M; E. MERKER.
TOOTH. APPLICATION FUJI-113101.23, 1911. 1 109 080 Patented Sept. 1,1914
[NVENTOR WITNESSES c I I THE 4,:VRR I S PETERS'CO-T FHOTOI-LI TI OU D- L.
MELVIN EDGAR MERKER, OF NEW YORK, Y.
TOOTH.
Specification of Letters Patent.
Patented Sept. 1, 1914.
Application filed November 22, 1911. Serial No. 661,682.
T 0 all "whom it may concern Be it known that I, MELVIN E. MERKER, a resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Teeth; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the 1nvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.
This invention relates to artificial teeth, the main object being to provide an improved tooth of the character indicated, and improved means for securing the same in a users mouth.
The invention consists in the construction hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawing which illustrates the invention and forms part of the specification,-Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a tooth and securing means on a natural root; Fig. 2 shows a side and plan view of the securing device; Fig. 3 is a View looking at the base of the tooth; Fig. 4 is a side view showing a modification of the securing device; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section showing another securing means; Fig. 6 shows a vertical section and a plan of a molar or a back tooth with the improvement embodied therein.
The incisor or frontartificial tooth 1 comprises in its base a plurality ofholes 2 formed therein in any suitable manner, preferably by boring. These holes are situated in or near a common plane passing through the front and back of the tooth, as distinguished from a plane passing through the side edges of the tooth. Said holes are adapted and designed to receive securingpins 3 after the tooth is baked, the pins being then cemented in the holes, whereby said pins, which may be of platinum or platinum filled or any suitable metal and are quite small, are not subjected to high heat.
Thepins 3 are connected by an integral cr0ss piece 4 to which is secured thepin 5 designed to enter a prepared root, as shown. Thepin 5 is in all cases situated centrally in the root, but sometimes owing to particular conditions it is advisable to set the tooth Iorward or backward on the root. For this purpose I provide securing devices in which thepin 5 is secured at one side or the other of the center of the cross piece a, thepin 5 being set to the rear of the center of piece 4 if the tooth is to be thrown forward, as in Fig. 1, and thepin 5 being set forward of the center if the tooth is to be situated farther back, the latter construction of device being shown in Fig. 2. In many cases, however, the tooth will be centrally situated on the root, in which case thepin 5 will be at the middle of the cross piece 4:, as shown in Fig. 4. The base of the tooth is formed with a depression 40 to receive the cross piece 4:.
Owing to the shape of some artificial front teeth it is sometimes desirable to make therear holes 2 andpins 3 of less length than the front holes and pins, this being shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The invention is not limited to this feature, and in Fig. 5holes 2 andpins 3 front and rear are of equal length. In this construction also the pins are connected together by anangular plate 7 which fits on the horizontal shoulder of the tooth and upward along the back of theprojection 8 of the tooth which extends over the edge of the saddle 9 and the natural. gum 10, and is secured by cement, rubber or the like, at 11.
The improvement may also be applied to molar or toback teeth 1 in Fig. 6, 2 being holes for pins in a plane through the front and back of the tooth, and 11 a depression in the base of the artificial tooth to receive a pin-connecting cross-bar, as above described. The cross bar fitting into the depression leaves the base of the tooth flat and smooth, and the wall of such depression incloses and hides the metal.
In use the main need for strong holding means for teeth is in a direction forward and backward, rather than sidewise, and my construction provides this. Small pins may be used owing to their relative position without weakening the holding of the tooth, as compared with constructions in which the holes and pins are in a plane passing through the edges of the tooth.
Having thus described the invention what- I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is pins, there being a depression in the base An artificial tooth having in its base end In testimony whereof, I have signed this a plurality of pin-receiving holes, pins for specification in the presence of two subscribsaicl holes, a horizontal part connecting said ing witnesses.
MELVIN EDGAR MERKER. of the tooth to receive said horizontal part, Witnesses: and a root-pin secured to said horizontal I KEOA G. ARLUOK, part between the pins. JOHN CURRIN.
Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,
Washington, I). C.