Patent Publication Number: US-2015075540-A1

Title: Apparatus for the prevention of sleep apnea

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to sleep apnea in general and in particular to an apparatus for preventing sleep apnea in a wearer. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea disrupts the normal sleep patterns of the individual resulting in fatigue, moodiness, and decreased attention and drive. Sleep apnea can also potentially lead to serious health consequences, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and weight gain among others. 
     Sleep apnea commonly occurs when the soft tissue at the back of the individual&#39;s throat relaxes during sleep and collapses thereby partially or completely obstructing that person&#39;s airway. Such restriction also commonly causes the person to snore. 
     Conventional methods of treating sleep apnea have been to either provide supplemental oxygen to the individual while sleeping or provide a breathing device intended to reduce or prevent the restriction in their airway during sleep. Such attempts have previously been unsatisfactory. In particular, the provision of oxygen to a person typically requires providing a mask or tubes over or within the user&#39;s nostrils which may be uncomfortable for some users thereby further decreasing the amount of sleep that person is able to have in a night. 
     Similarly, devices intended to reduce airway restriction, have commonly focused on translating the lower jaw of the wearer in a forward direction so as to also lift the soft tissue responsible for the restriction. Such devices, however have been uncomfortable to wear by locking the patient&#39;s lower and upper jaws together thereby preventing the wearer from opening their mouth. Examples of such devices may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,757,693 to Toussaint and U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,945 to Halstrom. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
     According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus for preventing sleep apnea in a wearer comprising a generally u-shaped upper appliance adapted to engage with a user&#39;s upper jaw and a generally u-shaped lower appliance adapted to engage with a user&#39;s lower jaw. The apparatus further includes a bottom protrusion extending from the lower appliance in a direction generally away from an occlusal surface of the lower appliance and towards the upper appliance and a top protrusion extending from the upper appliance in a direction generally away from an occlusal surface of the upper appliance and towards the lower appliance, the top protrusion including an adjusting block having a height of between 5/16 and 13/32 of an inch adjustably extending therefrom, the adjusting block having a leading surface oriented to engage the top protrusion 
     The adjusting block may include an anteriorly oriented leading face. The leading face may be angled from perpendicular to the upper appliance. The leading face may be angled by 70 degrees from horizontal. The bottom protrusion may include a posteriorly oriented surface corresponding to and adapted to engage the leading face of the adjusting block. 
     The adjusting block may be slidably movable relative to the top protrusion. The adjusting block may include at least one slide rod extending therefrom, wherein each of the at least one slide rod is slidably supported within a corresponding bore in the top protrusion. The apparatus may further comprise two slide rods. The adjusting block may include an actuator for moving the adjusting block relative to the top protrusion. The actuator may comprise a threaded rod rotatably coupled to and extending from the adjusting block, the threaded rod being threadably received within the top protrusion. 
     The upper and lower appliances may be biased towards each other. The upper and lower appliances may be biased towards each other by at least one elastic band extending therebetween. 
     According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed a method for preventing sleep apnea in a wear comprising locating a top protrusion below and extending away from a top occlusal surface of a wearer&#39;s upper teeth, locating a bottom protrusion above and extending away from a bottom occlusal surface of a wearer&#39;s lower teeth and extending an adjusting block in an anterior direction from the top protrusion towards the bottom protrusion wherein the extension has a height of between 5/16 and 13/32 of an inch. 
     Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view, 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an apparatus for preventing sleep apnea in a wearer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed exploded view of the adjusting assembly of the apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of the adjusting assembly of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  as taken along the line  3 - 3 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the top and bottom teeth guards as taken along the line  4 - 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an apparatus for preventing sleep apnea in a wearer according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown generally at  10 . The apparatus comprises a top teeth guard  12  and a bottom teeth guard  40 . The top teeth guard includes a top protrusion  14  having an adjusting block  16  extending therefrom. The adjusting block  16  is adapted engage with a corresponding bottom protrusion  70  extending from the bottom teeth guard  50 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the top teeth guard  12  comprises a substantially u-shaped channel member having an outer surface  15  and an inner surface  17 . The top teeth guard  12  is defined by a bottom wall  18  having inner and outer walls,  20  and  22 , extending therefrom. As illustrated, bottom wall  18  and inner and outer walls  20  and  22  form channel generally indicated at  24 . The channel  24  is selected to substantially conform to the top teeth and/or gums of a wearer. The top teeth guard  12  may be provided as a custom or semi-custom fitted appliance for the intended wearer. In particular, the top teeth guard may be fitted to the teeth of the wearer by being heated and molded to the teeth of the wearer. Optionally, the top teeth guard  12  may be formed by first creating a mold of the wearer&#39;s top teeth and thereafter forming to such a mold. It will be appreciated that methods for forming a custom or semi-custom fitting guard as set out above are well known in the art. The top teeth guard  12  may be formed of any suitable material, such as acrylic or the like as are commonly known in the art. 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the top protrusion  14  comprises a block of material extending from the bottom wall  18  of the top teeth guard  12 . The top protrusion  14  may be formed of the same or a different material as the remainder of the top teeth guard  12  and may be secured thereto or co-formed therewith. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the top protrusion  14  includes a front face  25  oriented towards a front of the top teeth guard  12 . The top protrusion  14  includes at least one bearing bore  26  therethrough for receiving a sliding rod  34  of the adjusting block as will be more fully described below. As illustrated, the top protrusion  14  may include two bearing bores  26  therethrough although it will be appreciated that one or more than two may also be utilized. The front face also includes an adjusting bore  28  therethrough for receiving an adjusting rod  36  of the adjusting block as will be more fully described below. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the bearing bores  26  and the adjusting bore  28  may be substantially aligned with each other along a common plane although it will be appreciated that the bearing bores  26  and adjusting bore  28  may be offset from each other along as long as they are substantially parallel to each other. 
     The adjusting block  16  comprises a block of material having leading and trailing faces,  30  and  32 , respectively. The trailing face includes at least one sliding rod  34  extending therefrom. The adjusting block  16  may have as many sliding rods  34  as corresponding to the bearing bores  26 . The sliding rods  34  have a diameter and cross-sectional profile corresponding to the bearing bores  26  so as to be slidably received therein as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The bearing bores  26  may slidably support the sliding rods  34  and may optionally include bearings or bushings therein so as to facilitate such movement. The adjusting block  16  also includes and adjusting rod  36  extending from the trailing surface  32 . The adjusting rod  36  may comprise a threaded rod adapted to be threadably receive within the adjusting bore  28  such that rotation of the adjusting rod  36  extends or retracts the adjusting block relative to the top protrusion  14 . Optionally, the adjusting rod  36  may include a nut  38  adapted to be slidably received around the adjusting rod  36  so as to urge the adjusting rod and adjusting block  16  to a desired distance from the top protrusion  14 . 
     The adjusting block  16  extends between top and bottom edges,  42  and  44 , respectively defining the height, generally indicated at  46  of the adjusting block. The height  46  is selected to be at least 5/16 inches (8 mm) with a height of between 5/16 and 13/32 of an inch (8 and 10 mm) being particularly useful. The leading face  30  of the adjusting block  16  is also angled such adjusting block has a greater depth proximate to the top edge  42  than the bottom edge  44  by an angle below the horizontal generally indicated at  48 . The angle  48  is selected to be approximately 70 degrees. 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the bottom teeth guard  50  comprises a substantially u-shaped channel member having an outer surface  52  and an inner surface  54 . The bottom teeth guard  50  is defined by a top wall  56  having inner and outer walls,  58  and  60 , extending therefrom. As illustrated, top wall  56  and inner and outer walls  58  and  60  form channel generally indicated at  62 . The channel  62  is selected to substantially conform to the bottom teeth and/or gums of a wearer. Similar to the top teeth guard  12 , the bottom teeth guard  50  may be provided as a custom or semi-custom fitted appliance for the intended wearer as set out above and may be made by similar materials and methods to the top teeth guard  12 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the bottom protrusion  70  comprises a block of material extending from the top wall  56  of the bottom teeth guard  50 . The bottom protrusion  70  may be formed of the same or a different material as the remainder of the bottom teeth guard  50  and may be secured thereto or co-formed therewith. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the bottom protrusion  70  includes a rear face  72  oriented towards a rear of the bottom teeth guard  12 . The bottom protrusion  70  is located at a position toward the front of the bottom and top teeth guard of the corresponding top teeth guard  12  so as to permit the rear face  72  of the bottom protrusion to be engaged upon the leading face  30  of the adjusting block  16 . The rear face  72  has an angle corresponding to the angle  48  of the adjusting block such that the adjusting block and the bottom protrusion are engaged upon each other. 
     Optionally, the top and bottom teeth guards  12  and  50  may include one or more bracing wires  66  as illustrated in  FIG. 4  and as are commonly known in the art. It will also be appreciated that the top and bottom teeth guards  12  and  50  may include clasps  80  as well as hooks  82  for securing elastic bands  84  as illustrated in  FIG. 1  and as are commonly known in the art. 
     In operation, the top and bottom teeth guards  12  and  50  are applied to a user&#39;s top and bottom teeth as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Elastic bands  84  may also be extended therebetween so as to retain the top and bottom teeth guards  12  and  50  in a proximate relation. The adjusting rod  36  is then adjusted so as to bear against the bottom protrusion and urge the bottom teeth guard  50  in an anterior direction. Such movement will thereby move the wearer&#39;s lower jaw forward thereby reducing obstruction of their airway and reducing sleep apnea. 
     While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.