The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 31, 1999
Filed:
Jan. 28, 1998
Friedrich Binder, Kieselbronn, DE;
J.P. Winkelstroeter KG, Dentaurum, Ispringen, DE;
Abstract
Dental appliance to be worn in the mouth consisting of a meltable material, this appliance having a bonding surface to be bonded to a tooth region in a form-locking and substance-bonding manner, this surface possessing at least retention areas with recesses produced by melting the material by means of a laser beam, at least some of these recesses forming undercuts, wherein for achieving a high bonding strength the retention areas have next to the recesses a plurality of irregular elevations which are formed by the material melted during the formation of the recesses and of which at least some likewise form undercuts, wherein at least some of these elevations each have a volume equal to a fraction of the volume of the largest of these recesses. A dental appliance with a bonding surface designed in this way may be produced particularly simply when a laser beam is guided over the bonding surface in such a manner that material of the dental appliance is melted and/or vaporized at those points of the bonding surface, at which recesses are formed, is thereby ejected from the resulting recesses and forms elevations in the vicinity of the recesses.