ELASTOMERIC CORD FOR RETAINING A DENTAL DAM, CORD DISPENSER AND RELATED COMBINATIONS AND METHODS

摘要

A method for retaining a dental dam comprises the steps of positioninga dental dam (11) over a plurality of teeth in the mouth of a patient;selecting asection of elastomeric cord (10); elongating the section to reduce the cross-sectionalarea thereof; interposing a portion of the elongated section between at leasttwoadjacent teeth and over the dam; and allowing the section to expand toward itsoriginal cross-sectional area thereby prohibiting the removal of the dam fromtheteeth. Also provided in combination with a dental dam (11) having a pluralityofindividual holes to fit over a like plurality of teeth in the mouth of apatient, is anelastomeric cord (10) having a first, relaxed diameter and a second elongateddiameter of lesser dimension than the first, the second diameter beinginterposedbetween a pair of adjacent teeth and over the dam in position with respect totheteeth, wherein the first diameter forms an elastomeric wedge between the teethtoretain the dam. A novel elastomeric cord (10) is provided for retaining adentaldam which is preferably provided in a column (40). A method for manufacturingthe column is taught as is the use of such a column in combination with acontainer(50).