Intraoral orthosis for preventing snoring
The invention concerns an intraoral orthosis comprising an upper groove ( 2 ) and a lower groove ( 3 ) designed to line respectively an upper jaw and a lower jaw, said grooves ( 2, 3 ) being linked together by two tie rods ( 4 ) of such length that the lower jaw is maintained in an extended position relative to the upper jaw. Additionally, a system for fixing the tie rods ( 4 ) on the grooves ( 2, 3 ) maintains them substantially in the occlusal plane in contact with the upper and lower teeth.
1. An intraoral orthosis comprising:
an upper splint and a lower splint designed to line upper dental members of an upper oral part and lower dental members of a lower oral part, respectively, and
two tie rods connecting the splints, the tie rods being of such a length that the lower oral part is maintained in an advanced position relative to the upper oral part,
wherein the tie rods have fixed points of attachment to the upper splint in an area of forward dental members and to the lower splint in an area of a rearward dental member,
wherein the lower splint comprises attachment brackets fixing the tie rods, making it possible to shift the points of attachment of the tie rods in an occlusal plane of contact of the lower and upper dental members, the attachment brackets comprising a first part fixed to the lower splint and a second part extending obliquely in a direction of the upper splint,
wherein the first part is fixed by two rivets in line with a first and a second dental member and the second part extends obliquely at about 120° in the direction of an occlusal face of the second dental member.
2. The orthosis as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the upper splint extends on an arc having ends stop behind a third dental member.
3. The orthosis as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the third dental member is second maxillary premolar.
4. The orthosis as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the splints each have, in a wall, a cutting which frees central and lateral dental members.
5. The orthosis as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the central dental member is central incisors and the lateral dental member is lateral incisor.
6. The orthosis as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a ball and socket joint provides the connection between the tie rods and the splints.
7. The orthosis as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the tie rods have two threaded bores, a rod screwed into the bores, wherein ends of the rods have an inverse pitch, and a nut being placed at a middle of the rod.
8. The orthosis as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the tie rods comprise a cylinder and a rod having an end comprising a piston, wherein the rod slides in the cylinder under action of a hydraulic pressure.
9. The orthosis as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the piston delimits two chambers connected via a flexible conduit to two actuators.
10. The orthosis as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the tie rods comprise two small bars sliding relative to each other, the bars comprising bores.
11. The orthosis as claimed in claim 6 , wherein a single actuator is connected, via two conduits, to the two tie rods whose length is adjustable as a function of the load applied by the actuator.
12. The orthosis as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tie rods have means permitting adjustment of their length.
13. The orthosis as claimed in claims 1 , wherein the splints are made of a two-component material comprising a hard material and a flexible material.
14. The orthosis as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the forward dental members are canine teeth.
15. The orthosis as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rearward dental member is a second mandibular molar.
16. The orthosis as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first dental member is a first molar and the second dental member is a second molar.