Patent ID: 7785105

Claim:
An apparatus for maintaining a dry field in a portion of a patient's mouth, said apparatus comprising: a substantially U-shaped tongue shield with opposing sides for placement lingually with respect to a patient's lower teeth to hold a patient's tongue in a retracted position; cheek distention arms extending laterally outward from opposing rear portions of the tongue shield to distend a patient's cheeks away from the patient's molars in the posterior vestibules with anterior portions extending forward; lip retractors extending from the cheek distention arms in an arcuate shape having upper portions above and lower portions below the cheek distention arms; webbing extending upward from the anterior portions of the cheek distention arms to the upper portions of the lip retractors to support the soft tissue within the patient's mouth distal to the orbicularis oris muscle; and lower paddles extending rearward from the lower portions of the lip retractors to further support the soft tissue within the patient's mouth.