US-20260124022-A1 - Dental Appliance With Sensor Module

US20260124022A1US 20260124022 A1US20260124022 A1US 20260124022A1US-20260124022-A1

Abstract

In one embodiment, a dental appliance includes a dental-appliance body and a core sensor module embedded within the dental-appliance body. The core sensor module includes one or more processors. The dental appliance further includes at least one biological sensor coupled to the dental-appliance body and conductively coupled to the core sensor module, and further includes a conductive layer running through at least a portion of the dental-appliance body and conductively coupling the core sensor module with the at least one biological sensor.

Inventors

Andrew Lee

Assignees

OTIS DENTAL, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241105

Claims (14)

1 . A dental appliance comprising: a dental-appliance body; a core sensor module embedded within the dental-appliance body, the core sensor module comprising one or more processors; a plurality of biological sensors, each coupled to the dental-appliance body and conductively coupled to the core sensor module, comprising (1) a force sensor located on one side of the dental appliance (2) a salivary sensor located on a second side of the dental appliance opposite the one side on which the force sensor is located and (3) a breathing sensor located towards a middle of the dental appliance; and a conductive layer running through at least a portion of the dental-appliance body and conductively coupling the core sensor module with each of the plurality of biological sensors.
2 . (canceled)
3 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the force sensor comprises a capacitive sensor or a resistive sensor.
4 . (canceled)
5 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the breathing sensor comprises one or more of (1) a PPG sensor or (2) a microphone.
6 - 8 . (canceled)
9 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the force sensor and the salivary sensor are located toward a rear portion of the dental appliance.
10 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the salivary sensor is located on a front wall, cheek-facing portion of the dental appliance.
11 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the breathing sensor is located on a back wall, lingual-facing portion of the dental appliance.
12 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the dental appliance comprises a mouthguard.
13 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the core sensor module further comprises a power supply.
14 . The dental appliance of claim 13 , wherein the conductive layer couples the power supply of the core sensor module to each of the plurality of biological sensors.
15 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the core sensor module further comprises one or more wireless communication components.
16 . The dental appliance of claim 1 , further comprising an accelerometer coupled to the core sensor module.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This application generally relates to a dental appliance having a sensor module. BACKGROUND Many dental appliances are designed to be worn within a user's mouth. For instance, braces are orthodontic devices that fit over, or attach to, a user's teeth to straighten or move that user's teeth. Aligners serve a similar purpose, while retainers are often used to maintain teeth position, i.e., to prevent or lessen teeth movement over time. Mouthguards are typically worn over the teeth and can be used in variety of settings, including to prevent bruxism or to reduce force transfers to the head while playing sports. Dentures are false teeth that are used in place of a user's real teeth. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a mouthguard dental appliance. FIG. 2 illustrates an example computing system. FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the example mouthguard dental appliance of FIG. 1. DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Many dental appliances are designed to be worn within a user's mouth, including dental appliances such as braces, aligners, mouthguards (including nightguards, sports guards, etc.), dentures, and so on. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a mouthguard dental appliance designed to be worn on the upper teeth. The mouthguard in the example of FIG. 1 is molded from a polymer material, although mouthguards and other dental appliances made by made from other materials. In the example of FIG. 1, a user's teeth fit within interior portion 105 of the mouthguard, which is formed by back wall 110 and front wall 115, each of which has a particular thickness (which may be the same thickness or may be different thicknesses). Back wall 110 is positioned behind the user's teeth while being worn, and front wall 115 is positioned in front of the user's teeth. A dental appliance, such as the example mouthguard of FIG. 1, may include a sensor module to which one or more sensors can be conductively coupled (electrically connected). For example, a dental appliance may include a core sensor module that includes one or more microprocessors and associated memory and may include a communication module (e.g., a Bluetooth module, a WiFi module, an NFC module, etc.), a power source such as a rechargeable battery, charging components for charging the power source, and basic sensors such as an accelerometer. Particular embodiments of the core sensor module may include more than these components or less than these components. The core sensor module may be embedded on or within the dental appliance. For instance, in the example of FIG. 1, a core sensor module may be embedded within the mouthguard, for example in the right side (i.e., the portion of the mouthguard worn on the right side of the user's mouth) of the mouthguard. However, in general a core sensor module may be embedded in other regions of a dental appliance. One or more biological sensors may couple to the core sensing module to provide the dental appliance with a range of biological sensing capabilities. For example, a PPG sensor may be used to detect heartrate, respiratory rate and other breathing-related metrics, blood oxygenation, saliva chemistry and pH, and so on. A dental appliance may obtain a good-quality signal from a PPG sensor, at least because the mouth is a relatively dark environment, and therefore spurious ambient light will not dilute the PPG's sensors readings. A microphone may detect breathing-related metrics, and may also be used to detect conditions such as sleep apnea (for instance, a microphone may be embedded in a night-worn mouthguard, retainers, or aligners, and the dental appliance may then be used to detect sleep apnea). Other sensors such as an accelerometer may be used a biological sensor, in particular embodiments. A bite sensor may include a force sensor (which may include a pressure sensor) for a detecting a bite force of the user's teeth. The force sensor may be a capacitive sensor, a resistive sensor, or another suitable force-sensing modality. A bite sensor may be used to detect, e.g., bruxism of a wearer. In particular embodiments, a dental appliance may include three biological sensors: (1) a brux sensor; (2) a breath sensor and (3) a salivary pH sensor. In particular embodiments, the brux sensor and the salivary sensor may be located on opposite sides of the dental appliance. For example, a brux sensor may be located on the right (or left) side of a dental appliance, while the salivary sensor may be located on the left (or right) side, respectively, of the appliance. The salivary sensor may be located at or near the outside of a front wall (e.g., front wall 115 in the example of FIG. 1) of the dental appliance. For instance, the salivary pH sensor may be located on the facial/buccal side of the dental appliance, near the Stensen salivary duct on one side of the user's mouth, thereby increasing the detection efficacy of the salivary sensory. The force sensor may then be located on the oppos