IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING, FIXING, OR ATTACHING ARTIFICIAL TEETH, GUMS, AND PALATES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Schoofs, of Saint Gilles, near Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING,
FIXING, OR ATTACHING ARTIFICIAL TEETH, GUMS, AND PALATES."
Sealed the 13th July 1855, and dated the 21st April 1855.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henri Schoofs at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration, on
the 21st April 1855, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
Ì,
SCHOOFS, of Saint Gilles, near Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MAKING, FIXING, OR ATTACHING ARTIFICIAL TEETH, GUMS, AND PALATES," and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn decla-
ration that I verily believe myself to be the true and first Inventor thereof:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Schoofs, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully describes.
and ascertains the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, that is to say:-
The object of my improvements is principally the prevention of contact (so

page_text: hurtful in result) between metal or other hard and unyielding bodies and the
natural organs of the mouth. My improvements may be termed homogenic,
by reason of the similarity of the texture or nature of the matters employed,
and the mucous membranes of the mouth, and hygienous from the salutary
effects consequent on their use. The difference which exists between every
case of dental deterioration (and such cases being innumerable) it is impossible,
and in fact needless if possible, to file special Drawings of certain cases, and I
believe the description which follows will be found sufficient for all practical
dentists, enabling them to. work out. my- Invention without difficulty or
uncertainty. I proceed as follows:-I take the mould of the maxillary roof
or palate with soft wax, and let plaster flow thereon, which will give an exact
reproduction of the organ of which impression shall have been taken, and
serves as a model for casting a third reproduction in iron, copper, zinc, or
other metal. This process is known to all dentists. On the plaster mould the
artificial teeth are adjusted, which are intended to replace.the.natural.ones
which shall have been destroyed wholly or in part. These artificial teeth may
be either mineral or natural. They are maintained in their places below by
the help of plugs or stoppers of wax, and above or exteriorly by liquid plaster,
with which all the exposed edges are surrounded; the 'plaster in drying,
holds firmly the teeth in their places, and allows the wax, now become useless,
to be taken away.
The teeth being now in the position they are definitively
to retain, their fastenings are completed either by using platina tenons, screw
pivots, or, gold plate, or gold wire. This incomplete preparation may be
offered in the mouth to ascertain the exactitude, and to allow of defects (if any)
being remedied, such as bringing forward, putting back, heightening,
lowering one or more of the teeth, which is easily effected by the aid of pincers,
the metalic ligaments being very ductile. All the foregoing manipulations or
operations are well-known to dentists, and' from this point I commence the
Specification of my improvements. The preparation just described being
adjusted, T'take the metal mould and heat it sufficiently. I apply on all the
corresponding parts near the impaired maxillary roof or palate a layer of gutta
percha or caoutchouc, either mixed together or separate, or modified: by the
niixture of other gums (used plain or colored), according to the greater or less
susceptability of the impaired organs. This layer lies in a ductile or partially
melted state by reason of the heat imparted thereto by the metalic mould.
On this layer and at their respective places the adjusted (as before described)
teeth are placed, and all the fixings of wire or plates are covered by
another layer. The second layer amalgamating with the first now forms with
the teeth a single-solid picco; the last layer as it advances on to the palate or
or

page_text: roof of the jaw diminishes little by little till it is reduced to nothing, so that
the-tongue may not encounter any ridge or unevenness that may possibly be
avoided. The "modus operandi" is the same for both jaws. When a com-
plete set of teeth is made, and the upper is connected to the lower piece by the
springs. generally used, which are very hurtful, as the mucous membranes are
frequently caught in the spiral springs, and the mucous fills the interior thereof,
I cover these springs with a light layer of gutta percha or caoutchouc, so as
to close up all the interstices of the rings or spirals, and so exclude from their
cavaties all matter whatsoever without diminishing their elasticity. To obtain
greater durability, I cover those parts replacing the natural gums, palate, or
roof of the mouth, that is to say, the internal part of the piece or pieces, with
a pellicle of gold, by the assistance of the plastic galvanic pile. This pellicle
will not in any degree interfere with or lessen the softness or elasticity of the
vegetable matter; or the surface above indicated may be covered with very
thin gold leaf. This preparation, having for base a substance the texture or
nature of which is similar to that of the organs it covers, so closely adheres,
or rather, is in such immediate juxtaposition thereto, that liquids or food, or
particles thereof, rarely find their way between its roof and those portions of
the mouth on or: over-which it is applied. It also prevents the admission
of air to the nerves of carious teeth, retarding the progress of that disease, and
guaranteeing persons troubled with decayed teeth from the pains hitherto
attendant thereon; and the absence of all portions of food or other matters has
the like tendancy as regards the putrid and unhealthy exhalations arising from
the latter named causes in the mouth when teeth, gums, or palates are placed
therein according to the systems hitherto in use; and having for base, metals
and animal substances, which, being hard and inflexible, favour the progress of
carious disease, injures the mucous, set on edge the teeth, and occasion hitherto
sound teeth to become carious.
Artificial apparatus made according to my Invention allow the most delicate
membranes (muqueuses) to support without pain or abrasions the strongest
efforts of mastication, and the phlegmasy under which the membranes were
suffering previously to the application of such apparatus soon disappears To
place the "piece" or apparatus in the mouth, that part which is to adapt
itself to the maxillary palate or roof is warmed, and being softened by the
heat it is adjusted in its proper place. The wearer should firmly close his or
her teeth during a few, say, three or four, minutes, and the vegetable matter
cooling, envelopes or fits so exactly the least natural ruggedness or irregularity,
that the "piece" becomes, as it were, rivetted in its position; notwithstanding
this, such is its elasticity that it may be removed with little effort.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by which
I carry it into effect, I wish it to be clearly understood that I lay no claim to
the exclusive use of any of the articles or substances herein named, when taken
as articles or substances seperately, and not in combination in the manner or
for the purposes herein-before described; but I do claim as of my Invention,
the exclusive use of the Improvements in Making, Fixing, or Attaching
Artificial Teeth, Gums, and Palates," having for their base gutta percha or
caoutchouc, employed seperately or mixed together, or modified with other
gums when so employed, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Schoofs, have hereunto affixed
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
H. BIEBUYCK,
Rue du Commerce, Brussels.
HENRI SCHOOFS. (L.S.)