IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXATION OF APPARATUS REMEDYING PHYSICAL DEFECTS OF THE MOUTH AND PALATE
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Raphael Hunter Brandon of N° 1 rue Laffitte Paris,
France, Engineer and Patent Agent for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXATION OF APPARATUS REMEDYING PHYSICAL
DEFECTS OF THE MOUTH AND PALATE" a communication to him by Benjamin
James Bing D.D.S of Paris France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Raphael Hunter Brandon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th April 1883.
RAPHAEL HUNTER BRANDON of N° 1 rue Laffitte Paris, France engineer and
patent agent IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXATION OF APPARATUS
REMEDYING PHYSICAL DEFECTS OF THE MOUTH AND PALATE, a communication to
me by Benjamin James Bing, D.D.S. of Paris, France
This invention has particularly reference to the apparatus usually called
obturators & which are held or attached in tho mouth for closing clefts,
perforations or holes in the palate, whether congenital, or caused by diseases or
otherwise. This invention has for its object to suppress the large & necessarily
thick plates used for holding up the artificial palates, which plates, besides
occupying all or nearly the whole of the surface of the palate, have the unavoidable
disadvantage of causing the teeth to decay and of irritating the flesh, they also
neutralise almost entirely the sensitiveness of the palate to the taste of the food.
Furthermore, the weight of the whole apparatus is relatively so great that it is
impossible, even by suction, to prevent it from moving to a great extent, specially
during mastication; such usual obturators therefore answer in an imperfect
manner, the intended purpose, viz: perfect closing or obturation of the cleft or
perforation. Finally all the various kinds of apparatus hitherto conceived are not
capable of being used as much as they might be, because the wearer, who, without
being sensitive, has worn an obturator of any kind for some time, cannot become
definitively accustomed to it.

page_text: The apparatus made according to this invention obviates all the inconveniences
above referred to & answers the same purpose as the natural roof of the palate in a
perfect manner. The means of attachment consists in the use of say two metal
wires, preferably platinum, one end of each of which is let into the artificial palate
& the other end of each is inserted frictionally into small metal tubes adapted near,
between or into the teeth, as hereafter explained.
Each wire of platinum or other suitable material is bent so as to follow exactly
the shape of the roof of the mouth & is made to bear slightly against the said roof.
The free or outer end of each wire is bent to the proper shape and at the requisite
angle so as to be inserted in a short tubular piece made of platinum or other
suitable material, which is fixed permanently either into a tooth or between or
near two teeth, the said tubular piece being plugged in its place in the first case, or
held by metal branches extending to and also let into the adjoining teeth in the
second case.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Raphael Hunter Brandon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th September 1883.
RAPHAEL HUNTER BRANDON of N° 1 rue Laffitte Paris, France Engineer and
patent agent "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXATION of apparatus
REMEDYING PHYSICAL DEFECTS OF THE MOUTH AND PALATE (a communication to
me by Benjamin James Bing, D.D.S. of Paris, France)
"
This invention has particularly reference to the apparatus usually called
obturators and which are held or attached in the mouth for closing clefts,
perforations or holes in the palate, whether congenital or caused by diseases or
otherwise. This invention has for its object to suppress the large and necessarily thick
plates used for holding up the artificial palates, which plates, besides occupying all
or nearly the whole of the surface of the palate, have the unavoidable disadvantage
of causing the teeth to decay and of irritating the flesh; they also neutralise almost
entirely the sensitiveness of the palate to the taste of food. Furthermore, the
weight of the whole apparatus is relatively so great, that it is impossible, even by
suction, to prevent it from moving to a great extent, specially during mastication ;
such usual obturators therefore answer in an imperfect manner the intended
purpose, viz perfect closing or obturation of the cleft or perforation.
:
The means of attachment consists in the use of say two wires, bars or strips,
preferably platinum, one end of each of which is let into the artificial palato and
the other end of each is inserted frictionnally into small metal tubes adapted near,
between or into the teeth, as hereinafter explained. In the following specification,
I have shown and described the obturator as applied to closing a cleft in
the back part of the roof of a palate, but it is evident that, without departing
from this invention, the same means may also be applied to closing larger or
smaller clefts or perforations reaching even into the bony part of the roof itself.
In the drawing hereto annexed:
Fig. 1 is a view of a palate with a congenital cleft; Fig. 2 is a perspective view
of the frame of the artificial palate; Fig. 3 is the frame applied to the artificial
palate; Fig. 4 shows the completed obturator in its place, closing the cleft, and
Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 are details.
The frame shown in fig. 2 is composed of two wires, bars or strips a, b, preferably
platinum wires, which are bent separately to suit the shape of the palate, from the
beginning of the cleft up to the teeth. When both wires, strips or bars are suitably
bent, both upper ends are attached together, at an angle, either by soldering with
gold, by rivetting or otherwise, see fig. 2, and the ends thus connected receive the
artificial palate c which is attached thereto in the manner usually followed in
dentistry, both ends being sunk therein, see fig. 3. The said artificial palate c is
made of indian rubber or other suitable soft material round the whole of its outer
edge, the central portion only is or can be made of hardened or vulcanised rubber
in order to stiffen it. The free ends of the wires, bars or strips a, b serve as a
means of attachment of the obturator to the mouth. For this purpose, I
make use of tubes fixed in, near or between the teeth, The free ends of
said wires, strips or bars are inserted frictionnally into the said tubes.
Two decayed teeth, one on each side of the upper jaw, may be selected for
receiving internally a short tube made of platinum or other suitable, metal or
material, vertically in the tooth, as shown in fig. 5, in which d'is the tube sunk
into the tooth. The said tube d is held in the cavity of the tooth by compressed
"

page_text: leaf gold or by other appropriate means and in order to give the tube, as well as
the tooth, the requisite strength and resistance, the tube may have connected to it
two short arms e, f, fastened or slightly let into the adjoining teeth on each side,
see fig. 6.
In
In the foregoing case, it has been supposed that the teeth were simply decayed,
presenting an appropriate cavity, for such teeth offer the most facility for the
insertion of tube à. The said tube may however be adapted into a stump or root,
the nerve of which has been destroyed, for in such case, a hole may be bored
therein for the tube, which will be longer and consequently give a longer bearing
surface, to the end of the wires a & b. The tube & should be fixed additionnally
to the two adjoining teeth by means of two side arms, see fig. 7, the dotted lines
showing the place of the stump. The tube can also be placed in a space left by a
pulled out tooth and be fixed to the adjoining teeth. The tube can also be placed
horizontally, insteal of vertically, in the tooth and still be set in place without
destroying the nerve of the tooth or boring a cavity too deeply in the same.
such case the tube may be formed by a flat piece of metal, bent over at its middle
portion so as to form a hole, see fig. 8. The upper portions of the piece are let a
Blight distance into a cavity bored into a tooth (or between two teeth slightly
separated for the purpose) and is secured tightly therein, see fig. 9, by compressing leaf
gold or other means. The horizontal tube being flush or almost flush with the lower
part of the tooth. The tube can also be secured to the tooth by means of a clasp or ring
without in any way affecting or cutting into the tooth, see fig. 10,. In such case, the
tube d is placed either inside or outside close between two sound teeth, the clasp which
forms part of the tube surrounding one or more teeth, either entirely or partially.
The herein described ineans of attachment for artificial palates are also applicable
to holding artificial teeth in place. Whithout departing from the feature of this
invention, I make use of one or more wires, bars or strips a, b, fig. 11 one end of
each of which is inserted into tubes adapted to the teeth in any of the above
described manners. The other end of each wire, bar or strip a, b is soldered or
otherwise suitably attached to any kind of plate g on which artificial teeth can
be mounted. The tubes may be adapted to the teeth which are most conveniently
placed, for each particular case according to the number of artificial teeth to be
held in place, also according to the position which the artificial teeth are to occupy
in the jaw. If one artificial tooth only requires to be set, one single wire a or b
would, in some cases, be sufficient to hold the same in place and in such case, the
wire a or b might be of a square or prismatical section to prevent it from turning
in its tube.
Fig. 12 shows one of the wires or bars a or b which, instead of being made of
one piece, as in fig. 2, is composed of two platinum pieces a¹ b', the lower end of
piece a passing through a hole in the end of the piece b₁ and being fixed to the
latter by rivetting, soldering or otherwise. This arrangement dispenses with
bending the wire at a sharp angle. By such platinum wires or bars a, b, the
artificial palate c is capable of moving or giving way easily under the action
of the muscles with which it is in contact, without causing the wire frame
to participate in this motion and such elasticity may be regulated by simply
reducing or tapering the wires or bars a, b where they enter the artificial palate c.
One single wire or bar a, or b may be sufficient to maintain in place a small
artificial palate. The hereinbefore described means of attachment are capable of
being applied in surgical operations, for instance when it is necessary to exert a
constant effort against the muscles near a perforation, while the flesh next to the
muscles is being sewn. These means are also suitable as a secure means of holding
fast the devices used for straightening teeth, and also as a means of holding jaws in
place, in case of fracture.
I claim First. One or more wires, bars or strips a, b made of platinum or other
suitable material, as a means of attaching and holding artificial palates and
artificial teeth, in place, as herein described & shown.

page_text: Second. The combination in an obturator, of one or more wires, bars or
strips a, b, made of platinum or other suitable material, with an artificial palate c,
as herein described and shown.
Third. The combination, of one or more wires, bars or strips a, b, made of
platinum or other suitable material, with a tooth plate g, having any number of
artificial teeth h, as shown and described.
Fourth. The tubes d of platinum or other suitable material, fixed into or
between teeth, substantially as herein described, acting as bearings for the
reception and attachment of obturators and artificial teeth by means of one or
more wires, bars or strips a, b, as herein described and shown.
In Witness whereof I the said Raphael Hunter Brandon have hereunto set my
hand and seal this 18th day of August in the year of our Lord 1883.