Patent ID: 8459993

Claim:
A cover and holdback element for permitting disturbance-free dental operations to be performed in a patient's mouth, in particular, on a patient's teeth, comprising: an expandable elastic sheet ( 10 ) operable to cover at least a portion of the mouth volume of a patient; resilient tensioning elements ( 30 , 40 ) in the form of a resilient intra-oral spanner ( 30 ) and a resilient extra-oral spanner ( 40 ), the sheet ( 10 ) having at least one opening ( 18 ), an end portion of the sheet adjacent the opening being turned around and folded about the extra-oral spanner ( 40 ) and thereby forming an adjustable sheet reserve which is unattached to and may freely slide back and forth in a longitudinal direction against and with respect to the portion of said elastic sheet extending between said intra-oral expander ( 30 ) and said extra-oral expander ( 40 ), said sheet reserve automatically lengthening or shortening in response to the amount of tension applied to said elastic sheet as said cover and holdback element is manipulated in the patient's mouth.