Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B21/00—Exercising apparatus for developing or strengthening the muscles or joints of the body by working against a counterforce, with or without measuring devices
  • A63B21/002—Exercising apparatus for developing or strengthening the muscles or joints of the body by working against a counterforce, with or without measuring devices isometric or isokinetic, i.e. substantial force variation without substantial muscle motion or wherein the speed of the motion is independent of the force applied by the user
  • A63B21/0023—Exercising apparatus for developing or strengthening the muscles or joints of the body by working against a counterforce, with or without measuring devices isometric or isokinetic, i.e. substantial force variation without substantial muscle motion or wherein the speed of the motion is independent of the force applied by the user for isometric exercising, i.e. substantial force variation without substantial muscle motion
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B23/00—Exercising apparatus specially adapted for particular parts of the body
  • A63B23/025—Exercising apparatus specially adapted for particular parts of the body for the head or the neck
  • A63B23/03—Exercising apparatus specially adapted for particular parts of the body for the head or the neck for face muscles
  • A63B23/032—Exercising apparatus specially adapted for particular parts of the body for the head or the neck for face muscles for insertion in the mouth

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a myofunctional device, particularly suitable for motor training of facial muscles.
• anti-aging has stimulated a culture of care for one's body and an increasingly frequent resort to procedures of a surgical or otherwise medical kind in order to improve the morphological characteristics of the face or of other parts of the body.
• signs of aging of the face which are increasingly often the subject of the attention of the media and of public opinion, they can be defined more appropriately as signs of wear and are certainly linked to the traumas to which the body system is exposed through life and during everyday activities.
• This distraction mechanism is the target of every preventive strategy used in the medical field. Analyzed from this standpoint, every intervention for the elimination of the signs of wear on the face that requires an intervention from outside, for example of the surgical type, is deeply criticized, since it is highlighted as a medical act that does not take into account the causes (of the signs of wear) but merely eliminates the symptom.
• Remedies of a natural and non-invasive type i.e., remedies that do not resort to scalpels, needles and other interventions that are internal to the biological structure, are substantially of two kinds: active and passive.
• Passive systems are the ones in which a nonpenetrating external agent is activated on the surface of the epithelium of the face without active intervention on the part of the tissues.
• the energy is supplied by a source that is external to the recipient and the effectiveness of the action depends substantially on the operator (which can be manual, mechanical, thermal or chemical) and not on the recipient, who, as explained, does not intervene actively.
• passive systems include peeling, surface lasers, electrical stimulators, electronic devices for facial gymnastics, creams or poultices based on antistringent and/or nutrient active ingredients, passive facial massage (such as for example Indian face massage).
• passive facial massage such as for example Indian face massage.
• the result is based on the activation of blood circulation in the skin, on the activation of local metabolism and on the elimination of the horny layers and of the sebaceous excesses that can cause irritation, inflammation, thickening and subsequent collapse.
• the effectiveness of these systems is linked to the local protection of the skin as a consequence of an improvement in local metabolism and to the use of filters (mostly sunscreen) adapted to mitigate the damage of actinic radiation.
• Active systems which also are non-invasive
• aids which effectiveness depends directly on the commitment of the recipient, who therefore also has the role of an operator, and are mostly procedures for self- massage associated with specific gymnastics of the superficial and deep muscles of the face.
• procedures are divided substantially into two types: those performed without the aid of tools, for example relaxation exercises performed by professional singers, and those that resort to auxiliary instruments (aids) or apparatuses.
• the first one is a Japanese apparatus (identified commercially by the expression "Lip trainer Patakara”), which allows to perform a muscular activity of the lips and secondarily of the facial muscles.
• the second one is an apparatus disclosed in EP 151 1440 B l in the name of Mohindra and marketed under the trade name "Oralift", which has the appearance of a universal dental apparatus that is constituted substantially by a first layer of elastomeric material that has a softening temperature comprised between 35 0 C and 100 0 C and is designed, during use, to adhere to the lower arch, and a second layer of nondeformable material that has a softening temperature above 100 0 C; protrusions made of nondeformable material protrude from the second layer on the opposite side with respect to the first layer and can be provided monolithically with the second layer.
• the protrusions protrude by approximately 3 mm from the surface, which during use is the upper surface, of the second layer and are directed toward the upper arch, so as to ensure a preset vertical separation between the two arches.
• the apparatus allows to keep the two arches mutually spaced, while in each instance, for example after a few weeks, the operator must repeat the softening and activation operation.
• the aim of the present invention is to provide a myofunctional device, particularly suitable for motor training of facial muscles, which is capable of eliminating or at least reducing drastically the above-mentioned drawbacks, which can presently be observed in currently commercially available apparatuses.
• an object of the invention is to provide a myofunctional device, particularly suitable for motor training of facial muscles, which allows to activate simply and reliably the isometric reflex and to maintain an isometric training stimulus during its use.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a myofunctional device that is particularly suitable for motor training of facial muscles and is capable of ensuring muscle rebalancing and toning of both deep facial muscles and surface muscles.
• a myofunctional device particularly suitable for motor training of facial muscles, characterized in that it comprises a body made of soft resin that forms a receptacle that is shaped complementarily with respect to a respective portion of the upper dental arch of the user, and at least two raised portions made of rigid resin which protrude, during use, from said body made of soft resin toward the lower dental arch and are arranged on mutually opposite sides with respect to a central plane of symmetry.
• Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a face, shown partially in phantom lines, which has a device according to the invention between the dental arches;
• Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the face shown in Figure 1 ;
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of the myofunctional device, particularly suitable for motor training of facial muscles, according to the invention.
• a myofunctional device particularly suitable for motor training of facial muscles, generally designated by the reference numeral 1 , comprises a body 2 made of soft resin, which forms a receptacle 3 that is shaped complementarity with respect to a respective portion of the upper dental arch 4 of an user 5.
• the myofunctional device 1 further has at least two raised portions 6 made of rigid resin, which during use protrude from the body 2 made of soft resin toward the lower dental arch 7 and are arranged on mutually opposite sides with respect to a central plane of symmetry.
• the raised portions 6 have a height that is adapted to ensure an articular angle substantially equal to 45°: in this regard, it has been observed that their height can vary between 15 mm and 20 mm and more particularly between 16 mm and 18 mm.
• the raised portions 6 perform, thanks to their height and stiffness, substantially two functions: on the one hand, they induce an isometric tension exercise affecting the masseter and external pterygoid muscles (also known as antigravity muscles) such as to induce, when such tension ceases, the activation of the post-isometric reflex and the neuromuscular proprioceptive elongation of such muscles.
• isometric tension exercise affecting the masseter and external pterygoid muscles (also known as antigravity muscles) such as to induce, when such tension ceases, the activation of the post-isometric reflex and the neuromuscular proprioceptive elongation of such muscles.
• the body 2 made of soft resin by means of a hot- molded polyacrylic soft resin, such as for example EVA (ethyl vinyl acetate).
• EVA ethyl vinyl acetate
• the body 2 made of soft resin allows on the one hand the anchoring of the raised portions 6 so that any eccentric forces are absorbed by the soft resin without transmitting traumas to the temporomandibular joint and/or to the periodontium and/or to any implants. Further, the pterygoid muscles responsible for laterality movements are not subjected to excessive stresses.
• the raised portions 6 are attached to the body 2 made of soft resin; the rigid resin of which the raised portions 6 are made can be for example a cold-polymerized acrylic resin.
• the two raised portions 6 lie longitudinally along the upper arch 4, substantially between the canine and the second molar, and have a transverse dimension that, is substantially equal to the palatobuccal distance of the upper arch of the user.
• the myofunctional device according to the invention is designed to perform a motor program for facial muscles.
• the isometric exercise induces activation of the fast muscle fibers and relaxation at the end of the isometric contraction and the isometric component contributes to coordination of the two metamers, to strength and to dexterity.
• the muscle balance of the face has two effects as its consequence: symmetry of the face in its muscle volumes and disappearance of the asymmetric lines.
• the effect which can be compared to a lifting of the skin of the face, is achieved by means of an extension of the skin that has adhered to the bundles of surface muscles, which are elongated and extended by the relaxation of the deep muscles.
• the duration of the effect is that of motor training, in which muscle memory (engram) is reprogrammed over 4-6 months: the new muscle program remains as such, in the absence of training stimuli, for the same period. Subsequently memory is lost and muscles resume behaving as they did before the training program.
• the practical consequence is that the wearer is capable of deciding the quantity of the stimulus and of guiding the transformation of the face.
• a rebalancing program can have an initial period of daily training in order to reach the desired tone and a subsequent upkeep period which can provide for the use of the apparatus every other day or weekly.
• Hoefflin S. Hoefflin Surgical pearls in the management of the aging face from A to
• the period of use can be various: by way of example, it is possible to wear the device for approximately 30 minutes per day: normal activities can be performed while it is being worn. Of course, phonation is hindered, at least for the first four weeks. It is not advisable to wear the device for more than six hours per day.
• the myofunctional device according to the present invention allows rapidly and effectively to proceed with functionalization (installation) by acting, if necessary, on the heights of the raised portions 6 in order to activate the isometric reflex.
• This possibility is ensured, as explained earlier, by the presence of the body 2 made of soft resin associated with the upper dental arch and of the raised portions 6 made of hard resin that have tops 6a designed to engage the lower dental arch and on which it is possible to act by milling or by adding material in order to obtain a condition of symmetry that is indeed adapted to activate the isometric reflex.
• the subsequent isotonic training stimulus ensured by the forced mutual spacing of the arches, can allow to achieve extremely higher results with an immediate action on the toning of deep facial muscles and of surface facial muscles.
• the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to requirements.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Otolaryngology (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Biophysics (AREA)
• Orthopedic Medicine & Surgery (AREA)
• Dental Tools And Instruments Or Auxiliary Dental Instruments (AREA)
• Instructional Devices (AREA)
• Adornments (AREA)
• Presses And Accessory Devices Thereof (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=40302291

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Citations (4)

• 2008
  • 2008-06-30 IT ITVR20080075 patent/ITVR20080075A1/it unknown
• 2009
  • 2009-06-11 WO PCT/EP2009/057233 patent/WO2010000594A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

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