Denture and method of producing and fitting

Claim 1

A denture preform device comprising: a plurality of prosthetic teeth corresponding in shape and position to human maxillary and mandibular dentition, said prosthetic teeth being arranged into two groups, each comprised of a set of posterior prosthetic teeth molded into a hard base structure segment of hard base material; a soft deflectably formable liner layer having posterior margins and an anterior margin therebetween, said margins defining an arch generally parallel to posterior and anterior teeth, the posterior margins being bonded to said hard base structure segments and said liner layer having peripheral flange areas in general conformance with human edentulous tissue; at least one cavity formed in said deflectably formable liner layer, the cavity being located at said anterior margin intermediate said hard base structure segments and being filled with a mass of deflectably formable material; a plurality of anterior prosthetic teeth corresponding in shape to human dentition, embedded into said deflectably formable material in positions corresponding to human dentition, whereby the position of said anterior prosthetic teeth is adjustable in final fitting and said teeth after removal can be precisely repositioned with respect to the denture preform by location on the adjacent posterior segments and the anterior margin of said liner layer; said material filling said cavity being removable from said cavity for casting in of a permanent hard base structure about said anterior teeth.

Claim 6

A method of producing and fitting a prosthetic denture comprising: providing a denture preform device consisting of a set of prosthetic teeth shaped and mounted in position in correspondence with natural human dentition, said prosthetic teeth mounted in groups, including two sets of posterior prosthetic teeth molded into hard base structure segments and the remaining anterior prosthetic teeth mounted in a mass of formable material contained in at least one cavity disposed between said hard base segments, and further including a soft deflectably formable liner layer having posterior margins and an anterior margin therebetween, said margins defining an arch generally parallel to posterior and anterior teeth, the posterior margins being bonded to said hard base segments and having peripheral flange areas in general conformance with human edentulous tissue; placing said prosthetic preform device in the mouth of a person to be fitted and shaping the deflectably formable liner layer into a general conformance with the edentulous tissue and positioning the anterior teeth for optimum fit and aesthetic appearance; removing the denture preform and disposing a soft impressionable layer of material on the tissue surface of the deflectably formable liner layer after fixing the deflectably formable liner layer, and repositioning the denture preform within the person's mouth for forming the tissue surface into intimate conformity with the edentulous tissue; removing said prosthetic denture preform after setting of said impression material; molding material about said group of anterior prosthetic teeth to surround said anterior prosthetic teeth and said mass of formable material; removing said anterior prosthetic teeth with said mold and removing said mass of formable material from said anterior prosthetic teeth; repositioning said anterior teeth carried by said mold in said prosthetic denture; casting a hard base material in the void left by removal of said mass of formable material to produce a hard base structure for said anterior prosthetic teeth.

Claim 7

A method of producing and fitting a prosthetic denture comprising: providing a denture preform device consisting of a set of prosthetic teeth shaped and mounted in position in correspondence with natural human dentition, said prosthetic teeth mounted in groups, including two sets of posterior prosthetic teeth molded into hard base structure segments and the remaining anterior prosthetic teeth mounted in a mass of formable material contained in at least one cavity disposed between said hard base segments, and further including a soft deflectably formable liner layer having posterior margins and an anterior margin therebetween, said margins defining an arch generally parallel to posterior and anterior teeth, the posterior margins being bonded to said hard base segments and having peripheral flange areas in general conformance with human edentulous tissue; placing said prosthetic preform device in the mouth of a person to be fitted and shaping the deflectably formable liner layer into a general conformance with the edentulous tissue and positioning the anterior teeth for optimum fit and aesthetic appearance; removing the denture preform and disposing a soft impressionable layer of material on the tissue surface of the deflectably formable liner layer after fixing the deflectably formable liner layer, and repositioning the denture preform within the person's mouth for forming the tissue surface into intimate conformity with the edentulous tissue; removing said prosthetic denture preform after setting of said impression material; molding material about said group of anterior prosthetic teeth to surround said anterior prosthetic teeth and said mass of formable material; removing said anterior prosthetic teeth with said mold and removing said mass of formable material from said anterior prosthetic teeth; repositioning said anterior teeth carried by said mold in said prosthetic denture; casting a hard base material in the void left by removal of said mass of formable material to produce a hard base structure for said anterior prosthetic teeth.