Dental appliance and process

摘要

A dental appliance and a process for making a dental appliance by forming a laminated vinyl base of closed cell materials using a thermal forming technique and subsequently forming a polymerized overlay resin layer to bond artificial teeth to the base and provide a visible surface for the appliance. The resulting laminated appliance is slightly flexible but the flexibility may be increased by increasing its temperature and thereby facilitate installation over or removal from undercut dental tissues in a patient. The thermal formed intermediate is employed in a "try-in" when temporarily waxed and temporarily fitted with artificial teeth. The intermediate portion of the "try-in" eventually becomes incorporated in the dental appliance. The blanks may be furnished as an array, with flexibility information to assist in selection of an appropriate blank from the array.