Holder for rubber dental dam

Claim 1

A human facial frame means for holding a dental dam, said frame means being generally U-shaped with an arcuate bottom frame member with means comprising two upright members, said bottom member being adapted to extend around and in front of a human mandible, said arcuate bottom member being adapted to be wide enough to span the entire chin and mandible area and to fit on opposite sides of a patient's face, the uprights having a relatively short length so that they do not rest on the cheek bone, said arcuate bottom member further being adapted to surround a substantial arcuate portion of a patient's mandible, extending substantially from the molar area on one side to the molar area on the other side of the mandible, said two upright members of the U-shaped frame means being adapted to be positioned on opposite sides of the face and head, the width and angle of the uprights being adapted to cause said uprights to come to rest in a position where the upright members are generally parallel to a facial plane which is defined by the patient's nasion and the pogonion, said two upright members being adapted to be located at positions in the range of approximately one-quarter of the distance extending from the ear toward the facial plane, the origin of the two upright frame members being adapted to be located on opposite sides of the patient's head and over approximately the gonion, the bottom of the U-shaped means being adapted to rest on and pivoted around the pogonion in the front of the chin, the two upright frame members having said relatively short length which is adapted to have a top end which is well below and away from the patient's eyes in the direction of the ears when said uprights are in said resting position, a plurality of outwardly projecting means for securing a dental dam around the periphery of the U-shaped frame means, and means on the frame for adapting it to be anchored in place about a patient's head.