Dentures and teeth for dentures and methods of making the same

Claim 2

A denture comprising: a denture base; a plurality of artificial teeth including posterior teeth formed of a body member fixedly secured on said denture base; a body of resilient supporting means on said body member and having a base portion secured to said body member and an opposed surface portion exposed laterally about its edges inwardly from said body member; and occlusal cutting surface means movably mounted on said resilient supporting means and having exposed cutting surface means projecting beyond the exposed surface of said resilient supporting means and having its lateral edges spaced from said body member and disposed to engage opposing natural or artificial teeth; said spacing of said exposed occlusal cutting surface means laterally from said body member permitting said resilient supporting means to resiliently support said movable occlusal cutting surface means for lateral movement, tilting and compressive yieldable movement of said occlusal cutting surface means with respect to said body member.

Claim 3

A denture of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein said body member has a socket opening toward the occlusal surface area of said body member; said body of resilient supporting means is confined in said socket with said opposed surface section exposed in said opening of said socket; and said occlusal cutting surface means is supported on the exposed surface the body of resilient supporting means spaced from the body member portion defining the opening of the socket in said body member and said occlusal cutting surface means is movable laterally and longitudinally and tiltably with respect to said body member, whereby said body of resilient material cushions movement of the cutting surface means relative to the said body member to accomodate stresses of chewing.

Claim 4

A denture of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein the body member comprises a multiple tooth main body unit having means for securing it to said base member of the denture and a recess therein opening toward the occlusal surface area of said body unit; said body of resilient material is secured in said recess in said body unit with said opposed surface section exposed in the opening of said recess; and said occlusal cutting surface means has a cutting surface on its exposed surface projecting from said recess in said main body unit and is spaced laterally from the portion of said main body unit defining the opening of said recess whereby said cutting surface means is movably supported by said body of resilient material for lateral and tilting movement with respect to the main body unit as a result of engagement of said cutting surface with opposing teeth.

Claim 5

A denture of the character set forth in claim 3 wherein the occlusal cutting surface means comprises a plurality of separate members each having a cutting surface on its exposed surface spaced laterally from the other members and from the main body portion having the opening of the recess in said main body with the cutting surface of each member projecting from the body of resilient material and from the opening of said recess to engage opposing teeth, said resilient material permitting each member to undergo independent lateral, tilting and compressive movement with respect to the main body unit.

Claim 6

A denture of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of posterior teeth comprises; a plurality of separate main body members each having a socket in its exposed surface area opening toward the occlusal surface area of the tooth; said resilient supporting means comprises a body of resilient cushioning material confined in said socket of each body member with the opposed surface section thereof exposed in said opening of said socket; and said cutting surface means comprises a hard occlusal cutting surface member secured in and supported on the body of resilient cushioning material in each said socket and spaced laterally inwardly from the portion of the body member defining the opening of said socket, each cutting surface member having a cutting surface projecting from said socket for engagement with an opposing tooth; said resilient cushioning material permitting said cutting surface member to undergo tilting, lateral and compressively yieldable movement of the cutting surface member relative to the main body member to absorb and cushion the stresses and forces of eating.

Claim 7

A denture of the character set forth in claim 5 wherein the exposed occlusal cutting surface of each hard occlusal cutting surface member is provided with a plurality of projecting cutting members disposed to engage the occlusal surface of the opposing natural or artificial teeth of the wearer of the denture for masticating food therebetween, said cutting members having means providing for free movement of the food particles along the exposed surface after the same have been cut.

Claim 8

An artificial tooth for use in the posterior portion of a denture comprising: a main body having means for securing it to the base plate of a denture; a body of resilient cushioning material having a base portion fixedly secured to and supported by the main body of the tooth and having an opposed exposed surface portion spaced laterally about its edges inwardly from said main body; and a hard occlusal cutting surface member movably supported on and secured to the exposed surface portion of the body of resilient cushioning material and having lateral edges spaced laterally inwardly from said main body; said cutting surface member having an exposed occlusal cutting surface projecting from the exposed surface of the body of resilient cushioning material and disposed to engage the occlusal surface of opposing teeth, said resilient cushioning material and the spacing of the cutting surface member from the main body permitting said cutting surface member to tiltably, laterally and compressively yieldably move with respect to the main body of the tooth and the base of the denture during chewing movements to absorb and cushion the stresses and forces of chewing.

Claim 9

An artificial tooth for use in the posterior portion of a denture comprising: a main body having means for securing it to the base plate of a denture; a body of resilient cushioning material having a base portion fixedly secured to and supported by the main body of the tooth and having an opposed exposed surface portion spaced laterally about its edges inwardly from said main body; and a hard occlusal cutting surface member movably supported on and secured to the exposed surface portion of the body of resilient cushioning material and having lateral edges spaced laterally inwardly from said main body; said cutting surface member having an exposed occlusal cutting surface projecting from the exposed surface of the body of resilient cushioning material and disposed to engage the occlusal surface of opposing teeth, said resilient cushioning material and the spacing of the cutting surface member from the main body permitting said cutting surface member to tiltably, laterally and compressively yieldably move with respect to the main body of the tooth and the base of the denture during chewing movements to absorb and cushion the stresses and forces of chewing.

Claim 10

An artificial tooth for use in a denture comprising: a main body; means on the main body for securing the main body to a denture; a body of resilient cushioning material having a base portion and an opposed surface portion; means on the main body for receiving and supporting the base portion of said body of resilient cushioning material with the surface portion thereof exposed; and a rigid hard occlusal cutting surface member secured to and supported on the exposed surface portion of the body of cushioning material with its edges spaced laterally from so as to be movable on said resilient cushioning material with respect to said main body; said cutting surface member having an occlusal cutting surface disposed to project from the exposed surface portion of said cushioning material beyond said main body to be positioned in the occlusal plane of a denture in which the tooth is incorporated, said resilient materials and the spacing of said cutting surface member from said main body providing for tilting, lateral said compressive movement of said cutting surface member with respect to said main body.

Claim 11

An artificial tooth for use in a denture comprising: a main body; means on the main body for securing the main body to a denture; a body of resilient cushioning material having a base portion and an opposed surface portion; means on the main body for receiving and supporting the base portion of said body of resilient cushioning material with the surface portion thereof exposed; and a rigid hard occlusal cutting surface member secured to and supported on the exposed surface portion of the body of cushioning material with its edges spaced laterally from so as to be movable on said resilient cushioning material with respect to said main body; said cutting surface member having an occlusal cutting surface disposed to project from the exposed surface portion of said cushioning material beyond said main body to be positioned in the occlusal plane of a denture in which the tooth is incorporated, said resilient materials and the spacing of said cutting surface member from said main body providing for tilting, lateral said compressive movement of said cutting surface member with respect to said main body.

Claim 12

A tooth of the character set forth in claim 8 wherein the rigid hard occlusal cutting surface member is provided with a plurality of projecting cutting members on its exposed occlusal surface.

Claim 13

An artificial tooth of the character set forth in claim 8 hwerein the tooth main body comprises a multiple tooth unit.

Claim 18

A method of making a tooth of the character set forth in claim 11, including forming said tooth body portion as a multiple tooth unit.

Claim 19

A method of making a tooth of the character set forth in claim 13 including: securing a plurality of separate biting surface members on the cushioning material in the multiple tooth body.

Claim 22

An artificial tooth of the character set forth in claim 10 wherein the occlusal cutting surface means comprises a plurality of separate cutter members each independently secured in the body of cushioning material spaced from each other and from the main body and movable with respect to each other and with respect to the multiple tooth unit.