Mandibular advancement frame and mandibular advancement apparatus comprising same

1 . A mandibular advancement frame comprising:

a support portion, separate from an intraoral device configured to receive a user's teeth, wherein the support portion has a curved plate shape extending along a dental-arch direction and configured solely to cover an outer side surface of the intraoral device corresponding to an opposite-tongue side surface among side surfaces of the user's teeth and is configured to be joined in surface contact with the outer side surface of the intraoral device to support the intraoral device; and

a connection portion integrated with the support portion and inclined at an angle set in advance with respect to the support portion, the connection portion having a bottom surface parallel to a lower surface of the support portion and a first thickness in a normal direction of the bottom surface and adjacent to the support portion; and

a processing portion provided concavely from the lower surface of the support portion toward an upper surface thereof by a first depth, the processing portion located at a central region of the lower surface of the support portion and at a junction where the support portion and the connection portion are connected,

wherein a plurality of through holes are provided in at least one of the support portion and the connection portion, and

wherein the first thickness of the connection portion and the first depth of the processing portion are equal.

2 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein the connection portion is connected to a center of the support portion.

3 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface of the connection portion is disposed on the same plane as a bottom surface of the support portion.

4 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the support portion varies along a direction in which the support portion extends.

5 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 4 , wherein the support portion has a maximum thickness at a central region where the connection portion is connected, and has a minimum thickness at opposite ends away from the connection portion.

6 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein the connection portion is inclined at an angle selected from 80° to 100° with respect to the support portion.

7 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of through holes including first and second through holes are spaced apart from each other in entire surfaces of the support portion and the connection portion.

8 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of second through holes formed in the connection portion are arranged linearly along a centerline parallel to a longitudinal direction of the connection portion.

9 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 8 , wherein the second through holes in the connection portion and the first through holes in the support portion have the same diameter.

10 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of through holes have diameters of different sizes.

11 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein the support portion and the connection portion constitute a single structural body.

12 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 1 , wherein the curved plate shape of the support has a predetermined curvature of a semicircular shape.

13 . A mandibular advancement system comprising:

an upper teeth seating portion in which a user's upper teeth are seated;

a lower seating portion in which lower teeth of the user are seated;

a first mandibular advancement frame configured to be attached to the upper teeth seating portion and a second mandibular advancement frame configured to be attached to the lower seating portion; and

a driving unit connected to the first and second mandibular advancement frames and changing a relative position of the lower seating portion with respect to the upper teeth seating portion by moving at least one of the first and second mandibular advancement frames,

wherein each of the first and second mandibular advancement frames includes:

a support portion, separate from the upper and lower teeth seating portions, having a curved plate shape extending along a dental-arch direction and configured solely to cover an outer side surface of the upper and lower teeth seating portions and configured to be joined in surface contact with the outer side surface of the upper and lower teeth seating portions for supporting a side surface of the upper teeth seating portion and the lower seating portion; and

a connection portion integrated with the support portion and inclined at an angle set in advance with respect to the support portion, the connection portion having a bottom surface parallel to a lower surface of the support portion and a first thickness in a normal direction of the bottom surface and adjacent to the support portion; and

a processing portion provided concavely from the lower surface of the support portion toward an upper surface thereof by a first depth, the processing portion located at a central region of the lower surface of the support portion and at a junction where the support portion and the connection portion are connected,

wherein a plurality of through holes are provided in at least one of the support portion and the connection portion, and

wherein the first thickness of the connection portion and the first depth of the processing portion are equal.

14 . The mandibular advancement system of claim 13 , wherein the curved plate shape of the support has a predetermined curvature of a semicircular shape.

15 . A mandibular advancement apparatus comprising:

a first mandibular advancement frame configured to be selectively attached to an upper teeth seating portion;

a second mandibular advancement frame configured to be selectively attached to a lower seating portion; and

a driving unit connected to the first and second mandibular advancement frames and changing a relative position of one of the upper and lower seating portions with respect to another of the upper and lower teeth seating portions by moving at least one of the first and second mandibular advancement frames,

wherein each of the first and second mandibular advancement frames includes:

a support portion, separate from the upper and lower teeth seating portions, having a curved plate shape extending along a dental-arch direction and configured solely to cover an outer side surface of the upper and lower teeth seating portions by being selectively joined in surface contact with the outer side surface of the upper and lower teeth seating portions for supporting a side surface of the upper teeth seating portion and the lower seating portion; and

a connection portion integrated with the support portion and inclined at an angle set in advance with respect to the support portion, the connection portion having a bottom surface parallel to a lower surface of the support portion and a first thickness in a normal direction of the bottom surface and adjacent to the support portion; and

a processing portion provided concavely from the lower surface of the support portion toward an upper surface thereof by a first depth, the processing portion located at a central region of the lower surface of the support portion and at a junction where the support portion and the connection portion are connected,

wherein the curved plate shape of the support has a predetermined curvature of a semicircular shape, and

wherein the first thickness of the connection portion and the first depth of the processing portion are equal.

16 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 15 , wherein the processing portion is formed by cutting to improve bendability of the connection portion when the connection portion is bent from the support portion.

17 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 16 , wherein the processing portion is disposed on the lower surface of the support portion and is centrally aligned to maintain the center of gravity of the support portion despite presence of the processing portion.

18 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 15 , wherein a height of the processing portion is equal to a thickness of the connection portion.

19 . The mandibular advancement frame of claim 18 , wherein a width of the processing portion is greater than a width of the connection portion.