Improvements in Artificial Teeth.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 4th June, 1889-Accepted, 28th Sept., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Artificial Teeth.
I, EDWARD AUGUSTUS FLOYD, of Paola, in the county of Miami and State of
Kansas, in the United States of America, Dentist, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL TEETH, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to an improvement in artificial teeth; and it consists in the
combination of a dental plate with an artificial tooth having a transverse groove
across its inner end, and flat headed pins which are inserted in the bottom of the
groove in the tooth and made to catch in the artificial plate, as will be more fully
described hereinafter.
The object of my invention is to so groove the inner ends of the teeth that they
will straddle over the ridge of the dental plate, and to provide them with large
headed pins, around which the material out of which the plate is formed can be
readily packel, and thus enable the teeth to be secured more readily and easily to
the plates than has heretofore been possible.
Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through a tooth and dental plate, showing the
tooth in position. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective showing the groove in the tooth
and the pin.
A represents an artificial tooth, which has a deep groove, B, extending across its
inner end, and which is sufficiently large to straddle over the ridge of the dental
plate, as shown, the points or prongs of each tooth being made to fit snugly against
the inner and outer sides of the ridge of the dental plate, so as to both strengthen
the plate and to brace the tooth securely in position. This groove enables each tooth
to be applied directly to the dental plate, and when applied has much more strength
than when fastened in the usual manner, because the teeth can be made to fit the
ridge much more perfectly, and at the same time allow the rubber to flow out and
along the line of the ridge, giving the tooth a much stronger hold or attachment to
the plate than can be done where the teeth are applied to the ridge of the plate in
the usual manner, leaving the sides open.
Cis a pin having a large flat or grooved head, fitted in the bottom of each groove.
Two or more of these pins may be used.
As shown in Fig. 2, the head C extends a suitable distance above the bottom of the
groove B, which is made in the tooth A, and thus serves as a stop to prevent the
tooth from coming in too close contact with the plaster model upon which the dental
plate is to be formed. The head of this pin passes through the wax covering, which
is placed upon the model before it is placed in the flask. When the wax is removed,
a space is left between the groove in the tooth and the plaster model, and into this
space the rubber is wedged while soft and hot, and thus fills all the spaces between
the tooth and the model and packs around the head C of the pin. After the rubber
plate is vulcanized and the rubber is hardened, the pin thus secures the plate and
tooth together. One special advantage of this construction consists in that should a
tooth be broken off of a set of teeth a new tooth can be replaced by simply cutting the
palatine surface of the plate where the tooth has been broken, then pack in a sufficient
quantity of rubber and vulcanize it around the pin-head without interfering with the
outside of the plate.
Teeth having recesses made in their inner ends, and having small-headed pins fastened
to the teeth in the recesses, have heretofore been made; but the great trouble in
attaching this tooth in position upon the dental plate has been that if the material out
of which the plate is made is not packed into the recess so as to catch hold of the
pin the tooth is liable to become displaced. The proper packing of this material

page_text: requires great care and skill. By making a deep groove across the inner end of each
tooth, leaving it somewhat semi-circular in form, it will conform to the ridge of the
dental plate after it has been shaped after the natural teeth have been extracted and
the gums are ready for artificial teeth. As the grooves made in the inner ends of the
teeth enable the lips or points of the grooves to reach high on the dental plate, both
on the outer and inner sides of the ridge, the natural shape and size of the tooth may
be perfectly imitated. When teeth are flasked, the rubber or other material may be
swaged at once upon them without having to pack the same, as in teeth not grooved,
as here shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what I
claim is
The combination, with the dental plate, of an artificial tooth, A, having a transverse
groove, B, extending across its inner end, so that the ends or prongs of the grooved
portions of the tooth will fit snugly against the opposite sides of the ridge of the
plate, the sides of said tooth being open, and the flat-headed pin or pins C, secured to
the tooth in the bottom of the groove and projecting upward a suitable distance
beyond the groove, so as to act as a stop for the tooth and the model, into which the
soft hot rubber is swaged, substantially as shown and described.
D
EDWARD A. FLOYD.
Per A. Harvey,
His Attorney.
EDWARD A. FLOYD.
Per A. Harvey,
His Attorney.