Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MOUTHPIECE FOR REDUCING SNORING
Related Application
This application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty claims priority from co-
y pending U.S. application Serial No. 10/289,588, which was filed on November
7,
2002, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This
application
is also related to and claims priority from pending U.S. provisional
applications Serial
No. 60/439,327 filed on January 10, 2003, and Serial No. 60/463,417 filed on
April
16, 2003, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sleep aids and, more
particularly,
to.a mouthpiece for helping to reduce snoring in a wearer, the mouthpiece
having a
thermoplastic portion and a thermostable portion.
Background Of The Invention
It is well known that many people snore when asleep. Snoring is an
unconscious activity which is often not even noticed by the person who snores,
but
is typically quite bothersome to those sleeping nearby.
Medical references define snoring as a rough, rattling, inspiratory noise
generally produced by vibration of the pendulous palate, or sometimes by the
vocal
cords, during sleep. Snoring may be produced as a tale, especially a whistling
or
sonorous tale produced in the larger bronchi orthe trachea. This condition is
caused
by some narrowing of the upper airway passages, such that when the person is
asleep, the airflow is somewhat obstructed and must be forced.
Summar)i Of The Invention
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention advantageously provides a
thermoplastic mouthpiece which may be custom fitted directly by the user to
conform
to his or her natural dental arch. The mouthpiece is reusable, but intended to
be
disposable at the user's discretion. In a preferred embodiment, the mouthpiece
includes an opening at an anterior portion of the mouthpiece, the portion
which
keeps the wearer's lips spaced apart when the mouthpiece is properly worn in
the
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mouth and which functions as an airway opening. With the lips slightly apart,
the
anterior opening allows free airflow in and out of the wearer's mouth, thereby
helping
to reduce snoring. In one preferred embodiment, the invention also includes a
removable plug inserted into the airway opening to help support the opening
during
heating of the mouthpiece and during the imprinting of teeth by the user.
Additionally, this removable plug may be used as a handle when inserted in the
airway opening of the mouthpiece, for the user to pick up the mouthpiece
during
heating and during use.
In use, the wearer heats the mouthpiece until its thermoplastic portion
softens
sufficiently for biting down on the mouthpiece to imprint the wearer's teeth
pattern
thereon. The mouthpiece includes a protective mold along a lower surface, the
mold
optionally extending upwardly to also protect lateral surfaces of the
mouthpiece. The
protective mold is thermostable and is an integral unitary piece of the
mouthpiece
together with the thermoplastic portion, thus the mold does not soften when
the
mouthpiece is heated, which is preferably accomplished by placing the
mouthpiece
in a hot water bath for a few minutes. When the thermoplastic portion of the
mouthpiece softens and cools a bit, the wearer inserts the device into the
mouth
such that it is substantially aligned with the dental arch, and gently bites
down on the
mouthpiece to thereon make an impression with his teeth. Of course, along the
lower surface of the mouthpiece the thermostable protective mold prevents the
teeth
from leaving an imprint. This helps maintain a proper angle of inclination
between
the spaced apart lower and upper surfaces of the mouthpiece, and it is this
angle
which is most helpful in keeping the wearer's lips apart during sleep, and
thus help
the airway to stay open. Once the mouthpiece has been imprinted, the wearer
inserts the mouthpiece into his mouth when preparing for sleep and removes the
airway opening plug to provide unobstructed passage of air. In an alternative
embodiment of the invention useful as an aid in reducing teeth grinding,
however, the
mouthpiece may lack an airway opening.
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Brief Description Of The Drawings
Some of the features, advantages, and benefits of the present invention
having been stated, others will become apparent as the description proceeds
when
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a sleeper wearing the mouthpiece according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the mouthpiece of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a side elevation of the present mouthpiece;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the inventive mouthpiece;
FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the mouthpiece of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 illustrates various aspects of a method of the present invention;
FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present mouthpiece;
F1G. 8 is a cutaway lateral view showing the mouthpiece of FIG 7 as worn by
a user;
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the mouthpiece of FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the mouthpiece of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 illustrates a kit containing several of the mouthpieces of FIG. 1 as
might be offered at retail; and
FIG. 12 shows a method of the invention of FIG. 1.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
The present .invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the
invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many
different
forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments
set forth
herein. Rather, these illustrated embodiments are provided so that this
disclosure
will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the
invention to
those skilled in the art.
FIGS. 1-12 illustrate the various aspects of the inventive mouthpiece herein
described. The invention discloses a mouthpiece 20 for use by a person during
sleep to aid in reducing snoring. The mouthpiece 20 comprises a mouthpiece
body
22 made of a thermoplastic material having a shape generally complementary to
the
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person's dental arch, including a posterior end 24 having two spaced apart
members
26 positioned toward the back of the person's dental arch when properly worn,
and
an anterior end 28 having an airway opening 30 therethrough, the anterior end
positioned when properly worn to support the person's lips spaced apart, as
shown
in FIG. 1, so that air flows through the airway opening. As noted above,
however,
in an alternative embodiment the present mouthpiece may be provided without an
airway opening. This alternate embodiment is intended to aid in reducing teeth
grinding. The mouthpiece 20 additionally includes a substantially rigid
portion or
protective mold 32 made of a thermostable material, the protective mold being
complementary to the mouthpiece body 22 so that the mold protects at least
lower
surfaces 34 and preferably also lateral 36 surfaces of the mouthpiece body, as
illustrated in FIGS. 6A-D. The mold may be a discrete piece separable from the
mouthpiece, or may be an integral, unitary non-separable piece therewith.
Additionally, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the present mouthpiece includes a
removable plug 33 inserted in airway opening 30 and protruding therefrom. Plug
33
serves at least two purposes. First, it provides support so as to protect the
integrity
of airway opening 30 during heating of the mouthpiece and while the user bites
down
on the mouthpiece to imprint the teeth thereon. Second, the removable plug 33
serves as a handle by which the user may pick up the mouthpiece, which is
useful
in placing and removing the mouthpiece in a hot water bath, and in inserting
the
mouthpiece in the mouth. Plug 33 may be discarded by the user after imprinting
teeth on the mouthpiece, or may be replaced in the airway opening 30 after use
of
the mouthpiece for continued use as a handle.
The present mouthpiece 20 is preferably provided for retail sale in at least
three general sizes, small, medium, and large, to custom fit a wide range
persons
having differently sized mouths. A typical retail kit 21 for sale of the
mouthpiece 20
is shown in FIG. 11. Partly for the purpose of custom fitting, the mouthpiece
body
22 has a lower surface 34 and an upper surface 38 spaced apart therefrom at an
angle "a" which increases from the posterior end 24 to the anterior end 28 of
the
mouthpiece body. As best shown in FIG. 3, and also in FIGS. 6C, and 8, the
angle
of inclination "a " between the upper 38 and lower 34 surfaces of the
mouthpiece
body 22 is of importance in keeping the wearer's mouth and lips sufficiently
open to
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allow unimpeded airflow through the anterior airway opening 30. An angle "a"
of
from about 10° to 20° has been found preferable, depending on
the anterior-posterior
overall length of the mouthpiece, which will somewhat vary from small to
medium to
large mouthpieces. Those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that
angle "a"
5 may be changed according to the size of the wearer's mouth, and that the
range
indicated above is given solely for purposes of illustration and not for
limiting the
invention.
Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 7-10, wherein
the mouthpiece body 22 further comprises a tubular airway opening 31 extending
outwardly from the anterior end airway opening 30. This embodiment of the
mouthpiece body, best shown in use in FIG. 8, would be particularly useful for
wearers having large, heavy, or especially protruding lips which might extend
over
the anterior end of the first embodiment of the mouthpiece as shown in FIGS. 1-
6.
The skilled will readily understand that it is important to keep the wearer's
lips
sufficiently spaced apart to maintain the proper function of the airway
opening 30 at
the anterior end of the mouthpiece.
Method aspects of the present mouthpiece invention are shown in FIG. 6 and
FIG. 12, and include a method of reducing snoring during sleep. As shown in
the
block diagram of FIG. 12, the method starts 40 by heating 42 a mouthpiece body
22
made of a thermoplastic material and having a shape generally complementary to
the person's dental arch. The mouthpiece body 22 includes a posterior end 24
having two spaced apart members 26 positioned toward the back of the person's
dental arch when properly worn, and an anterior end 28 having an airway
opening
therethrough, the anterior end positioned when properly worn to support the
25 person's lips spaced apart so that air flows through the opening. The
mouthpiece
20 further includes a substantially rigid portion or protective mold 32 made
of a
thermostable material, the protective mold being
complementarytothethermoplastic
portion of the mouthpiece body. The protective mold portion 32 is an integral,
unitary
piece with the mouthpiece body portion 22 so that the mold protects at least
lower
30 and preferably also lateral peripheries of the thermoplastic portion.
Heating 42 of the
mouthpiece body is preferably accomplished in a hot water bath and continues
until
the thermoplastic material has softened. When the mouthpiece 20 is cool
enough,
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the method continues by inserting 44 the mouthpiece into the mouth of a person
so
that the thermoplastic mouthpiece portion is substantially aligned with the
person's
dental arch, and imprinting 46 the person's teeth along a surface of the
thermoplastic
mouthpiece portion not protected by the thermostable mold portion 32 by biting
down
on the mouthpiece. In an embodiment of the method, the user preferably picks
up
the mouthpiece by the removable plug 33 when heating it and when inserting it
into
the user's mouth, thereafter removing the plug to leave an unobstructed airway
opening. Finally, the method calls for wearing 48 the mouthpiece body 22 in
the
person's mouth during sleep, which when properly positioned the mouthpiece is
substantially aligned with the person's dental arch and is held between the
teeth, so
that the person's lips are supported by the anterior end 28 of the mouthpiece
body
22 to allow the person to breathe through the airway opening 30 in the
anterior end
of the mouthpiece body. The method thereafter ends 50.
Those skilled in the art should understand that the thermostable protective
mold portion 32 being integral with the thermoplastic mouthpiece body portion
22 will
prevent teeth from imprinting along the lower surface 34 of the thermoplastic
mouthpiece, thereby maintaining the lower surface relatively flat. The
wearer's teeth
will, however, imprint along the upper thermoplastic surface 38 of the
mouthpiece,
so as to provide a guide pattern for wearing the mouthpiece and to reduce
slipping
of the mouthpiece body 22 in the wearer's mouth. The relatively flat lower
surface
34 of the mouthpiece body 22 helps in maintaining angle "a" in proper
proportion,
as it has been found that if the wearer imprints teeth along both upper 38 and
lower
34 surfaces by biting down thereon, the angle "a" tends to be substantially
reduced
due to the depressions formed along both upper and lower surfaces of the
mouthpiece. Imprinting teeth along only one surface reduces this possible
variation
at least in half, while still producing an easily wearable mouthpiece custom
fitted to
the wearer's dental arch. In addition, in a user who tends to grind his/her
teeth while
sleeping, the relatively flat lower surface 34 of the mouthpiece body 22 will
allow the
teeth to more easily slide relative to the mouthpiece surface. If the lower
surface 34
contained teeth imprints, the user's teeth would be substantially locked into
their
positions and a user grinding her teeth during sleep would experience added
stress
to the temporal-mandibular joint (also known as TM,!). Accordingly, the
relatively flat
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lower surface of the present mouthpiece will also help alleviate such stress
in the
TMJ and neck area.
The skilled will readily understand that while the thermostable protective
mold
portion 32 has been described herein with respect to a lower surface 34 of the
mouthpiece body 22, and imprinting has been described as occurring along the
upper surface 38 of the mouthpiece, the wearer may prefer to turn the
mouthpiece
device upside down for imprinting. In such a case, the protective mold 32
would
appear to engage an upper surface of the mouthpiece, and the teeth pattern
would
be imprinted along what might be described as a lower surface of the
mouthpiece.
Accordingly, the terms "upper" and "lower" are used herein to illustrate the
invention
for the skilled and are not intended to limit the invention to such an
orientation. The
inventive mouthpiece herein described is, therefore, usable in any applicable
orientation, at the user's discretion or preference.
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed a typical
preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are
employed,
the terms are used in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of
limitation.
The invention has been described in considerable detail with specific
reference to
these illustrated embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that various
modifications and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the
invention
as described in the foregoing specification and as defined in the appended
claims.
