Orthodontic treating device and method of manufacturing same

Claim 1

A method of manufacturing a silicone resin orthodontic treating device which comprises (a) preparing plaster models of a patient's upper and lower jaw including the teeth showing malocclusion, (b) determining the centric relationship between the patient's upper and lower teeth by taking a wax impression, (c) taking a face-bow transfer of the patient's upper teeth to establish and reproduce the relationship of upper jaw to the head and face, (d) placing the face-bow in an anatomical articulator, (e) positioning the upper and lower models of step (a) in the anatomical articular using the face-bow and wax bite of step (b) to reproduce the patient's upper and lower jaw relationship and fixing the models in plaster such that the models are attached to the articulator, (f) removing the teeth from the models and re-aligning the teeth in wax to normal occlusion, (g) duplicating the normal occlusion of the models with a duplicating material to form negative impressions, (h) forming positive plaster models from the negative impressions, (i) removing the wax models from the articulator and replacing them with the plaster models of step (h) while maintaining the same upper and lower jaw relationship, (j) opening the articulator to form a space of from 3 to 5mm between the upper and lower incisor edge, (k) forming heat-curable silicone resin composition comprising a silicone resin base material and a catalyst including an oil, around the upper and lower teeth and curing the resin, and (l) removing the resulting treating device.

Claim 2

A method of manufacturing a silicone resin orthodontic treating device which comprises (a) preparing plaster models of a patient's upper and lower jaw including the teeth showing malocclusion, (b) determining the centric relationship between the patient's upper and lower teeth by taking a wax impression, (c) taking a face-bow transfer of the patient's upper teeth to establish and reproduce the relationship of upper jaw to the head and face, (d) placing the face-bow in an anatomical articulator, (e) positioning the upper and lower models of step (a) in the anatomical articular using the face-bow and wax bite of step (b) to reproduce the patient's upper and lower jaw relationship and fixing the models in plaster such that the models are attached to the articulator, (f) removing the teeth from the models and re-aligning the teeth in wax to normal occlusion, (g) duplicating the normal occlusion of the models with a duplicating material to form negative impressions, (h) forming positive plaster models from the negative impressions, (i) removing the wax models from the articulator and replacing them with the plaster models of step (h) while maintaining the same upper and lower jaw relationship, (j) opening the articulator to form a space of from 3 to 5mm between the upper and lower incisor edge, (k) forming heat-curable silicone resin composition comprising a silicone resin base material and a catalyst including an oil, around the upper and lower teeth and curing the resin, and (l) removing the resulting treating device.

Claim 3

The method according to Claim l wherein the resin is cured at a temperature of from about 100°C to about 130°C.

Claim 4

The method of Claim l wherein the silicone resin composition contains (a) a silicone resin having the following formula and (b) a catalyst containing (l) a compound having the formula , and (2) a silicone oil.

Claim 5

The method of manufacturing a silicone resin orthodontic treating device as claimed in Claim l, which comprises, before step (k), the steps of: (m) placing wax in the space formed in step (j) to obtain an impression of the upper and lower teeth in normal occlusion, (n) placing the teeth of the upper and lower plaster models of step (h) into the wax impression of step (m), (o) covering the resulting combination of step (n) with wax such that the wax will have substantially the same shape and thickness as the desired silicone resin treating device, (p) flasking the wax covered model combination of step (o) in a split-cast, (q) subjecting the split-cast containing the wax covered model to heat sufficient to melt the wax and produce a void, and (r) removing the wax; and wherein step (k) comprises filling the void with said hot-curable silicone resin composition comprising a silicone resin base material and a catalyst including an oil, and curing the resin.