WO2007141640A1

WO2007141640A1 - Snore-inhibiting device

Info

Publication number: WO2007141640A1
Application number: PCT/IB2007/001513
Authority: WO
Inventors: Savo Marco Bassa; Claudio Dante Riccardi
Original assignee: Savo Marco Bassa; Claudio Dante Riccardi
Priority date: 2006-06-05
Filing date: 2007-06-04
Publication date: 2007-12-13
Also published as: EP2032098A1; ITTO20060410A1

Abstract

Described herein is an intraoral device (10) designed to prevent the lower jaw from shifting back, comprising an upper platform (1) and a lower platform (2), which are designed to receive, respectively, the upper dental arch and the lower dental arch of a user. The upper and' lower platforms (1), (2) are connected in a fixed way to one another through a connection part (6) having a cavity (7) designed to receive the tip of the user's tongue. The cavity (7) communicates with the outside of the device through at least one through hole (8).

Description

"Snore-inhibiting device"

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Field of the invention

The present invention relates to an intraoral device designed to prevent phenomena of snoring during sleep. State of the art prior

It is known that the partial occlusion of the primary airways creates a negative pressure during inspiration, which is responsible for noisy breathing. The negative pressure during inspiration causes, in fact, variations in the rate of the air taken in, which creates turbulence that constitutes a primary cause of noise, hi addition, said turbulence can set in vibration the various resonant structures in the orohypopharyngeal district, amplifying the effect of noise. During sleep the partial occlusion of the airways occurs owing to the fact that the lower jaw shifts back, and this leads to retraction of the tongue towards the throat, producing, on account of what has been said above, the phenomena of snoring.

Various intraoral devices have been proposed, designed to prevent retraction of the tongue towards the throat during sleep.

The patent No. EP 0 599 445 describes an intraoral device of the type according to the preamble of Claim 1, which is designed to prevent the lower jaw from shifting back and consequently prevent retraction of the tongue towards the throat.

Said device comprises an upper platform and a lower platform, which are designed to receive, respectively, the upper dental arch and lower dental arch of a user. The upper and lower platforms each comprise a seat, a front flange, and a rear flange, and are connected in a fixed way to one another, through a comiection part, which defines a front wall, an internal portion, and a rear wall, the latter having a housing cavity for receiving the tip of the user's tongue.

During use of a device of the above sort, the user's tongue is kept in an advanced position, thus preventing partial closing of the airways and hence preventing snoring.

Other known snore-inhibiting devices also envisage advance of the lower jaw with respect to its normal position, with the aim of guaranteeing more effectively distension of the tongue towards the front part of the oral cavity. A device of this type is, for example, illustrated in the US patent No. US 6604 527. Said devices, which cause advance of the lower jaw, can, however, prove troublesome precisely on account of the unnatural position that the lower jaw assumes when forced forwards.

Summary of the invention The purpose of the present invention is to improve further the aforesaid known devices, and the above purpose is basically achieved thanks to the characterizing part of Claim 1, according to which the cavity for housing the tip of the tongue is provided, in a position corresponding to its end, with a through hole, which gives out onto the outside of the device, traversing the front wall. The hole made in the cavity for housing the tip of the tongue is in the first place designed to stimulate the tip of the user's tongue to remain in a position where it is housed inside the cavity. In addition, it enables the user to breathe also through his mouth, instead of only through his nose, thanks to the fact that the air can pass through said hole. According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, a further cavity is provided in the region of the front wall into which the hole gives out. This further cavity, the hole, and the cavity for housing the tip of the tongue, set in series, define a convergent/divergent duct, inside which a condition of negative pressure is set up, according to Bernoulli's principle. This condition of negative pressure favours flow of air through the hole, in this way facilitating breathing through the mouth by the user.

In addition, between the inside of the oral cavity and the vestibular part of the mouth, through said hole, a passage for the saliva is created, which prevents conditions of dryness of the outer gingival walls.

The snore-inhibiting device according to the invention conveniently has a calibrated occlusal projection, within the standard tolerances of the physiological free space between the two arches, normally in the region of 1.5 - 2 mm. This aspect favours tolerability of the device for the user.

The snore-inhibiting device according to the invention moreover envisages a modest advance of the lower jaw in order to render the device more tolerable for the user. In a preferred embodiment, it keeps the upper and lower dental arches substantially aligned.

According to a further embodiment of the device, a number of openings can be made in the housing cavity, with which both the flow of air and the flow of saliva are increased. The snore-inhibiting device according to the invention is conveniently obtained by moulding of a thermoplastic and thermoformable material, and can moreover be provided with an implement for its manipulation, for example in the form of a small stick, which can be inserted through the hole and can be used, in the way clarified in what follows, in a process of preparation of the device. The present invention moreover envisages a process of preparation of the device, comprising a step of softening of the device, by immersion in hot water, and a step of adaptation of the device to the user's mouth. In both steps, the use of the stick is envisaged for manipulating the device conveniently and preventing any deformation of the hole made on the end of the cavity of the device, when the latter is still in a softened condition.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge clearly from the ensuing detailed description, which is provided purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached plates of drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of the device according to the invention, applied to the mouth of a user;

Figure 2 is a dorsal perspective view of the device;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the device;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the device, provided with an accessory that can be used in the process of preparation of the device; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the device, applied to the mouth of a user.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to the figures, designated by 10 is an intraoral device designed to prevent the lower jaw from shifting back during sleep. This consists of a generally soft body made of self-modelling thermoplastic material, such as, for example, silicone rubber. The device 10 comprises an upper-recess platform 1 and a lower-recess platform 2, both having a generally semicircular shape like the dental arches of a user. Each platform 1, 2 has a respective seat 3, 3' delimited by a front flange 4, 4' and a rear flange 5, 5'. As may be seen in Figure 5, the flanges

4, 5 and 4', 5', at least in the front area of the device 10 comprised between the user's premolar teeth, are inclined in such a way that the seats 3 and 3' have a general V-shaped configuration.

In addition, as may also be seen clearly in Figure 5, the front, or vestibular, flange 4 of the upper platform 1 conveniently has an extension upwards greater than that of the rear, or palatal, flange 5, whilst the front, or vestibular, flange 4' of the lower platform 2 conveniently has an extension downwards smaller than that of the rear, or palatal, flange 5'.

The platforms 1, 2 are connected in a fixed way to one another, via an intermediate connection part 6. The connection part 6 joins to one another, in a single piece, the seats 3, 3' with the respective front flanges 4, 4' and rear flanges

5, 5', in this way defining a front wall 6a and a rear wall 6c. Formed in a position corresponding to a central region of the rear wall 6c is a cavity 7.

Starting from the end 7a of the cavity 7 at least one through hole 8 is made, which gives out centrally onto the outside of the device 10, traversing the front wall 6a. In the area of the front wall 6a, into which the hole 8 gives out, a further enlarged cavity 12 is provided.

The through hole 8 can have a circular cross section or else, more conveniently, an oval cross section, and instead of only one, there could be two or more. In this case, the possible further through holes 8 could be distributed along the wall 6 and could have shapes and dimensions that may even be different from those of the central hole 8.

The seats 3, 3' of the platforms 1, 2 of the device are designed to receive, respectively, the upper dental arch and the lower dental arch of a user so as to define an occlusal projection generally corresponding to the physiological free space between the two arches, with dimensions typically in the region of 1.5 - 2 mm. This aspect favours tolerability of the device for the user. In turn, the cavity 7 is designed to receive the tip of the user's tongue.

The device according to the invention engages in use the upper and lower dental arches, preventing the lower jaw from shifting back. The tongue is distended towards the front part of the oral cavity, inserting its tip inside the cavity

7. The hole 8 stimulates the tip of the tongue to set itself periodically or even permanently in said position by propioceptive reflex.

In this way, occlusion of the primary airways is prevented, so eliminating or at least reducing appreciably the phenomenon of snoring.

The cavity 12, the hole 8, and the cavity 7, which are set in series with respect to one another, constitute a convergent/divergent duct, within which a condition of negative pressure is set up according to Bernoulli's principle. This condition of negative pressure favours the flow of air through the hole 8 towards the inside of the device 10, thus enabling the user to breathe also through his mouth either through the hole 8, when it is not occluded by the tongue, or else through the possible further holes 8.

The conformation of the device is such as to keep the lower jaw in a position only slightly advanced, such as not to overstress the area of the user's lower jaw. In particular, the lower platform 2 is located substantially in a position corresponding to the upper platform 1 so that the user's dental arches are kept substantially aligned to one another.

The device according to the invention is moreover conveniently provided with a small stick 11, having a cross section with a shape complementary to that of the through hole (or holes) 8, which constitutes an implement designed to be used in a process for preparation of the device.

In the process of preparation according to the invention of the device 10, the platforms 1 , 2 are shaped according to the dental impressions of the respective arches that they are to receive. Said process comprises a softening step, which consists in immersing the device 10 for example in hot water to obtain a plastic phase of the thermoformable material, and a step of adaptation, in which the device 10 is then applied to the user in order to shape the platforms 1, 2 according to the impressions of the user's dental arches by self-modelling.

The stick 11 can be conveniently used for both of the steps of preparation described above by inserting it through the through hole 8, in the way illustrated in

Figure 4. In addition to facilitating manipulation of the device 10, the stick 11 is designed to prevent deformation of the hole (or holes) 8 during the steps of softening and adaptation, in which the device is applied to the user's mouth.

The device according to the invention constitutes a snore-inhibiting device that is highly effective, is easy to produce, is readily adaptable to a wide range of users, and can be tolerated excellently in so far as it enables breathing and prevents onset of conditions of dryness inside the mouth.

Of course, without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary widely with respect to what is described and illustrated herein purely by way of example, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined in the ensuing claims.

Claims

1. An intraoral device (10), designed to prevent the lower jaw from shifting back, comprising an upper platform (1) and a lower platform (2), which are designed to receive, respectively, the upper dental arch and the lower dental arch of a user, preventing the lower jaw from shifting back, said upper and lower platforms (1, 2) each comprising a seat (3, 3'), defined between a respective front flange (4, 4') and a respective rear flange (5, 5') and being connected in a fixed way to one another through a connection part (6) defining a front wall (6a) and a rear wall (6c), said connection part (6) presenting, in a position corresponding to the rear wall (6c), a cavity (7) designed to receive the tip of the user's tongue, said device (10) being characterized in that said cavity (7) communicates with the outside of the device through at least one through hole (8).

2. The intraoral device according to Claim 1, characterized in that said at least one through hole (8) gives out onto said front wall (6a).

3. The intraoral device according to Claim 1, characterized in that said upper and lower platforms (1, 2) are designed to set, in use, the lower jaw of a user in a slightly advanced position.

4. The intraoral device according to Claim 3, characterized in that said lower platform (2) is set in substantial alignment with said upper platform (1).

5. The intraoral device according to Claim 2, characterized in that provided in the area of the front wall (6a), into which said at least one through hole (8) gives out, is a further cavity (12).

6. The intraoral device according to Claim 5, characterized in that the further cavity (12), the through hole (8), and the cavity (7), which are set in series with respect to one another, constitute a convergent/divergent duct.

7. The intraoral device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it defines an occlusal projection substantially corresponding to the physiological free space between the two dental arches of the user.

8. The intraoral device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the front flange (4) of the upper platform (1) has an extension upwards greater than that of the rear flange (5) of said upper platform (1).

9. The intraoral device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the front flange (4') of the lower platform (2) has an extension downwards smaller than that of the rear flange (5') of said lower platform (2).

10. The intraoral device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is made of a thermoformable thermoplastic material.

11. The intraoral device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said seats (3, 3') have a substantially V-shaped cross section.

12. The intraoral device according to any one of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it is provided with a small stick (11), which constitutes an implement for preparation of the device.

13. A process for the preparation of an intraoral device (10) according to Claim 12, characterized in that it comprises a step of softening of the device (10) and a step of adaptation of the device to the mouth of a user, with the use of said stick (11) introduced through said through hole (8).