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(11) | EP 1 424 057 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Child's pacifier |
| (57) Child's pacifier, comprising a first part (12) which, in use, remains outside the
mouth, and a second part (14) which is inserted inside the mouth. The second part
(14) comprises a terminal portion (32), which is positioned in a palatine arch (22)
of an oral cavity (20), and a connection portion (30). The terminal portion (32) has
a flattened shape and comprises a convex upper face (34). The thickness of the terminal
portion (32) gradually thins from a maximum value in a position adjacent to the connection
portion (30) to a minimum value as it goes towards the respective lateral edges (42,
44) and towards its front edge (45), until it is substantially annulled. The connection
portion (30) has a flattened shape with a thickness of less than 3 mm. |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Child's pacifiers are widely used not only for feeding purposes, but also and especially because they give a sensation of reassurance, pleasure and satisfaction which leads to their being used for a long time.
[0003] Very often, however, this protracted use causes an alteration in the normal development of the oral cavity, with consequent irregular occlusions.
[0004] The present invention concerns a pacifier made of rubber or other similar material suitable to prevent or reduce such alterations.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Child's pacifiers normally consist of an external part, provided with a gripping ring and a shield to prevent the pacifier from being accidentally swallowed, and of an internal part which enters the child's oral cavity.
[0006] The internal part comprises in turn a terminal portion of variable shape (rounded, like a cherry, or anatomical, practically a half cherry, or the so-called droplet-type) which, in use, is positioned in the highest part of the oral cavity in a median zone thereof, and a connection part (round or oval of variable sizes) which connects the aforesaid terminal portion with the external part, resting in the median and front zone of the oral cavity in order to be held and clamped between the two gingival arches at the point of exit from the oral cavity.
[0007] It is known that the more or less protracted use of a pacifier damages the correct development of a child's oral cavity, since the modeling of the palate is connected to the action and coordinated movement of the tongue muscles and the cheek muscles. In a condition of rest, the tongue adheres to the palate and exerts a continuous pressure, uniformly spread, on the palate and on the gingival arches; it also contrasts, with every swallow, the increased pressure exerted by the cheek muscles, so as to allow a correct, harmonious and balanced development of the oral cavity.
[0008] The pacifier which, as we have described, is positioned inside the oral cavity substantially along a median zone of the palate (figs. 1 and 2), due to its thickness, pushes the tongue downwards from the palate and inevitably modifies the balance between the forces exerted by the tongue muscles and the cheek muscles in favor of the latter. Moreover, since the tongue discharges most of the pressure force exerted thereby onto the pacifier in the mouth, and the pacifier in turn discharges this pressure force onto the underlying part of the palate with which it is in contact, the final result is that, with time, an increase in depth is generated in the upper part of the palate and an advance is generated in the median front part of the palate, as well as a reduction in the transverse diameter of the palate with an inversion, mono- or bilateral, of the occlusal relation of the gingival arches.
[0009] This inversion is made even more evident by the fact that, on the contrary, the low posture of the tongue, keeping a normal pressure on the mandibular arch, determines a regular development thereof.
[0010] Another disadvantage is that the connection portion, having a mainly cylindrical or oval shape of a certain thickness, damages the alveolar zone of the gingival arches at the points of contact therewith.
[0011] When the child presses with the gingival arches on this part, he exerts a pressure on the alveolar bone below, limiting the growth thereof or even causing it to be reabsorbed. In a few months the gingival arches, although still toothless, in the zone of contact with the pacifier are no longer able to close the oral cavity and this can lead to a further, more or less serious irregular occlusion.
[0012] In the state of the art there are various embodiments of child's pacifiers which have tried to solve the above-mentioned problems in various ways; in some cases, however, such problems have been faced in the wrong way, or only partly.
[0013] For example, DE-U-20000040 proposes a flattened connection portion between the external part and the internal part of the pacifier; this portion, however, is very narrow and therefore its thickness cannot be reduced beyond a certain limit value, so as not to compromise the resistance thereof. Moreover, although it has a concave shape which, in a certain way, tries to adapt to the shape of the palatine arch, the internal part of the pacifier too is very narrow, so that it occupies a very limited part of the arch.
[0014] Furthermore, the terminal bulge of the innermost part identifies a palatine zone where, during periods of rest which are much longer than the periods of sucking, the tongue concentrates the pressure which it exerts, to the detriment of the other palatine zones. This entails a deformation, due to excessive pressure, of this palatine zone subjected to pressure, and a contraction on the level of the alveolo-dental arches due to the concomitant reduction in the pressure exerted on such zones. A further disadvantage is that this document proposes no progressive reduction at the sides of the internal part of the pacifier in order to avoid creating zones of discontinuity between the pacifier and the palate, since the whole internal part of the pacifier has a uniform thickness.
[0015] Document FR-A-1.463.140 discloses a very thick connection zone between the external part and the internal part which, as we said before, damages the alveolo-dental zones of the gingival arches. Moreover, in this document too, the part that develops inside the oral cavity has a uniform thickness, creating a consequent discontinuity between the covered and uncovered part of the palate. This discontinuity directs the lingual pressure onto the pacifier and therefore onto the relative covered palatine part, to the detriment of its uncovered part, with a consequent deformation of the palate.
[0016] US-A-5.004.473 discloses an internal part having a substantially plane upper surface which therefore does not adapt to the palatine arch. Moreover, this solution has a terminal bulge and the lateral edges clean-cut and thick; all this entails a lingual pressure concentrated on the pacifier and on the relative palatine zones in contact with the pacifier, to the detriment of the other palatine zones, with a consequent deformation of the palate.
[0017] Document GB-A-2.278.549 has the disadvantage that it has a cylindrical connection zone between the internal part and the external part of the pacifier, with a consequent alveolo-dental alteration caused by said zone. Moreover, the body of the pacifier has lateral wings with a reduction in the length of the median part, keeping the thickness uniform; consequently, the pacifier couples with only a limited part of the palate and this causes a non-uniform distribution of the lingual pressure on all the palate.
[0018] Applicant has devised and embodied the present invention in order to overcome these shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain other advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0019] The present invention is set forth and characterized essentially in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other innovative features of the invention.
[0020] The purpose of the invention is to achieve a child's pacifier whose shape will allow to prevent a deformation of the palate due to sucking, on the contrary allowing a normal development thereof, even with protracted use.
[0021] Another purpose of the present invention is to reduce to a minimum or eliminate the alterations of the gingival arches in the zone where they press on the connection portion of the pacifier.
[0022] In accordance with these purposes, a child's pacifier of the type mentioned above has a flattened shape, similar to a lens, for example convex-concave, with a convex upper face able to couple through contact with the concave shape of the palatine arch and a lower face with a shape suitable to cooperate with the tongue, both at rest and also during sucking. The pacifier is configured in such a manner that the terminal portion extends, from the point of entry to the oral cavity, not only in the front-rear direction along the median zone, like all pacifiers at present on the market, but also in a lateral-lateral direction with respect to the median zone; in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the pacifier widens laterally until it almost reaches the edges of the upper gingival arch.
[0023] According to one characteristic of the present invention, the terminal portion, both for the front part and for the lateral parts, gradually thins, from a maximum value to a minimum value, advantageously until it is annulled in correspondence with the perimeter edge, so as to determine a surface continuity with the part of the palate not occupied by the terminal portion itself. In this way the pressure exerted by the tongue is distributed uniformly over the whole palatine arch, whether covered or not, thus preventing the risk of anomalous stresses and consequent deformations. The terminal portion thus configured is therefore positioned occupying minimum space between the palatine arch and the tongue, and adapts to the concave shape of the palatine arch itself.
[0024] To be more exact, the thickness of the terminal portion has a maximum value, in the range of 5-6 mm, in a position adjacent to the connection portion between the internal part and the external part, and a minimum value, near or equal to zero, in correspondence with the perimeter edge.
[0025] In a preferential form of embodiment, the lower face of the terminal portion is concave and defines a cavity to house the tongue which substantially reproduces the cavity defined by the palatine arch, so that it adapts on the lower face of the pacifier as if it were the palatine arch itself.
[0027] According to another characteristic of the present invention, the connection portion has a flattened shape, so as to occupy minimum space when it is compressed between the upper and lower gingival alveolar arch and, as a consequence, reduce the risk of an alteration in the bone below due to the pressure on the gingival alveolar arch itself.
[0028] The thickness of the connection portion is as little as possible, advantageously less than 3 mm, as little as a few tenths of a millimeter, while the size in the lateral-lateral direction is equal to at least 1 cm, advantageously between 1.5 and 2 cm. The widened size in the lateral direction of the connection portion allows to reduce the thickness thereof to a minimum.
[0029] The material used is advantageously a thermoplastic material which becomes softer and more deformable at a temperature around body temperature, that is, around 36-37°C.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:
- fig. 1 is a side view of a known type pacifier inserted in an oral cavity;
- fig. 2 is a view from inside the oral cavity of the pacifier in fig. 1;
- fig. 3 is a side view of a pacifier according to the present invention inserted in an oral cavity;
- fig. 4 is a view from inside the oral cavity of the pacifier in fig. 3;
- fig. 5 is a three-dimensional view of the pacifier in fig. 3;
- fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the pacifier in fig. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0031] With reference to figs. 3, 4 and 5, a pacifier 10 according to the present invention is made of rubber, or any other material with similar elastic properties and flexibility. It comprises a first part 12, able to remain, in use, outside the mouth, and a second part 14, able to be inserted inside the oral cavity 20 for sucking. The first part 12 is substantially of a known type and comprises in this case a gripping ring 16 and a safety shield 18.
[0032] The second part 14 comprises a first connection portion 30, to connect with the first part 12, and a second terminal portion 32.
[0033] The connection portion 30 is positioned, in use, between the outside and the inside of the oral cavity 20, to be pressed between the lips 13 and between the upper 24 and lower 26 gingival arch.
[0034] The terminal portion 32 is positioned, in use, inside the oral cavity 20 and next to the palatine arch 22.
[0035] The terminal portion 32 is flattened, shaped substantially like a lens and has a very limited maximum thickness, advantageously equal to 0.5-0.6 cm in correspondence with the zone adjacent to the connection portion 30.
[0036] To be more exact, the terminal portion 32 comprises an upper convex face 34, that couples with the concave shape of the palatine arch 22, and a lower face 36, in this case concave, against which the tongue presses. The pacifier 10 must therefore be inserted into the oral cavity 20 only on the side in which the convex face 34 faces upwards.
[0037] The convex face 34 and the lower face 36 develop in a transverse direction, or lateral-lateral, with respect to the connection portion 30 in order to occupy the greater part of the palatine arch 22 as far as in proximity with the two opposite sides 37, 38 of the upper gingival arch 24, so that the tongue, in contact with the lower surface 36, exerts a uniform pressure over all the corresponding palatine arch 22.
[0038] The two faces 34, 36 also extend in the longitudinal direction so that, in use, the terminal portion 32 covers the palatine arch 22 even in the front-rear direction.
[0039] The thickness of the terminal portion 32 is not constant but gradually thins, starting from said maximum value in a position adjacent to the connection portion 30, until it is substantially annulled as it goes towards the perimeter edge, that is to say, towards the lateral edges 42, 44 and the front edge 45. In this way we obtain a substantial surface continuity in correspondence with the edges 42, 44, 45, between the perimeter of the terminal portion 32, which defines the border between covered and uncovered part of the palate, and the respective peripheral portions of the palatine arch 22 not covered by the pacifier 10.
[0040] This continuity allows to make even more uniform the physiological distribution of the lingual pressure.
[0041] In the case shown here, in the internal zone of the terminal portion 32, a cavity 33 is made which communicates with the outside by means of channels 35, of which one only is visible in fig. 6, which pass through the connection portion 30 and finish beyond the shield 18. These channels 35 encourage a further reduction in the volume of the pacifier 10 and an even more physiological distribution of the lingual pressure on the whole palatine arch 22.
[0043] The connection portion 30 is also flat with a very limited thickness in the range of some millimeters, maximum 3, or advantageously tenths of a millimeter. This allows to reduce, or eliminate, the pressure on the gingival arches 24, 26, avoiding any alteration in the alveolar bone below.
[0044] It is clear, however, that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the pacifier 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
1. Child's pacifier, comprising a first part (12) which, in use, remains outside the
mouth, and a second part (14) which is inserted inside the mouth, said second part
(14) comprising a terminal portion (32), able to be positioned in a palatine arch
(22) of an oral cavity (20), and a connection portion (30) to connect said terminal
portion (32) and said first external part (12), said terminal portion (32) having
a substantially flattened shape and comprising a convex upper face (34) able to couple
with the concave shape of the palatine arch (22), characterized in that
- the thickness of said terminal portion (32) gradually thins from a maximum value in a position adjacent to said connection portion (30) to a minimum value as it goes towards the respective lateral edges (42, 44) and towards its front edge (45), until it is substantially annulled, so as to obtain, in use, a surface continuity between the perimeter of said terminal portion (32) and the peripheral zone at the sides of the palatine arch (22), and in that
- said connection portion (30) has a flattened shape with a thickness of less than 3 mm.
2. Pacifier as in claim 1, characterized in that said terminal portion (32) extends laterally as far as in proximity with the lateral
portions (37, 38) of the upper gingival arch.
3. Pacifier as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said terminal portion (32) is configured so as to extend, not only laterally, but
also in a longitudinal direction, so as to couple, in use, with said palatine arch
(22) in the front-rear direction too.
4. Pacifier as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said terminal portion (32) has a concave lower face (36) defining a housing cavity
for the tongue.
5. Pacifier as in any claim from 1 to 3 inclusive, characterized in that said terminal portion (32) has a substantially plane lower face (36).
6. Pacifier as in claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of said connection portion (30) is in the range of tenths of a millimeter.
7. Pacifier as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said connection portion (30) has a width equal to at least 1 cm, advantageously between
1.5 and 2 cm.
8. Pacifier as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the maximum thickness of said terminal portion (32) is in the range of 5-6 mm.
9. Pacifier as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that inside said terminal portion (32) a cavity (33) is made and in that inside said connection portion (30) channels (35) are made, able to put said cavity
(33) into communication with the outside, so as to allow the air to emerge from said
cavity (33).
10. Pacifier as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it is made of thermoplastic material able to soften at a temperature similar to body
temperature.