Apparatus for dental treatment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9839500-B2
Application number	US-201414172983-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 5, 2014
Priority date	Aug 12, 2013
Publication date	Dec 12, 2017
Grant date	Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

An apparatus for treatment of teeth, including one or more dental treatment applicators having at least two walls and a floor, the walls and floor defining a well configured to accommodate at least one human dental arcade and an active agent, one or more energy-applying element located on at least one of the walls and wherein the improvement of the apparatus comprises paired dental treatment applicators configured to be applied to both upper and lower dental arcades concurrently and a number of dental treatment accelerating elements and fields.

First claim

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for electro-chemical dental whitening, said apparatus comprising:
a dental treatment tray configured to be applied to at least one of upper or lower dental arcades, the dental treatment tray having at least two walls and a floor, the walls having inner surfaces that, together with the floor, define a well configured to accommodate the at least one of the upper or lower dental arcades and an active agent with suitable electric conductivity;
at least one electrode located on the inner surface of each of the walls and configured to apply electric current in course of treatment to the active agent in the well of the dental treatment tray;
at least one light source located on the inner surface of each of the walls and configured to emit light into the well;
each of the walls comprising a plurality of segments, wherein each segment on one of the walls is aligned with one of the segments on the other one of the walls, and wherein each segment includes at least one of the electrodes and an optical sensor, the optical sensor in each segment configured to monitor a color of one or more teeth within that same segment; and
a processor operably coupled to the electrodes and the optical sensors, the processor configured to independently control and adjust operation of the electrodes in each segment based on a signal received from the optical sensor in that segment.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a portable unit including:
at least one of an alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power source configured to power the at least one electrode; and
a DC-current generator.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the DC-current generator applies electric current to the at least one electrode immersed into an active agent and wherein the electric current accelerates at least an oxidation reaction.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one electrode is embedded inside the walls of the dental treatment tray so as to have an exposed surface to create an electric current in the active agent.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the dental treatment tray is connected to the portable unit via a harness.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a portable unit operably coupled to the dental treatment tray, the portable unit comprising at least one of a liquid reservoir for storing a liquid and a gel reservoir for storing a gel, the portable unit being configured to supply the liquid or the gel into the well of the dental treatment tray.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising one or more apertures in the walls of the dental treatment tray, the one or more apertures communicating with at least one of the liquid reservoir and the gel reservoir via one or more conduits, and further comprising a processor configured to control: (1) activation of the electrodes and the light sources; and (2) location and rate of introduction of the liquid and the gel into the well.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising at least one sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of a temperature sensor, a liquid level gauge, an oxygen sensor, an optic sensor, and a pH meter, and wherein at least one of the sensors is configured to provide a processor with feedback including real-time treatment parameters regarding ongoing dental treatment, wherein the processor is configured to adjust treatment processes based on the feedback received from the at least one of the sensors.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the dental treatment tray comprises piezoelectric elements distributed along the inner surfaces of the walls at a location adjacent distal ends of the walls, the piezoelectric elements protruding from the walls so that when one of the upper and lower dental arcades is positioned in the well and the piezoelectric elements are activated, the piezoelectric elements contact a user's gums and apply a non-abrasive massage to the gums.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of the electrodes and a plurality of the light sources located on each of the walls, and wherein the electrodes and the light sources are positioned in an alternating fashion along each of the walls.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the dental treatment tray comprises permanent magnets adhered to the inner surface of the walls and operative to create a magnetic field inside the well and thus improve the teeth whitening carried out by the electrodes.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a first and a second of the dental treatment trays are paired and configured to accommodate both the upper dental arcade and the lower dental arcade concurrently, the first dental treatment tray comprising a first data communication connector and the second dental treatment tray comprising a second data communication connector, the first and second data communication connectors being coupled together to facilitate electrical and data communication between the first and second dental treatment trays.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the walls extends from the floor to a distal end, and wherein the at least one electrode and the at least one light source on each of the walls is located entirely between the floor of the dental treatment tray and the distal end of the wall on which it is located, and wherein the at least one electrode on the inner surface of a first one of the walls is an anode and the at least one electrode on the inner surface of a second one of the walls is a cathode.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of partitions extending from the inner surfaces of each of the walls into the well and apportioning each of the walls into the plurality of segments.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the segments includes at least one aperture, and wherein the processor is configured to introduce an active agent from a reservoir into the well or remove a liquid from the well via one or more of the apertures.

16. An apparatus for electro-chemical dental whitening, said apparatus comprising:
a dental treatment tray configured to be applied to at least one of upper or lower dental arcades, the dental treatment tray having a floor, a front curved wall, and a rear curved wall that collectively define a well, each of the front and rear curved walls having an inner surface that faces the well;
a plurality of partitions extending from the inner surfaces of each of the front and rear curved walls into the well and apportioning each of the front and rear curved walls into a plurality of segments, and wherein each segment on the front curved wall is aligned with one of the segments on the rear curved wall;
at least one electrode and a sensor located with each of the segments of the front and rear curved walls;
a power source operably coupled to and powering each of the electrodes; and
a processor operably coupled to the electrodes and the sensors, the processor configured to independently control and adjust operation of the electrodes in each segment based on a signal received from the sensor in that segment.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the sensor located within each of the segments is a color verification sensor, the color verification sensor monitoring changes in a color of one or more teeth.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the processor is configured to monitor the color of a plurality of the teeth and analyze colo

Assignees

• Colgate Palmolive Co

Inventors

• Flyash Lion
• Khawaled Kamal

Classifications

• A61C17/16 Primary

  Power-driven cleaning or polishing devices · CPC title

• A61H23/0245

  with ultrasonic transducers, e.g. piezoelectric · CPC title

• A61N1/325

  for iontophoresis, i.e. transfer of media in ionic state by an electromotoric force into the body (electrodes for external use A61N1/0428) · CPC title

• A61N1/0428

  Specially adapted for iontophoresis, e.g. AC, DC or including drug reservoirs · CPC title

• A61C19/066 Primary

  Bleaching devices; Whitening agent applicators for teeth, e.g. trays or strips · CPC title