Abstract:
An apparatus and method for the efficient, safe, and hygienic removing of removable tooth positioning appliances such as aligners or other dental appliances from the teeth of a patient. A straight rigid barrel has a lever appendage on the proximal end for fully engaging and removing a lower aligner and a hook appendage on the distal end for fully engaging and removing an upper aligner.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is entitled to the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. U.S. 61/043,443 filing date: Apr. 9, 2008 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Removable tooth positioning appliances (invisible braces), such as clear plastic aligners and retainers that tightly fit over teeth are commonly used in orthodontic treatments as an alternative to braces and other bonded orthodontic equipment for controlled tooth movement to a pre-determined position. These clear plastic tooth positioning appliances are not bonded to the teeth which they are used to manipulate but are made to be removed in order to eat, drink, brush, and floss the teeth as well as during dental procedures. The appliance is fabricated from a mold of the patient&#39;s teeth in order to provide accuracy of placement in compliance with the exact shape of the teeth or the exact shape and any necessary attachment devices. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,248 for an example of such a removable tooth positioning appliance which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Total treatment time with clear plastic aligners averages 9-15 months and the average number of aligners worn during treatment is between 18 and 30, but both will vary from case to case. When teeth are moved into their final position patients are then only required to wear the aligners at night. 
     Removable tooth positioning appliances consist of a thin shell of clear material that conforms to a patient&#39;s teeth but just slightly out of alignment with the initial tooth configuration. By properly choosing the configuration, placement of the appliance over the teeth will move individual teeth to desired intermediate or final positions over time. These positioning appliances can be designed to fit over any number of teeth, and are typically designed to be placed over the entire top and/or bottom set of teeth. 
     To achieve the repositioning forces required to move a tooth from one position to another position these tooth positioning appliance must be relatively stiff (i.e. possess a high strength or high modulus) to provide a sufficient grip on the teeth The stiffness provides the repositioning force necessary to move the teeth and ensures that the dental appliance remains firmly in position on the patient&#39;s teeth. The stiffness also permits the positioning appliance to grab hold of an anchor device or attachments on the tooth to apply a directed force to execute orthodontic tooth movements. 
     The stiffness of the tooth positioning appliance and the requirement that the appliance tightly conform to the teeth of the patient makes it difficult to remove these appliances. It is necessary to remove the positioning appliance many times daily in the course of the patient&#39;s daily life for cleaning, dental hygiene, to eat, and removal for cosmetic purposes and replacement in the course of treatment. Patients are instructed to use their fingers and fingernails to remove the appliances but they often find removing the appliances to be difficult and in many cases painful. Patients also find it unsanitary to be continually putting their hands in their mouths. Because removal of the appliances requires a lever action patients often will attempt to use household instruments, such as forks, spoons, or nut picks to remove their tooth positioning appliance. Using improvised instruments can damage the patient&#39;s teeth, gums and the appliance itself. During visits to the dental practitioner these practitioners use orthodontic instruments designed for other uses to remove the appliance. These orthodontic appliances often present the same problems and dangers as the patient&#39;s improvised instruments. For these reasons, it is desirable to provide a lightweight and convenient tool that is specifically designed to remove such tooth positioning appliances from a patient&#39;s teeth in a safe, easy, and effective manner. 
     Present principles recognize problems of the existing tool seen in U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,517—“Apparatus and method for removing a removable tooth positioning appliance from the teeth of a patient, ART® The Appliance Remover Tool.” The Art® tool is not effective for the use it was designed as it is difficult to hold and manage, it does not have a place to grip, the U shape is curved so that there is no leverage, the distal ends are too large to position under the aligners, and both ends are the same shape so it doesn&#39;t solve the problem of removing both top and bottom appliances. Because both ends of the ART are the same shape it requires the person to attempt to remove appliances by inserting the ART on the inside or tongue side which is ineffective due U shaped design making it difficult to grip, the distal ends are too large to insert between the appliance and the teeth, and there no visibility when using it on the inside of the mouth, the person has to search blindly to find a place to attempt to engage the tool. 
     Problems of the ART tool are as follows:
     1. Due to the curved U shape of the tool persons cannot maintain grip and adequately apply leverage to exert force.   2. Persons cannot position the Art Tool between the teeth and the aligner because the distal ends are too large.   3. The curved shape of the distal ends reduces leverage required to exert force to remove the appliance. Instead of pulling down or pushing up like persons do with the Outie Tool, with the ART the persons must pull out away from the mouth reducing mechanical force.   4. The curved shape and the thickness of the distal ends that taper to a point increases the potential to injure the gums or teeth. The person may attempt to quickly jerk off the appliance because they cannot adequately engage the tool between the teeth and the appliance. This may harm the gums, teeth or tear appliance.   5. The distal ends of the ART tool are both the same, this requires the person to put the tool on the tongue side where there is no visibility and the person is unable to grip and exert force, and a person cannot engage the tool fully in order to easily and effectively remove the appliance.   

     For all these reasons the ART tool is ineffective in its design. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The OUTIE TOOL is designed to be used by people without any special training to remove their invisible braces. The OUTIE TOOL is light and compact, it is easy to carry in pocket or purse, it is easy and safe to use. The Outie Tool is a small piece of plastic (polypropylene food grade) with a short flat hook appendage on distal end and a flat lever appendage on the proximal end. The OUTIE TOOL is 11.5 cm long and 8 mm wide on each side. Each appendage, both hook and lever is sufficiently thin enough (1.5 mm) to easily fit under the appliance, in between the teeth. The person wearing the clear aligners inserts the lever appendage under the appliance that is covering the lower teeth and exerts a small amount of force upward in order to push the bottom aligner off. The person inserts the hook appendage under the appliance that is covering the upper teeth and exerts a small amount of force downward to easily and safely pull the upper appliance off. There are no dangers to the gums, teeth, or appliance in using the OUTIE TOOL when used as instructed. The OUTIE TOOL provides easy and safe removal in a hygienic manner. The OUTIE TOOL can be used by both dental practitioners and patients wearing invisible braces with no special training. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1 : Side View of OUTIE TOOL 
       Dimensions: Barrel length from side to side 11.5 cm, width in middle of barrel (up and down) 8 mm on all 4 sides 
         FIG. 2 : Top View of OUTIE TOOL 
       Hook appendage on left, lever appendage on right 
         FIG. 3 : Bottom View 
       Hook appendage on left, lever appendage on right 
         FIG. 4 : Lever Appendage Close-up view 
       Lever Appendage pushes off bottom appliance from lower teeth 
         FIG. 5 : Hook Appendage Close-up view 
       Hook appendage pulls off top appliance from upper teeth 
         FIG. 6 : Photo illustration. Using the Hook appendage to pull off upper aligner 
         FIG. 7 : Photo illustration. Using the Lever appendage to push off bottom aligner 
         FIG. 8 : Photo of actual OUTIE Tools 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is called the OUTIE TOOL. The Outie Tool is manufactured by injection molding. A mold is created from the  3 D design and precision-machined to form the features of the design illustrated, the barrel, hook appendage, and lever appendages. The molds are made from metal, usually either steel or aluminum. The material used is polypropylene food grade (PP) which is completely safe for food and medical usage; it is sufficiently hard and strong enough to withstand normal use without breaking or cracking. The material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the mold cavity. 
     The Outie Tool solves all of the above problems as described below: 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1  Side View of OUTIE TOOL is illustrative of the compact and lightweight design, easy and convenient for persons to carry them in purse or pocket during daily life. The straight, rigid design of the barrel is necessary to sufficiently grasp while applying mechanical force to remove the appliance. The barrel has to be straight in order to supply leverage. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  show the Hook appendage on left, and the Lever appendage on right. The Hook appendage and Lever appendage are 7 mm long, 3 mm wide and 1.5 mm thick. These dimensions make it easy to slide the appendage in between the appliances and the teeth, engage fully, and remove the aligners with minimal force while being completely safe. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6  the OUTIE TOOL is illustrated in a position to engage and remove upper appliance using the hook appendage to pull off the aligner/appliance. The hook is inserted under the appliance and in between the patient&#39;s teeth sliding carefully to a place typically in between the teeth to easily slide under. By the application of downward force, the upper aligner is dislodged and removed from the teeth of the patient in a safe and effective manner. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 7  the OUTIE TOOL is illustrated in a position to engage and remove lower appliance using the lever appendage to push off bottom aligner/appliance. The lever is inserted in under the appliance and between the person&#39;s teeth sliding carefully to a place typically in between the teeth to easily slide under. By the application of upward force, the lower aligner is dislodged and removed from the teeth of the patient in a safe and effective manner. 
     As shown in the figures and with particular reference to  FIG. 1 , the present device includes an elongated barrel portion  12  defining a longitudinal dimension. A flat hook appendage  14  is on a distal end segment  16  of the barrel portion  12 . The hook appendage  14  includes a transverse segment  18  extending transversely away from the barrel portion in a first transverse direction relative to the longitudinal dimension as shown. The transverse segment  18  of the hook appendage has a first end coupled to the barrel portion  12  and a second end coupled to a leg portion  20 , which extends in the longitudinal dimension toward a proximal end segment  22  of the barrel portion  12  such that the hook appendage  14  and distal end segment  16  of the barrel portion  12  form a generally U-shaped structure. 
       FIG. 1  also shows that a flat lever appendage  24  is on the proximal end segment  22  of the barrel portion  12 . The lever appendage  24  includes a transverse segment  26  extending transversely away from the barrel portion  12  in a second transverse direction relative to the longitudinal dimension, and as shown in  FIG. 1  the second transverse direction is generally opposite the first transverse direction along which the transverse segment  18  of the hook appendage  14  extends. The transverse segment  26  of the lever appendage  24  has a first end coupled to the barrel portion  12  and a second end coupled to a leg portion  28 , which extends in the longitudinal dimension away from the proximal end segment  22  of the barrel portion  12  such that the lever appendage  24  and proximal end segment.  22  of the barrel portion  12  form a generally L-shaped structure. If desired, a central segment  30  of the barrel portion  12  may be thicker than the proximal and distal end segments  22 ,  16 . 
     With this structure, a patient can use the device of  FIG. 1  to remove a tooth positioning appliance on a tooth of the patient by positioning the hook appendage  14  above the tooth positioning appliance on the upper gum line between the upper teeth of the patient. The patient inserts the hook appendage  14  between the tooth positioning appliance and the teeth of the patient and exerts a force downward thereby causing the tooth positioning to release from the upper teeth of the patient. Furthermore, the patient can position the lever appendage  22  below a tooth positioning appliance on a lower gum line between the teeth of the patient, insert the lever appendage between the tooth positioning appliance and the teeth of the patient, and exert a force upward thereby causing the tooth positioning to release from the lower teeth of the patient. The force exerted to the handle portion can be in a direction substantially parallel to the teeth of the patient.