Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
101 words
A baked metal-porcelain dental restoration for mounting on a patient's shaped tooth base said restoration comprising: (a) an interior substrate of non-cast semi-precious alloy of soft, swageable thin metal foil for mounting on the shaped tooth base, said substrate having a textured exterior surface substantially free from surface coatings and an interior surface configuration that conforms substantially to the exterior configuration of said tooth base; and (b) a body porcelain layer chemically bonded directly to the substrate textured exterior surface without any intermediate interface composition therebetween, said porcelain layer having an exterior of prescribed configuration to provide a desired occlusal surface.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
101 words
A baked metal-porcelain dental restoration for mounting on a patient's shaped tooth base said restoration comprising: (a) an interior substrate of non-cast semi-precious alloy of soft, swageable thin metal foil for mounting on the shaped tooth base, said substrate having a textured exterior surface substantially free from surface coatings and an interior surface configuration that conforms substantially to the exterior configuration of said tooth base; and (b) a body porcelain layer chemically bonded directly to the substrate textured exterior surface without any intermediate interface composition therebetween, said porcelain layer having an exterior of prescribed configuration to provide a desired occlusal surface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
The dental restoration of claim 1 wherein the exterior of said substrate is substantially free from tin plating.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
16 words
The dental restoration of claim 1 wherein said substrate comprises a single layer of metal foil.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
The dental restoration of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the substrate is above 25 microns.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The dental restoration of claim 1 wherein the coefficient of heat expansion of said substrate and said porcelain layer are substantially the same.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The dental restoration of claim 1 wherein said substrate has a generally cup-like interior surface configuration.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The dental restoration of claim 1 wherein the porcelain layer comprises a predetermined number of layers of dental porcelain.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
The dental restoration of claim 1 wherein said porcelain layer extends slightly beyond the exposed edge of said metal foil substrate and coacts therewith to form a concealed channel when said restoration is mounted on the patient's shaped tooth base.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
176 words
A method of making a baked metal-porcelain dental restoration having a substrate of swageable thin metal foil and a porcelain layer bonded directly to the exterior of said metal foil, comprising: (a) providing a support post having a configuration capable of supporting a dental restoration; (b) coating the exterior of said support post with a thin spacing layer; (c) swaging a non-cast semi-precious alloy of soft thin metal foil around said coated post to form a substrate, said substrate having an exterior substantially free from surface coatings, and having an interior surface configuration conforming substantially to the exterior surface configuration of said support post; (d) texturing a predetermined portion of the exterior surface of said substrate; (e) applying body porcelain powder directly to the textured exterior surface portion of said substrate without the use of any intermediate interface composition; (f) baking said substrate and said applied porcelain powder to fuse and chemically bond said powder directly to said textured exterior surface portion to form a porcelain layer; and (g) finishing the exterior of said porcelain layer.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
176 words
A method of making a baked metal-porcelain dental restoration having a substrate of swageable thin metal foil and a porcelain layer bonded directly to the exterior of said metal foil, comprising: (a) providing a support post having a configuration capable of supporting a dental restoration; (b) coating the exterior of said support post with a thin spacing layer; (c) swaging a non-cast semi-precious alloy of soft thin metal foil around said coated post to form a substrate, said substrate having an exterior substantially free from surface coatings, and having an interior surface configuration conforming substantially to the exterior surface configuration of said support post; (d) texturing a predetermined portion of the exterior surface of said substrate; (e) applying body porcelain powder directly to the textured exterior surface portion of said substrate without the use of any intermediate interface composition; (f) baking said substrate and said applied porcelain powder to fuse and chemically bond said powder directly to said textured exterior surface portion to form a porcelain layer; and (g) finishing the exterior of said porcelain layer.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 9 wherein the configuration of said support post is a substantial replica of a corresponding tooth base formed in a patient's mouth to anchor a dental restoration.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 10 wherein said finishing of said metal-porcelain restoration comprises: (a) contouring the exterior surface of said porcelain layer to a prescribed occlusal configuration; (b) applying predetermined coloring to the exterior of said porcelain layer; and (c) removing any metal foil substrate portion visible when said restoration is anchored to the tooth base in a patient's mouth.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 9 wherein the thickness of said spacing layer is approximately 50 microns.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 9 wherein said metal foil substrate is textured over substantially the entire exterior surface thereof.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 9 wherein said metal foil substrate is manually swaged about the exterior of the support post.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 9 wherein said substrate is textured by sandblasting.