeth 3c: Lower canines 4: Lower jaw 10: Tooth guard 12: Base 12A: Upper teeth contact side 12B: Occlusal side 14: Outer wall 14A: Outer upper wall 141: Notch 15: Tooth groove 16: Inner wall 16A: Inner upper wall 161: Part 17: End/rear end 20: Horizontal stopper 22: Slope/guide surface 23: Bottom H1, H2: Height T: Thickness A-A: Line

The disclosure is fully disclosed according to the following detailed description and in conjunction with the attached drawings. It should be noted that, according to the general practice of this industry, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and are for illustrative purposes only. In fact, the size of the unit may be arbitrarily enlarged or reduced to clearly show the characteristics of the disclosure. FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a tooth guard according to an embodiment of the disclosure installed on the upper teeth row. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the tooth guard of FIG. 1 from above. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the tooth guard of FIG. 1 from below. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the front view of the tooth guard of FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the rear view of the tooth guard of FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the side view of the tooth guard of FIG. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram showing the contact between the transverse limit portion of the tooth guard and the corresponding lower teeth in the lower tooth row.

10: Tooth guard

12: Foundation

12B: Occlusal side

14: Outer wall

16: Inner wall

16A: Inner upper wall

161: Partial

17: End/rear end

20: Horizontal limiter

22: Slope surface/guiding surface

23: Bottom part

A-A: Line

Claims (10)

A tooth guard suitable for wearing on an upper tooth row, comprising: a base having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side; an outer peripheral wall and an inner peripheral wall, respectively formed along an outer peripheral side and an inner peripheral side of the base, and protruding from the first side of the base, wherein a plurality of tooth grooves are formed on the first side of the base, located between the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall, for receiving each tooth in the upper tooth row; and Two transverse limiting portions are formed along the outer peripheral side of the base portion and protrude from the second side of the base portion, wherein the two transverse limiting portions correspond to the left and right canine teeth in the upper tooth row, respectively, and a bottommost portion of each of the two transverse limiting portions is lower than a portion of the second side of the base portion corresponding to the front incisor position in the upper tooth row. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein an inner side of each of the two transverse limiting portions has a sloped surface for contacting and guiding the corresponding lower teeth in the lower tooth row. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 2, wherein the two transverse limiting portions each span across a set of adjacent canine teeth, a first premolar and a second premolar in the upper tooth row along a front-to-back direction. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein the slope surface of each of the two transverse limiting portions has similar slope and height at the positions corresponding to the canine, the first premolar and the second premolar in the upper tooth row. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein the two transverse limiting portions are each separated from the inner peripheral side of the base portion at positions corresponding to the first premolar and the second premolar in the upper tooth row. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein when viewed from the second side of the base, the bottommost portion of each of the two transverse limit portions is roughly aligned with the outer peripheral side of the base. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer sides of the two transverse limiting portions are inclined in the left-right direction when viewed from a front side of the tooth guard. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein a vertical distance between the second side of the base and the bottommost portion of each of the two lateral limit portions is approximately 3 mm. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two transverse limit portions extend to an outer side of the outer peripheral wall. A tooth guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base, the outer peripheral wall, the inner peripheral wall and the two lateral limiting portions have the same resin material.

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