IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF ARTIFICIAL TEETH, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOUTH PLATES OR SUPPORTS THEREFOR
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Urial King Mayo, of the State of Massachusetts,
of the United States of America, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PREPARATION OF ARTIFICIAL TEETH, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
MOUTH PLATES OR SUPPORTS THEREFOR. A communication from
Josephus Brockway, of the State of New York, of the United
States of America.
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Sealed the 13th January 1871, and dated the 2nd November 1870.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Urial King Mayo at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 2nd November 1870, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY COME, I,
URIAL KING MAYO, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United States
of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PREPARATION OF ARTIFICIAL TEETH, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOUTH
PLATES OR SUPPORTS THEREFOR," such Invention having been communicated

page_text: to me by Josephus Brockway, of the State of New York, of the United
States of America, and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,
and my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Urial King Mayo, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, making part of this Specification, of which
Drawings Figure 1 is a rear view; Figure 2, a front elevation; and 1
Figure 3, a transverse section of a tooth block prepared for in
accordance with my Invention.
use
Figure 4 is a top view; and Figure 5, a back view of an upper jaw
mouth plate as made and prepared in accordance with my Invention for
the reception of artificial teeth.
Figure 6 is a top view; Figure 7, a bottom view; and Figure 8 is a
transverse section of a lower jaw base or mouth plate as so made.
Figure 9 is a transverse section of the teeth and mouth plate for an
upper jaw as combined as herein-after set forth.
]
With my Invention I am enabled to effect a great change in the art 2
of dentistry, whereby with comparatively little labor and expense I can
make in a very short period of time a whole set or a part of a set of
artificial teeth of perfect fit and of great durability, as well as not liable
to the inconveniences and objections of those made with metallic or
vulcanite bases, the substance used by me in the manufacture being
what is termed soluble cotton.
I need not expatiate on the great cost of, and the difficulty of making
artificial teeth base plates as usually constructed of gold, silver, or other
metal, or of the disadvantage of base plates when composed of vulcanite,
which usually contain mineral matters very detrimental to the wearers,
the vulcanite plates being brittle and often liable to derangement, as
such are well known to dentists and others, and it has long been a
desideratum to find some good and proper substitute for such base plates.
I have succeeded in discovering a mode by which soluble cotton may
be adopted as such substitute. So long ago as A.D. 1859 a Patent
I believe was secured in England for its use for dental plates. The
shrinkage of this material in drying is very great, it generally occupying

page_text: but one-thirtieth of the space in a solid state to what it does as a liquid
or in the state of collodion. This property of the prepared cotton pre-
vented it from being successfully used. In the United States of America
attempts to so utilize it have been made by mixing it with mineral
or other matters, but the mixture was rendered too brittle and was
objectionable in other respects. The hard collodion has been obtained
and subsequently broken up, re-dissolved, and afterwards pressed into
a mould containing the tooth or teeth. As the material hardened it
would shrink so much as to require great force to keep it in connection
with the teeth, they often being broken by it; besides though dry or
hard on the exterior the interior of the plate often remained for months
in a soft state, being subjected to constant shrinkage, all of which was
fatal to it for its intended purpose.
In carrying out my Invention I do not press the material in a mould
upon or against the tooth or teeth placed therein in order to fix it or
them to it and give shape to the material, but I condense the material
in a mould and indurate the moulded mass so as to reduce it to a shape
closely approximating to such as may be desirable, as, for instance, I
make it for an upper jaw plate of the form as shown in Figures 4 and 5,
or for a lower jaw plate as shown in Figures 6, 7, and 8.
In case of the blank for the upper jaw plate I make it to cover such
part of the jaw or of such and the roof of the mouth as may be desirable.
The blank for the lower jaw plate is to be of the form required and to
have grooves a, b, disposed in it exteriorally in manner as shown, such
being to serve as supports to the teeth and their backing..
In preparing the plastic material for being moulded I take, for
instance, one pound of the "soluble cotton" (by soluble cotton I mean
cotton prepared by sulphuric and nitric acid in a manner well known
for the purpose of making collodion of such cotton by dissolving it in::
ether and alcohol or some other suitable substitute) and reduce it to a
pulpy state by means of about three pounds of sulphuric ether and
twelve ounces of alcohol. It is to be borne in mind that I do not reduco.
the mass to a liquid but simply to a pulpy or plastic state. In such a
state it will shrink to about one-fourth of its bulk in drying.
Generally speaking before being fit for use the material has to be
strained or otherwise properly treated so as to deprive it of extraneous
matters. To accomplish this it may be driven through a sieve or sieves
by pressure applied to it; next it is to be forced or condensed under
r

page_text: great pressure in a mould of the proper shape and having a bulk about
four times what the article is to have when dry; next it is to be
removed from the preparatory mould and placed in a drying mould, or
successively in a series of such similar in form though varying in size,
the object being to cause it to retain its general form while shrinking;
finally, when nearly dry the blank so moulded and shrunk is to be put
into a finishing die or dies and pressed therein so as to consolidate it and
bring it to the necessary shape which it is to have as a base plate;
next the base plate should be exposed to the atmosphere or to heat
so as to thoroughly dry it; the article will then be fit for use. In
preparing a tooth or a block of teeth for being fixed to such a base
plate, I cover the spurs or pins c of such tooth or block A (see Figures 1,
2, and 3) with a mass of the plastic material herein-before described, and
dry it on and around the same, especially about the necks of the pins, so
as to form thereon when it is dry what I term a "backing" shrunk
firmly on and about the pin or pins.
It will be observed that what I term the base plate is to have, first,
the necessary approximate shape to fit to the superior or inferior alveolar
ridge of either the upper or lower jaw, the fitting it to the ridge being a
subsequent matter and effected as follows:-This is to be done by cutting
or reducing it by tools to a closer fit, and finally dusting upon the
surface a quantity of the material in a comminuted or powdered state,
and pouring upon the quantity so dusted on a sufficient quantity of
ether or other suitable solvent so as to reduce it to a plastic state; in
this condition the plate is to be pressed upon the plaster cast or counter-
part of the jaw or the portion thereof to be fitted, and there firmly held
by means of elastic clasps or a press until sufficiently dry or set; next
the tooth or blocks of teeth prepared with a backing or backings as
herein-before explained is or are to be fixed to the base plate, they first
being articulated in a manner well known to dentists. Having thus
been properly arranged on the base cach tooth or block is to be fastened
in place thereon by putting or filling into the joints and about the
backing a small amount of the powdered material and next applying
thereto ether or other proper solvent so as to reduce the mass to a
cementing state, whereby when dry it will effect the adhesion of the
teeth to the base plate. That part of the base plate which is to fit to
the alveolar arch may be in a piece separate from the portion to fit to
the alveolar ridge, and be cemented thereto by means of the powdered

page_text: material reduced by a solvent as described, the whole being so as to form
the part either with or without one or more air chambers or suction
spaces such as are usually formed in the upper surface of the arch. In
making a plate in this way the old method of using dies to fit it to the
mouth is dispensed with, thereby effecting a saving of a large amount
of labor, expense, and time, and being advantageous in other respects.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim as such is as
follows:-
I claim the combination of an artificial tooth or a block of such with
a preparative backing as set forth of indurated soluble cotton applied to
and surrounding the metallic pin or pins (or the neck or necks thereof)
projecting from such tooth or block, all being substantially as and for
the purpose or use as specified.
I also claim as a new manufacture and of my Invention an artificial
tooth base or mouth plate made of indurated soluble cotton in the new
manner and for use, substantially as herein-before described.
I also claim the combination of an artificial tooth base or mouth plate
of indurated soluble cotton with one or more artificial teeth or blocks
of such, and a backing of indurated soluble cotton previously applied to
the pin or pins of such tooth, teeth, block, or blocks, the union of
the backing and base being effected by cementation or means as set
forth.
In witness whereof, I have hereto set my signature and seal, this
URIAL KING MAYO. (L.S.)