Dental veneers and methods of manufacture

Abstract

A dental veneer made from a composite comprising at least one organic binder, preferably with methacrylate, and inorganic solid particles as fillers. Methods for manufacturing the dental veneer include curing the composite with heat and light under pressure followed by laser treating the facial surface of the veneer to form a smoother facial surface. Filler particles at the facial surface of the veneer can be melted and/or coalesced together to form a continuous glass surface, which is more natural looking and better resembles natural tooth material as compared to ceramic veneers or other composited veneers lacking surface treatment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dental veneer for placement over a prepared tooth surface, comprising:
 a first region, formed from a dental composite, having a shape so as to be attached to a prepared tooth surface, the dental composite comprising an organic binder and solid filler particles; and   a second region, formed from a dental composite, providing at least a portion of an exterior surface of the dental veneer, the second region comprising solid composite filler particles that have been continuously hardened and/or melted together to form a hardened glassy surface.   
     
     
         2 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein the dental veneer is at least partially cup-shaped. 
     
     
         3 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein the organic binder of the first region comprises one or more at least partially cured acrylates or methacrylates. 
     
     
         4 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid filler particles of the first region and the solid composite filler particles that have been continuously hardened and/or melted together comprise inorganic particles. 
     
     
         5 . A dental veneer according to  claim 4 , wherein the inorganic particles comprise one or more types of glass. 
     
     
         6 . A dental veneer according to  claim 4 , wherein the inorganic particles comprise differently sized particles having different grain sizes. 
     
     
         7 . A dental veneer according to  claim 6 , different grain sizes are in a range of about 0.01 μm to about 3 μm. 
     
     
         8 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the exterior surface of the dental veneer is laser treated to form a continuous cured and/or glazed molten layer of solid composite filler particles. 
     
     
         9 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid filler particles of the dental composite in the first region comprise at least 75% by volume of the dental composite. 
     
     
         10 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein the dental veneer is translucent. 
     
     
         11 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein the dental veneer has at least one of:
 a translucency in a range of about 28% to about 39%;   an L-value in a range of about 59 to about 69;   an a-value in a range of about −0.35 to about −3.2; or   a b-value in a range of about −0.4 to about −6.95.   
     
     
         12 . A dental veneer according to  claim 1 , wherein the dental veneer comprises a cutting edge portion having a thickness in a range of about 1 mm to about 1.3 mm and wherein the dental veneer outside the cutting edge portion has a maximum thickness of about 0.6 mm and/or tapers flat at the end opposite the cutting edge portion. 
     
     
         13 . A kit for use in placing a veneer onto a prepared tooth surface, comprising:
 a plurality of differently sized and/or differently shaped dental veneers according to  claim 1 ; and   a color selection bonding system for use in bonding the dental veneer to a prepared tooth surface.   
     
     
         14 . A kit according to  claim 13 , wherein the color selection bonding system comprises at least one bonding material and a plurality of different dyes for coloring the at least one bonding material. 
     
     
         15 . A kit according to  claim 13 , wherein the color selection bonding system comprises a plurality of differently colored bonding materials. 
     
     
         16 . A kit according to  claim 13 , wherein the color selection bonding system comprises at least one liquid or paste bonding material. 
     
     
         17 . A kit according to  claim 13 , wherein the color selection bonding system comprises the same composite or the same organic binder as the dental veneer. 
     
     
         18 . A kit according to  claim 13 , further comprising at least one adhesive agent and at least one etchant. 
     
     
         19 . A method of manufacturing a dental veneer, comprising:
 shaping a composite material into a shape for attachment to a prepared tooth surface, the composite material comprising an organic binder and solid filler particles;   at least partially hardening or curing the composite material; and   treating a portion of the at least partially hardened or cured composite material to form an exterior surface comprising solid filler particles that have been continuously hardened and/or melted together to form a hardened glassy surface.   
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 19 , wherein shaping a composite material and at least partially hardening or curing the composite material comprises:
 providing a moldable composite material;   introducing the moldable composite material into a mold at high pressure, the mold at least partially corresponding to a desired shape of the dental veneer;   subjecting the molded composite material within the mold to at least one of heat or light curing.   
     
     
         21 . A method according to  claim 20 , wherein the mold includes a glass surface corresponding to a facial surface of the dental veneer and a metal surface corresponding to a basal surface of the dental veneer. 
     
     
         22 . A method according to  claim 21 , wherein the method comprises both heat curing throughout the mold and light curing through the glass surface of the mold. 
     
     
         23 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein light curing through the glass surface of the mold causes the composite material to undergo greater polymerization shrinkage adjacent to the glass surface as compared to adjacent to the metal surface, thereby causing solid filler particles at the facial surface of the dental veneer to be closer together than solid filler particles at the basal surface of the dental veneer. 
     
     
         24 . A method according to  claim 19 , wherein treating a portion of the at least partially hardened or cured composite material comprises laser treating at least a portion of the exterior surface. 
     
     
         25 . A method according to  claim 24 , wherein laser treating at least a portion of the exterior surface causes at least a portion of the organic binder of the composite material to be removed so that the exterior surface has a higher percentage of solid filler particles than an adjacent composite region not laser treated. 
     
     
         26 . A method according to  claim 24 , wherein laser treating at least a portion of the exterior surface causes at least partial melting together of solid filler particles at the exterior surface. 
     
     
         27 . A tooth front veneer, wherein the veneer consists of a composite material, the composite material containing at least one organic binder and filler particles as solid. 
     
     
         28 . A tooth front veneer according to  claim 27 , wherein the veneer is curved in a shell-shaped configuration, at least regionally. 
     
     
         29 . A tooth front veneer according to  claim 27 , wherein the solid particles of the filler comprise glass or a mixture of different types of glasses and/or that the filler contains solid particles of different grain sizes. 
     
     
         30 . A tooth front veneer according to  claim 27 , wherein an outer surface of the tooth front veneer is laser treated at least regionally and forms a continuous cured and/or vitrified melt layer. 
     
     
         31 . A tooth front veneer according to  claim 27 , wherein the solid particles of the filler constitute at least 75% by volume of the composite material of the tooth front veneer. 
     
     
         32 . A tooth front veneer according to  claim 27 , wherein the veneer is translucent and/or has an L value of 59 to 69 and/or has an “a” value of −0.35 to −3.2 and/or has a “b” value of −0.4 to −6.95. 
     
     
         33 . A tooth front veneer according to  claim 27 , wherein at one of an end region, the veneer having a cutting edge and/or the tooth front veneer having a maximum thickness of 0.6 mm outside of the end region with the cutting edge and/or the tooth veneer running out flat at an end opposite to the cutting edge. 
     
     
         34 . A kit comprising several tooth front veneers of  claim 27 , the kit additionally comprising at least one fastening material and several different colors for coloring the fastening material and/or several differently colored fastening materials, the at least one fastening material or the several differently colored fastening materials being suitable for fastening the tooth front veneer to a tooth stump. 
     
     
         35 . A kit according to  claim 34 , wherein the fastening material contains the same composite material or the same organic binder as the tooth front veneer. 
     
     
         36 . A kit according to  claim 34 , wherein the kit comprises at least one adhesion promoter and/or at least one etching material.