"NIPPLE FOR PACIFIERS OR BABY BOTTLES" Field of the Invention The present invention refers to a construction applied to the nipples of pacifiers or baby bottles provided with means to induce the children to keep the tip of the tongue in the raised position, in contact with the anterior hard palate when the nipple is not being used, as it occurs for example during sleep, with the purpose of preventing the tip of the tongue from remaining lowered, which leads to mouth breathing, with the possibility of occurring relaxation of the mandible elevator muscles and loss of the labial and lingual sealings, which maintain the nasal breathing.

Background of the Invention It is known from several studies in literature that the mouth breathers, whether they are infants, adults or elders, keep their mouths opened with the tongue retropostured and the tip thereof in the lowered position. Such lingual posture in children negatively interferes with the oral-facial growth, since the tongue in contact with the anterior hard palate has an important role in the facial growth, reacting against the forces of the facial muscles with the lip closure and anterior lingual sealing in the nasal breathing.

If loss of these balanced factors occurs, the final result of the oral-facial growth will be impaired. The highest facial growth rates occur during the first four years of age, when the craniofacial skeleton reach 60% of the adult size. In this phase, long face syndrome may occur, as well as the compromises resulting therefrom with the loss of the labial and lingual sealings, such as in the mouth breather syndrome.

The anterior lingual sealing, that is, the tongue seated against the anterior hard palate, leads to

nasal breathing but, if the tip of the tongue is lowered, the baby will be in the future a mouth breather or snorer child or adult, besides the fact that these conditions may develop to the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which may affect both children and adults, probably reducing their quality of life.

It is also known that when the tongue is retropostured with its tip in a lowered position, the lingual muscular stimulus for the growth of the anterior superior maxilla is lost. It is not desirable for the tongue to be retropostured towards the retropharynx, making difficult the nasopharyngeal breathing. It is also known that when mouth breathing occurs due to several problems, such as nasal obstruction and allergies, even when the nose is unobstructed the patient may lose the labial sealing. The labial sealing is also considered a labial valve, in which the sealed lips lead to nasal breathing, and in which the tendency of the tongue to remain with the tip lowered allows the patient to breath through the mouth, when the airways are obstructed. Thus, with the nipples modified according to the present invention, the nasal breathing will be stimulated with all the benefits resulting therefrom, by the exercise of the tongue touching the points described above, in specific sites, stimulating lingual sealing, which also leads to nasal breathing. When labial sealing is lost due to relaxation of the mandible elevator muscles during sleep and in the supine position, with the person lying on the back, the posture of the tongue is fundamental to avoid mouth breathing, since the tongue stimulates the growth of the maxilla and the barrier of the lip orbicular muscles and other muscles exert opposite forces against the vectors of the forces exerted by the tongue, thus stimulating the

anterior lingual touch in the anterior hard palate and the nasopharingeal breathing.

In view of the above, the influence of breathing through the upper airways in the oral-facial growth has been increasingly studied, especially in children since their birth to four-year-olds.

The facial growth is subject to several factors that modify the oral-facial structure of an individual, and the characteristics of the nasopharingeal breathing of a child constitute important features for his/her oral-facial development.

The studies carried out on this matter indicate that for the adequate maxillary and facial growth of a baby, it is highly recommended that the anterior portion of the child's tongue remains lifted up, touching the region of the incisive papilla, the area of the anterior gingival rim and the anterior area of the hard palate. This tongue positioning also helps in the maintenance of the nasal breathing when the child sleeps in the supine position, when there is relaxation of the mandible elevator muscles and the tendency of the baby to lose labial sealing.

By losing the labial sealing and with the lowering and retroposture of the tip of the tongue towards the retropharynx, the child is able to breath mainly through the mouth. Such tongue lowering and mouth breathing condition has become a relevant factor in the deficiencies of the oral-facial development, besides leading to tongue posture vices, which tend to be intensified with time, affecting even more the development of the child in question.

In view of the above and due to the habit of using pacifiers during the initial growth phase of the infant, it has been thought of making use of the relatively long periods in which a child uses the

pacifier to promote a process of reeducation of the tongue posture, in order to reduce its tendency to lower and retroposture itself against the retropharynx, distancing from the anterior hard palate, particularly during sleep periods, which leads to several problems in the oral-facial growth, in the upper airways, and in the quality of life of the individual.

Object of the Invention The general object of the present invention is to provide a nipple for pacifiers or baby bottles, which stimulates the child to position the tongue against a representative element of the anterior hard palate, more particularly an element that represents the incisive papilla and the palatine wrinkles, promoting a reeducation of the tongue posture, in order to reduce or even avoid at maximum the tendency of the tongue to retroposture itself, with the purpose of stimulating breathing through the upper airways by providing stimuli to said tongue. Consequently, the mouth will not be affected by the aggression of the air directly into the intraoral mucosae, minimizing the frequency in which the oral path is used as the main breathing media.

Summary of the Invention The invention refers to an orthopedic appliance for the nipples of pacifiers or baby bottles, of the type comprising a bulb incorporated to a neck, which is generally tubular, circular or flattened and which can be mounted to the structural body of a pacifier or baby bottle.

According to the invention, the neck of the nipple incorporates one or more protuberances, which are arranged to define, individually or jointly, at least one exteroceptive element to be naturally and

spontaneously searched by the child's tongue, as compared to the conventional pacifiers, which just separate the tongue from the incisive papilla and from the palatine wrinkles.

Thus, the present invention provides a simple means of easy construction, which is incorporated to a vehicle that is currently and intensively used everyday by babies and young children, and which makes them search a desired position for the tongue, in an involuntary and constant way, while the present nipple is being used. Said nipple does not present any means to hold the tongue thereto, but rather only stimulates the tongue to search said at least one protuberance.

The pacifier is part of an infant's routine and it is a very common item in layettes, besides being used as adornment, offered as gifts, as well as a helpful instrument for the parents to help keep the baby calm and quiet, promoting pacification. Even with the available data about the advantages of breast feeding, the use of baby bottles to guarantee the child's meals when the mother is absent has greatly increased by several reasons, such as work, or any other reason that prevents her from breast feeding her baby and makes her use the present nipples instead.

As a function of this intense utilization of the nipples in pacifiers or baby bottles, this invention provides the nipples of the pacifiers or baby bottles with at least one exteroceptive element that stimulates the infant, during the long periods in which these nipples are used, to position the tongue with its tip upwardly turned against the protuberances of the orthopedic pacifier, simulating the stimuli provided by the incisive papillae and by the palatine wrinkles of the anterior hard palate.

It may be further expected from the exteroceptive

protuberances or prominences of the invention to collaborate intensively to correct the tongue posture and also to assist the persons suffering from respiratory allergies, which cause in the chronic or acute processes the obstruction of the nasal fossae, leading to the loss of labial and lingual sealings and to the combined oral breathing or predominantly oral breathing.

In order to provide an exteroceptive lingual stimulus to the orthopedic nipples, as they are extensively and commonly used by children everyday, practically since their birth, the proposed orthopedicc exteroceptive solution aims at provoking and stimulating the tip raised position of the tongue with its benefits related to maxillary growth, lingual sealing, and nasal breathing. The provision of the exteroceptive protuberances propitiates, when the tongue touches them, a primary calming stimulus, which is also pleasant and stimulates the tongue simply by its slight contact with the saliences. Moreover, the pressure between the pacifier and the front upper teeth seems to be reduced in relation to the conventional pacifiers lacking the exteroceptive protuberances and which, when round shaped, conduct the tongue backwards, retroposturing it and taking it to an undesirable tip lowered position.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will be described below, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a child using a baby bottle provided with a conventional non-orthodontic nipple, illustrating the position of the tongue during the suction movements of the child; Figure 2 is a similar view to that of figure 1, but illustrating a baby bottle with an orthodontic nipple;

Figures 3,3a, and 3b are similar views to that of figure 2, but illustrating different milk delivering positions of the tongue with a baby bottle provided with a nipple constructed according to the present invention, i. e. , including one or more exteroceptive protuberances to stimulate the tongue to remain in a forwardly extended position, with the tip thereof turned to the neck of the nipple during the suction movements that are more similar to the milk delivering movements effected on the mother's breast; Figure 4 is a lateral elevational view of a pacifier made according to the present invention; Figure 5 is a top plan view of the pacifier of figure 4; Figure 6 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the pacifier, taken according to line VI-VI of figure 5; and Figure 7 is a similar view to that of figure 5, but illustrating another constructive configuration for the protuberances 13, now comprising a semi-spherical projection, which is approximately similar to the papilla of the incisive palatine, and two pairs of small ribs disposed in a"V"shaped arrangement, the palatine wrinkles.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments As illustrated, the nipple 10 is molded in a single piece of a resilient material, such as silicone, presenting the adequate shape of a bulb 11, with a circular or substantially semicircular or elliptic cross section, which is incorporated to one of the ends of a tubular neck 12, whose opposite end is mounted to a structural body 20 of a pacifier or a baby bottle.

In the construction illustrated in figures 4,5, and 6, the structural body 20 takes the form of a flange

21, which is conformed to adapt against the child's mouth, avoiding the structural body 20 from penetrating into his/her mouth, said structural body 20 further carrying a handle 22 usually in the form of a ring.

According to the invention, the neck 12, usually of tubular shape, incorporates one or more protuberances 13, which are disposed so as to define exteroceptive elements to be searched by the tip of the child's tongue while using the orthopedic nipple, as shown in figure 3,3a, and 3b, in which the tongue"L"keeps its tip upwardly turned, searching contact with the protuberance 13.

Each protuberance 13 presents the shape of a small and soft semi-spherical projection, which is dimensioned to induce a respective positioning of the child's tongue, without however causing irritation or ulcerations resulting from the prolonged use of the pacifier.

In the form illustrated for the pacifier of figures 4, 5, and 6, three protuberances 13 are provided, disposed in the lower region of the neck 12 and slightly spaced from each other, in a substantially triangular arrangement, one of them playing the role of the incisive papilla and the other two the role of the palatine wrinkles.

In the case the nipple is applied to a baby bottle and, thus, taken to the infant's mouth in different positions obtained by turning said bottle around its longitudinal axis, the nipple 10 may have its neck 12 provided with one or more circumferential alignments of at least two protuberances 13, which are angularly spaced from each other. Thus, regardless of the position in which the bottle rotates, there will always exist at least one protuberance 13 in the

condition of acting as an exteroceptive element to be searched by the tip of the child's tongue, stimulating the mandible movement and the slide of the protuded tongue.

Figure 7 illustrates a constructive configuration applied to the nipple 10 of a pacifier or baby bottle, according to which are provided: a central protuberance 13 in the form of a semi-spherical projection, and at least one pair of lateral protuberances 13 defined by small ribs disposed in a "shaped arrangement, with the vertex turned to the central protuberance 13. It should be further understood that the nipple 10 may incorporate only one protuberance 13 associated with each possible operational position of the nipple 10 in relation to the child's mouth.