Dental appliance for weight control
First Claim
1. A device for attachment to an individual'"'"'s teeth for interfering with natural mastication and transport of food within an individual'"'"'s mouth to thereby impede the rate of food consumption and provide an appliance useful for weight reduction for overweight persons, said device comprising:
- a support collar adapted for attachment around a portion of at least one tooth and having an upper mounting edge which is adapted to be aligned and positioned along the distal to mesial line at a lingual side and separated from chewing surfaces of the teeth to which it is to be attached; and
a lingual flange attached at the mounting edge and adapted to project upward from attached lower teeth or downward from attached upper teeth and outward therefrom along the distal to mesial line and at an inclined orientation with respect to a plane defined by the direction of relative teeth movement during mastication of food at the tooth surface, said lingual flange being adapted to be at least partially positioned laterally of the chewing region between opposing surfaces of the teeth to thereby form an impeding surfaces of the teeth to thereby form an impeding obstruction against movement of food onto or away from the chewing surfaces.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A weight control device (10) and method for disrupting natural mastication and transport of food at chewing surfaces of the teeth (12), to thereby impede the rate of food consumption and provide an appliance useful for weight reduction. The device comprises an doutwardly projecting wing-guard or flange (14, 15, 40), which is attached by a support collar (11) to the posterior teeth along a distal to mesial orientation. The flange (14, 15, 40) is positioned laterally of the teeth and above the chewing surfaces, with the upper portion inclined away from the teeth and the relative movement of the teeth during occlusion. The corresponding inventive methods comprise the steps of (i) interposing a blocking member (14, 15) between the food manipulating muscles such as the tongue, and the chewing surfaces of the teeth; and/or (ii) intermittently interposing a blocking member (40) between the chewing surfaces of the individual'"'"'s teeth in response to food within the mouth to intermittently preclude occlusion of the teeth for mastication.
32 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device for attachment to an individual'"'"'s teeth for interfering with natural mastication and transport of food within an individual'"'"'s mouth to thereby impede the rate of food consumption and provide an appliance useful for weight reduction for overweight persons, said device comprising:
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a support collar adapted for attachment around a portion of at least one tooth and having an upper mounting edge which is adapted to be aligned and positioned along the distal to mesial line at a lingual side and separated from chewing surfaces of the teeth to which it is to be attached; and a lingual flange attached at the mounting edge and adapted to project upward from attached lower teeth or downward from attached upper teeth and outward therefrom along the distal to mesial line and at an inclined orientation with respect to a plane defined by the direction of relative teeth movement during mastication of food at the tooth surface, said lingual flange being adapted to be at least partially positioned laterally of the chewing region between opposing surfaces of the teeth to thereby form an impeding surfaces of the teeth to thereby form an impeding obstruction against movement of food onto or away from the chewing surfaces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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- 11. A weight control device for interfering with natural mastication and transport of food at a chewing region between opposing chewing surfaces of teeth within an individual'"'"'s mouth to thereby impede the rate of food consumption and provide an appliance useful for weight reduction for overweight persons, said device comprising a wing-guard adapted to project laterally of the chewing region to impede the passage of food therethrough, said wing-guard having a flat, elongated configuration with an upper portion and unattached edge free of sharp corners and being adapted in size to project laterally of chewing surfaces of the teeth when properly positioned in the mouth, and means for mounting the wing-guard to the teeth along distal to mesial orientation and having a location with respect to the teeth such that the wing-guard is adapted to be positioned laterally of the teeth (ii) above and chewing surfaces and with the upper portion inclined away from a vertical plane defined by the direction of relative movement of opposing teeth which occlude adjacent the wing-guard, said device being thereby adapted to impede transfer of food and access of the individual'"'"'s tongue to the chewing region between the opposing teeth.
Specification