Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SLEEP APNEA
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to sleep apnea in general and in
particular to an apparatus for preventing sleep apnea in a wearer.
2. Description of Related Art
Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or instances
of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea disrupts the
normal sleep patterns of the individual resulting in fatigue, moodiness, and
decreased attention and drive. Sleep apnea can also potentially lead to
serious health consequences, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and
weight gain among others.
Sleep apnea commonly occurs when the soft tissue at the back of the
individual's throat relaxes during sleep and collapses thereby partially or
completely obstructing that person's airway. Such restriction also commonly
causes the person to snore.
Conventional methods of treating sleep apnea have been to either provide
supplemental oxygen to the individual while sleeping or provide a breathing
device intended to reduce or prevent the restriction in their airway during
sleep. Such attempts have previously been unsatisfactory. In particular, the
provision of oxygen to a person typically requires providing a mask or tubes
over or within the user's nostrils which may be uncomfortable for some users
thereby further decreasing the amount of sleep that person is able to have in
a night.
Similarly, devices intended to reduce airway restriction, have commonly
focused on translating the lower jaw of the wearer in a forward direction so
as
to also lift the soft tissue responsible for the restriction. Such devices,
however have been uncomfortable to wear by locking the patient's lower and
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upper jaws together thereby preventing the wearer from opening their mouth.
Examples of such devices may be found in US Patent Nos. 7,757,693 to
Toussaint and 5,365,945 to Halstrom.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an
apparatus for preventing sleep apnea in a wearer comprising a generally u-
shaped upper appliance adapted to engage with a user's upper jaw and a
generally u-shaped lower appliance adapted to engage with a user's lower
jaw. The apparatus further includes a bottom protrusion extending from the
lower appliance in a direction generally away from an occlusal surface of the
lower appliance and towards the upper appliance and a top protrusion
extending from the upper appliance in a direction generally away from an
occlusal surface of the upper appliance and towards the lower appliance, the
top protrusion including an adjusting block having a height of between 5/16
and 13/32 of an inch adjustably extending therefrom, the adjusting block
having a leading surface oriented to engage the top protrusion
The adjusting block may include an anteriorly oriented leading face. The
leading face may be angled from perpendicular to the upper appliance. The
leading face may be angled by 70 degrees from horizontal. The bottom
protrusion may include a posteriorly oriented surface corresponding to and
adapted to engage the leading face of the adjusting block.
The adjusting block may be slidably movable relative to the top protrusion.
The adjusting block may include at least one slide rod extending therefrom,
wherein each of the at least one slide rod is slidably supported within a
corresponding bore in the top protrusion. The apparatus may further
comprise two slide rods. The adjusting block may include an actuator for
moving the adjusting block relative to the top protrusion. The actuator may
comprise a threaded rod rotatably coupled to and extending from the
adjusting block, the threaded rod being threadably received within the top
protrusion.
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The upper and lower appliances may be biased towards each other. The
upper and lower appliances may be biased towards each other by at least one
elastic band extending therebetween.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed a
method for preventing sleep apnea in a wear comprising locating a top
protrusion below and extending away from a top occlusal surface of a
wearer's upper teeth, locating a bottom protrusion above and extending away
from a bottom occlusal surface of a wearer's lower teeth and extending an
adjusting block in an anterior direction from the top protrusion towards the
bottom protrusion wherein the extension has a height of between 5/16 and
13/32 of an inch.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to
those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description
of
specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying
figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar
characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for preventing sleep
apnea
in a wearer according to a first embodiment of the present
invention.
Figure 2 is a detailed exploded view of the adjusting assembly of the
apparatus of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the adjusting assembly of the
apparatus of Figure 1 as taken along the line 3-3.
Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the top and bottom teeth guards as
taken along the line 4-4.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to Figure 1, an apparatus for preventing sleep apnea in a wearer
according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 10. The
apparatus comprises a top teeth guard 12 and a bottom teeth guard 40. The
top teeth guard includes a top protrusion 14 having an adjusting block 16
extending therefrom. The adjusting block 16 is adapted engage with a
corresponding bottom protrusion 70 extending from the bottom teeth guard
50.
With reference to Figure 4, the top teeth guard 12 comprises a substantially u-
shaped channel member having an outer surface 15 and an inner surface 17.
The top teeth guard 12 is defined by a bottom wall 18 having inner and outer
walls, 20 and 22, extending therefrom. As illustrated, bottom wall 18 and
inner and outer walls 20 and 22 form channel generally indicated at 24. The
channel 24 is selected to substantially conform to the top teeth and/or gums
of
a wearer. The top teeth guard 12 may be provided as a custom or semi-
custom fitted appliance for the intended wearer. In particular, the top teeth
guard may be fitted to the teeth of the wearer by being heated and molded to
the teeth of the wearer. Optionally, the top teeth guard 12 may be formed by
first creating a mold of the wearer's top teeth and thereafter forming to such
a
mold. It will be appreciated that methods for forming a custom or semi-
custom fitting guard as set out above are well known in the art. The top teeth
guard 12 may be formed of any suitable material, such as acrylic or the like
as
are commonly known in the art.
As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the top protrusion 14 comprises a block of
material extending from the bottom wall 18 of the top teeth guard 12. The top
protrusion 14 may be formed of the same or a different material as the
remainder of the top teeth guard 12 and may be secured thereto or co-formed
therewith. As illustrated in figure 2, the top protrusion 14 includes a front
face
25 oriented towards a front of the top teeth guard 12. The top protrusion 14
includes at least one bearing bore 26 therethrough for receiving a sliding rod
34 of the adjusting block as will be more fully described below. As
illustrated,
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the top protrusion 14 may include two bearing bores 26 therethrough although
it will be appreciated that one or more than two may also be utilized. The
front face also includes an adjusting bore 28 therethrough for receiving an
adjusting rod 36 of the adjusting block as will be more fully described below.
As illustrated in Figure 2, the bearing bores 26 and the adjusting bore 28 may
be substantially aligned with each other along a common plane although it will
be appreciated that the bearing bores 26 and adjusting bore 28 may be offset
from each other along as long as they are substantially parallel to each
other.
The adjusting block 16 comprises a block of material having leading and
trailing faces, 30 and 32, respectively. The trailing face includes at least
one
sliding rod 34 extending therefrom. The adjusting block 16 may have as
many sliding rods 34 as corresponding to the bearing bores 26. The sliding
rods 34 have a diameter and cross-sectional profile corresponding to the
bearing bores 26 so as to be slidably received therein as illustrated in
Figure
3. The bearing bores 26 may slidably support the sliding rods 34 and may
optionally include bearings or bushings therein so as to facilitate such
movement. The adjusting block 16 also includes and adjusting rod 36
extending from the trailing surface 32. The adjusting rod 36 may comprise a
threaded rod adapted to be threadably receive within the adjusting bore 28
such that rotation of the adjusting rod 36 extends or retracts the adjusting
block relative to the top protrusion 14. Optionally, the adjusting rod 36 may
include a nut 38 adapted to be slidably received around the adjusting rod 36
so as to urge the adjusting rod and adjusting block 16 to a desired distance
from the top protrusion 14.
The adjusting block 16 extends between top and bottom edges, 42 and 44,
respectively defining the height, generally indicated at 46 of the adjusting
block. The height 46 is selected to be at least 5/16 inches (8 mm) with a
height of between 5/16 and 13/32 of an inch (8 and 10 mm) being particularly
useful. The leading face 30 of the adjusting block 16 is also angled such
adjusting block has a greater depth proximate to the top edge 42 than the
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bottom edge 44 by an angle below the horizontal generally indicated at 48.
The angle 48 is selected to be approximately 70 degrees.
With reference to Figure 4, the bottom teeth guard 50 comprises a
substantially u-shaped channel member having an outer surface 52 and an
inner surface 54. The bottom teeth guard 50 is defined by a top wall 56
having inner and outer walls, 58 and 60, extending therefrom. As illustrated,
top wall 56 and inner and outer walls 58 and 60 form channel generally
indicated at 62. The channel 62 is selected to substantially conform to the
bottom teeth and/or gums of a wearer. Similar to the top teeth guard 12, the
bottom teeth guard 50 may be provided as a custom or semi-custom fitted
appliance for the intended wearer as set out above and may be made by
similar materials and methods to the top teeth guard 12.
As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the bottom protrusion 70 comprises a block
of material extending from the top wall 56 of the bottom teeth guard 50. The
bottom protrusion 70 may be formed of the same or a different material as the
remainder of the bottom teeth guard 50 and may be secured thereto or co-
formed therewith. As illustrated in figure 1, the bottom protrusion 70
includes
a rear face 72 oriented towards a rear of the bottom teeth guard 12. The
bottom protrusion 70 is located at a position toward the front of the bottom
and top teeth guard of the corresponding top teeth guard 12 so as to permit
the rear face 72 of the bottom protrusion to be engaged upon the leading face
of the adjusting block 16. The rear face 72 has an angle corresponding to
25 the angle 48 of the adjusting block such that the adjusting block and
the
bottom protrusion are engaged upon each other.
Optionally, the top and bottom teeth guards 12 and 50 may include one or
more bracing wires 66 as illustrated in Figure 4 and as are commonly known
30 in the art. It will also be appreciated that the top and bottom teeth
guards 12
and 50 may include clasps 80 as well as hooks 82 for securing elastic bands
84 as illustrated in Figure 1 and as are commonly known in the art.
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In operation, the top and bottom teeth guards 12 and 50 are applied to a
user's top and bottom teeth as illustrated in Figure 1. Elastic bands 84 may
also be extended therebetween so as to retain the top and bottom teeth
guards 12 and 50 in a proximate relation. The adjusting rod 36 is then
adjusted so as to bear against the bottom protrusion and urge the bottom
teeth guard 50 in an anterior direction. Such movement will thereby move the
wearer's lower jaw forward thereby reducing obstruction of their airway and
reducing sleep apnea.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and
illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the
invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance
with the accompanying claims.
