IMPROVE- MENTS IN ARTIFICIAL TEETH."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Godfrey, of 17, Hanover Street, Hanover
Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ARTIFICIAL TEETH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Godfrey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
June 1866.
I, THOMAS GODFREY, of 17, Hanover Street, Hanover Square, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL TEETH," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, 1st., in making the body or base of artificial teeth
of greater strength and less weight than hitherto constructed, and 2ndly, in
affixing the said teeth to the gums or roof of the mouth.
For effecting the 1st improvement I form the body or base of vulcanite or
vulcanized india-rubber, and affix a piece of thin gold or other metal (by wire
or otherwise) on the surface thereof, strengthened on the under side with tin
or alluminum.
For effecting the 2nd part of my said Invention I form a hollow
chamber or recess of a circular or other form in the body or base of the

page_text: artificial teeth, which base fits into the roof or upper portion of the mouth,
and round this chamber I form a raised border or ridge, so that when placed
in the mouth the suction alone will cause it to adhere closely to the flesh.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Thomas Godfrey in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GODFREY, of 17, Hanover Street, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex,
send grooting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six. in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Godfrey, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Godfrey,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Godfrey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARTIFICIAL TEETH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Godfrey, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Godfrey, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My Invention has for its object, 1st., to increase the strength and diminish
the weight of the body or base of artificial teeth; 2ndly., to increase the
adhesive or holding power of the base or artificial to the natural palate.
For effecting the first part of my said Invention I form the base of artificial
teeth of ebonite or vulcanite, and fix a thin stratum of gold on the upper

page_text: surface with a sub-stratum of alluminum between it and the vulcanite base,
thus giving the necessary strength to the said base without increasing its
weight.
For effecting the second part of my said Invention, I form a hollow chamber,
cavity, or recess of any desired shape in the under surface of the base, or that
portion of the artificial base which is fitted to the palate, and completely
round this cavity I form a raised rib or head, so that when placed in the
mouth the suction from the roof causes a vacuum in the cavity and the teeth
thereby held more firmly and securely to the palate than when the cavity is
formed in the ordinary manner.
I claim as my Invention the strengthening of the base of artificial teeth as
described under the 1st part of this Specification; and, secondly, the raised
border or surface of the hollow chamber in the base or palate portion. I do
not, however, claim as my Invention the chamber itself, but simply the
improvement as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Godfrey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
THOS. GODFREY. (L.S.)