Holder For An Orthodontic Bracket

Abstract

A holder for an orthodontic bracket including a bifurcated blade having a pair of legs, which straddle a portion of the bracket to facilitate mounting of the bracket. A handle extends from the blade for facilitating manipulation of a bracket held by the blade.

Description

This invention relates in general to a holder for an orthodontic bracket to facilitate handling of the bracket, and more particularly to an orthodontic bracket holder enabling quick and proper mounting of a bracket on a tooth band.

Heretofore difficulty has been encountered in the handling of certain orthodontic brackets and in the mounting of the brackets onto a patient's tooth band primarily because of the relatively small size of the bracket. During the handling of brackets for mounting same onto tooth bands, because of the relatively small bracket size, the bracket may through inadvertence be dropped and perhaps lost, and it can be appreciated that a sufficient number of lost brackets can be costly. Moreover, dropping of a bracket onto a surface or on a floor can contribute to lost time in trying to locate same, all of which would increase the total cost of bracket mounting. It is further apparent that improper bracket positioning on a tooth band resulting from handling difficulties results in prolonged, difficult, and improper orthodontic treatment. Inadequate fastening of a bracket to a tooth band due to handling difficulties during mounting processes often leads to loosening of the bracket when in the patient's mouth, thereby requiring interruption in treatment and the need for replacement.

The bracket holder of the present invention facilitates handling light wire, edgewise, or other brackets when attaching a bracket properly onto a patient's tooth band, although the holder could also be used where the bracket is attached directly to a tooth. It is important that the bracket be mounted in the proper position, and it is important that the bracket be attached properly so it cannot be easily dislodged from the band while in the patient's mouth. To determine bracket location on a band, a band is fitted to a patient's tooth. The band is then marked for the desired location of the bracket. Depending on the relationship between the tooth and band, i.e., if the band fits high- occlusally on the tooth, the bracket will be positioned lower-gingivally, than if the band fit is lower-gingivally on the tooth. Following removal of the band from the patient's tooth, exact positioning of the bracket per the marked location and fastening of the bracket to the band can then be accomplished with the bracket holder of the invention. The bracket holder frictionally engages the bracket in a position that does not interfere with the placement and fastening of a bracket on a band, wherein the welding or attaching flanges are exposed to permit welding or otherwise attachment to the band.

Another feature of the bracket holder resides in the capability of leaving a portion of the bracket holder in place on the bracket so that a pin opening and/or wire slots or other openings are filled during the mounting of the band and bracket onto a patient's tooth, thereby preventing the entrance of cement into the openings. Following curing of the cement, it is only necessary to then remove the remaining portion of the bracket holder, thereby leaving the opening or openings clear. This eliminates the necessity heretofore quite often encountered of having to tediously clear the openings of cement, thereby reducing patient chair time and discomfort.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an orthodontic bracket holder for use with a bracket to facilitate the mounting of the bracket onto a patient's tooth, and in particular to enable accurate and correct fastening of the bracket onto a band.

A still further object of this invention resides in the provision of a bracket holder that facilitates the mounting of a bracket having wire and/or pin openings onto a band, and such may be conditioned to further facilitate the prompt engaging of an orthodontic lock pin, arch wire or ligature wire with the bracket on the patient's tooth by preventing the entrance of cement into any opening.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheet of drawing, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged top plan view of the bracket holder of the present invention and illustrating its use with a plurality of light wire brackets;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating the attachment of brackets on the holder of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end view taken substantially along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the bracket holder and bracket and taken substantially along line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a bracket mounted on a band prior to cementing the band on the tooth, and illustrating a part of the holder still in position as separated from the handle for the purpose of keeping cement from entering the pin opening during cementing on a tooth; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a modified bracket holder according to the invention and illustrating its use with an edgewise bracket.

The bracket holder of the present invention is suitable for use with orthodontic brackets having pin receiving openings or slots, such as the light wire bracket disclosed in Kesling U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,821, the well known edgewise bracket having wire openings, or any other brackets having openings. While the brackets illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 are ones used in the light wire technique, and the one illustrated in FIG. 6 is used in the edgewise technique, it should be appreciated that brackets used in other techniques and having openings could also be of a type to which the present invention could apply. Where a bracket is to be mounted onto a band, the difficulty heretofore encountered, in properly holding the bracket in a desired position and so the welding or attaching flanges are open and abutting directly against the band, is overcome by the bracket holder of the present invention. Moreover, the time necessary for completing the mounting operation is decreased by the bracket holder of the invention, as no problems are encountered by falling or lost brackets, and because of the ease with which the bracket may be handled by the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, one form of the invention is illustrated wherein a light wire bracket 10 is shown held by the bracket holder 11 of the invention. Essentially, the bracket holder is illustrated in a form wherein a plurality of bracket holders are interconnected to support a plurality of aligned brackets, but it should be appreciated that a single holder may be utilized with a single bracket. Or it may be said the holder is capable of supporting a plurality of brackets.

The bracket 10 includes a body 12 defining a pinway or pin receiving opening 13, and an archwire slot 13a. The body includes a labial wall 14, a mesial wall 15 and a distal wall 16 in interconnected relationship. Medial-distally extending attaching or welding flanges 17 and 18 extend from the labial edges of the mesial and distal walls 15 and 16 to permit the proper fastening of the bracket onto a band. A band 19 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 to illustrate the manner in which the bracket holder is utilized for mounting brackets on bands, and to show a bracket fastened onto a band pursuant to use of the bracket holder.

While the attaching flanges 17 and 18 may be fastened in any desired manner onto the band, it is usual that they are spot welded as shown in FIG. 1 by a plurality of spot welds 20. During spot welding, it is necessary that the attaching or welding flanges properly abut fully against the band, and this is accomplished by manipulation of the bracket holder of the invention, since it does not touch the band or interfere with the engagement of the welding flanges with the band when placing the bracket onto the band. In the event that one flange does not properly abut against the band during welding of the other, the bracket may not be properly fastened to the band. Heretofore, it has been known to provide a bracket holder of the type which embraced one of the attaching flanges, and during spot welding of the other flange to the band, the flange embraced by the holder was maintained out of contact and in spaced relation with the band and such normally leads to improper fastening and positioning of the bracket onto the band. It is also necessary that the attaching flanges be open to receive the electrode of the spot welder and the present holder does not interfere with the welding operation, and maintains both flanges open at all times.

The bracket holder 11 includes generally a blade portion or head 21, a handle extending therefrom having a flat portion 22, and an interconnecting portion 23. The flat portion 22 extends substantially normal to the blade portion 21. Essentially, the longitudinal axis of the holder is parallel to the occlusal-gingival axis of the bracket. It can be appreciated that both the flat portion and the interconnecting portion may be considered the handle to which the blade is connected. Moreover, the handle may be considered as constituting the entire length from which a plurality of blades extend, and it will in fact be so used during the handling of brackets carried thereby.

The blade portion 21 is bifurcated, and includes a pair of substantially parallel legs 24 and 25 defining therebetween a slot 26, whereby the legs 24 and 25 frictionally engage the labial wall 14 of the bracket body 12. Thus, it will be appreciated that the width of the slot 26 is so related to the thickness of the labial wall that the legs 24 and 25 of the blade portion 21 frictionally engage the lingual and labial sides of the labial wall 14. Moreover, the leg 24 essentially fills the pinway or pin opening 13. The length of the legs 24 and 25 may be as shown or slightly longer than the labial wall 14, as long as sufficient gripping of the bracket by the legs enables the desired handling and manipulating of the bracket by the holder. Since it is desired that the leg 24 essentially fill the pin opening its cross-section will be slightly less than the cross-section of the pin opening to fit therein but large enough to essentially fill the opening, and its length will be about the same as the length of the opening. When mounting brackets on the blades of the holder, the brackets are seated against the bottom of the blade slot 26.

The flat portion 22 of the handle provides a portion that may be gripped to maneuver the bracket to a desired position on a band. As seen in FIG. 1, the flat portion 22 of one of the holders may be considered that part in the immediate vicinity of the blade, although it will be appreciated that essentially a plurality of holders will be made together in a single unit wherein the flat portions of each holder will be interconnected to enable a plurality of brackets to be held together. While a single holder may be provided for a bracket, convenience dictates that a plurality of holders will be arranged together as shown, wherein usually one end will be gripped during manipulation of a bracket.

The interconnecting portion 23 is shown with a 90.degree. bend, as one practical holder construction would involve making it from a flat sheet of soft metal by stamping, and thereafter bending the blade portion to take the position shown in the drawings. It should further be appreciated that the holder may be made of plastic instead of metal if so desired, and in that case it would be molded.

To facilitate the continued use of the blade portion once the bracket has been mounted on a band, a weakened portion or score line 27 is provided in the interconnecting portion 23 to facilitate breaking at that point such as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the blade portion is left in place on the bracket after the bracket has been attached to a band, and therefore when cementing the band and bracket in place on a patient's tooth, cement cannot fill the opening because of the blade portion 24 filling same. Following curing of the cement the blade portion can easily be removed, thereby leaving the opening free of cement, and eliminating the necessity of tediously digging cement out of the opening.

Mounting of a bracket onto a patient's tooth band to overcome the problem of otherwise not having the bracket in the most desired position for proceeding with orthodontic treatment can be readily achieved with the bracket holder of the present invention. As a first step, a band is fitted to the patient's tooth. Then, the band is suitably marked for the placement of the bracket so that the bracket may thereafter be properly positioned on the band when the bracket is being attached thereto. For example, lightly scratching guidelines onto the band such as mesial-distal line 28 and occlusal-gingival line 29, FIG. 1, will indicate the desired position of the bracket, wherein the lines may generally represent bracket center lines. Thereafter, following removal of the band from the tooth, the bracket holder is used to properly position the bracket in place on the band so that it may be spot welded to the band as illustrated in FIG. 1. This results in properly locating the bracket onto the band so that desired orthodontic treatment can be effected.

The modified bracket holder shown in FIG. 6 is adapted for use with edgewise brackets. This holder is generally designated at 35, while the bracket is generally designated at 36. The bracket 36 includes a base plate 37 and extending intermediately therefrom a pair of mirror image projections 38 which coact to define therebetween an arch wire slot or opening 39. Each projection also coacts with the base plate 37 to define ligature wire slots or openings 40. The projections are centered mesial-distally on the base plate thereby defining mesial and distal welding or attaching flanges 41. The bracket is shown in position on a tooth band 42.

The bracket holder 35 includes a blade 43, having parallel legs 44 and 45. The blade 43 is connected to a flat portion 46 by a connecting portion 47. Again the connecting portion and the flat portion may be considered the handle. Shoulders 44a and 45a are provided on the legs as abutments against which the bracket may be seated when mounting same on the holder, and thereby positively locate the bracket a given distance from the handle. The holder frictionally engages the bracket as in the first embodiment. An open area 48 is defined by the legs to be aligned with the adjacent welding flange 41 so that it may be exposed for welding. The other flange 41 is also exposed for welding. The operation of holder 35 is the same as the holder for light wire brackets in that it facilitates manipulation of the bracket.

A weakened portion or score line 49 is provided across the connecting portion 49 to permit separating the handle from the blade and bracket once the bracket is welded to a band. Thereafter, the wire openings 40 are filled by the blade during cementing of the band onto a patient's tooth to prevent the entrance of cement into the openings. Following curing of the cement, the blade can thereafter be removed, and the openings are clear.

While the invention has been described mainly in connection with brackets of a type that may be fastened directly to bands that may in turn be cemented to a patient's tooth, it should be appreciated that the bracket holder could likewise be utilized where brackets may be directly cemented to a tooth. In any event, the bracket holder of the invention facilitates the handling of brackets, and the proper mounting of such brackets on the patient's teeth.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood thAt this application is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In combination with a light wire orthodontic bracket including a body having connected occlusal-gingivally extending mesial, labial and distal walls defining an occlusal-gingivally extending pin opening, and mesial-distally extending attaching flanges extending from the labial edges of the mesial and distal walls, a mounting tool for holding the bracket during the attachment of same to a tooth band, said tool including a bifurcated blade having a pair of substantially parallel legs frictionally straddling the labial wall of the bracket body whereby one leg extends into and substantially fills the pin opening and the attaching flanges are open and a handle extending from the blade for manipulating the bracket.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the handle is flat and extends normal to the blade and substantially parallel to the attaching flanges.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2, wherein a weakened portion is provided between the handle and blade to facilitate breaking off the handle and leaving the blade in place on the bracket.

4. In combination with an edgewise orthodontic bracket including a base plate and projections extending therefrom defining an archwire opening and a pair of ligature wire openings, the projections extending centrally from the base plate wherein the areas of the base plate on opposite sides of the projections define attaching flanges, a holder for supporting the bracket during attaching same to a tooth band, said holder including a bifurcated blade having a pair of substantially parallel legs frictionally straddling the bracket by engaging in the ligature wire openings and leaving the attaching flanges open, and a handle extending from the blade for manipulating the bracket.

5. The combination as defined in claim 4, wherein the handle is flat and extends parallel to the blade and attaching flanges, and shoulders are provided on the legs to seat the bracket on the holder.

6. The combination as defined in claim 5, wherein a weakened portion is provided between the handle and blade to facilitate breaking off the handle and leaving the blade in place on the bracket.