US2552134A - Dental instrument construction - Google Patents

Description

M 8, 1951 A. BERLINER 2,552,134

DENTAL INSTRUMENT CONSTRUCTION Filed July 28, 1948 INVENTOR FJBRQHHM BERLINER ATTORNEY Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE DENTAL INSTRUMENT CONSTRUCTION Abraham Berliner, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Gollobin Dental 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application July 28, 1948, Serial No. 41,031

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to dental instrument constructions and more particularly is directed to improvement in scaling or planning instruments for use in periodontal treatments when removing subgingival irritants, deposits and for- 5 treatment. eign matter and for other like or similar pur- Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of a jaw section poses. like Fig. 1 showing the detail of the blade in an Among the objects of the invention is to geneffective position, the resilient fiexure of the erally improve dental instruments of the characblade with respect to the shank'being shown in ter described which shall be simple in construc- 10 dotted lines, and tion, which shall be relatively inexpensive to Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional View of the tooth manufacture, which shall require a minimum of structure and adhering mass as seen on lines digital skill in manipulation for periodontal and l0-Hl on Fig. 9, showing the wedging action of similar dental treatment, which shall provide the blade. simplified technic for the general practitioner to It as b n fo d n a branch the p render periodontal treatment equal to specialtice of dentistry, known as p ede y, t ists, which shall avoid accidental lacerations one of the p y lo aggravating actors 0011- when used in scaling or planing the root and ducive to periodontal disease is the accumulacrown surfaces of teeth, which shall be shaped tion of subgingival debris and deposits of fo and constructed 1 permit; d ired planing nd matter on and around the necks of the crowns smoothening of the tooth root and crown surand roots of teeth. Such accumulations manifaces to be expeditiously accomplished with fest their presence by becoming calcified through great ease and maximum control, which shall delmsi in e al Which firmly ad to t e preclude scratching, nicking or gouging the root oth structure. surfaces by virtue of the novel construction, and As seen in F s. 1, 9 and 10 tooth Structure T which shall be eiiicient and practical to a high represents one example of typical tooth morpholdegree i use, ogy having an exposed cap top portion or crown Other objects of the invention will in part be C, a neck port on N extending about t ooth T obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out. The jus b ow t e B own C in the e ion of e um invention accordingly consists of features of gingival ne and a root R of teeth T construction, combination of elements, arrange- Which t s dO n from Said c DOTtiOh N in ments of parts which will be exemplified in the through the u or va G termi a in at construction hereinafter described and of which apex A at the lower end of the tooth T. Foreign the scope of the application will be indicated in c u t o i a progressive Case periodonthe following claims, tal disease may be found in a pathologic pocket In the accompanying dr wi in hi h i P formed in the subgingival region opposite the shown one illustrative embodiment of this injaw alveolar bone J, as a us mass M adhervention, ing to the tooth root surface R.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational View As seen from the drawing, an denotes a dental of a jaw region showing a tooth, partially broken 40 instrument constructed to embody the invention away, undergoing periodontal treatment with a for use in removing said calculus mass M or dental instrument constructed to embody the inother adhering formations on the neck N or root vention. portion R, of the normal tooth structure T thus 2 is a front elevational View of the tool or making conducive the environment for mainbusiness end portion of the instrument shown in taining the health of the adjacent tissues, and Fig. 1 formed with acutting blade extending in in treating and conditioning the surfaces of such substantially straight alignment with the shank tooth portions to bring the environment conthereof. ducive to return the surrounding tissues into a Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged fragmentary front alt y no al State fr e o D c e elevational and leading end views, respectively, Said instrument 2%] may be made in the conof the cutting blade of the improved dental inventional manner as a single steel structure, or strument, shown in Figs. 1 and 2. as here shown, may comprise an elongated handle Figs. 5, 6, I and 8 are side elevational views of 21 made of any suitable material such as plastic, tool or business end portions of instruments con- Monel metal, stainles steel, brass or steel, polstructed to embody the invention formed with ished or chrome plated, having an end holder 21a, the exterior surface Zlb of which may be knurled and provided with spaced grooves to serve as a frictional, non-slip finger gripping means. Said holder 2Ia may have suitable means, such as an axial tapered bore 2ic into which is fitted to firmly and rigidly seat tapered end 22a, of a tool 22 having business leading end portion 22b for said instrument 20.

Said tool end portion 22b may be made of a suitable material, such as tempered steel, polished or plated, having a blade 23 terminating in an intermediate shank portion 220 which extends from said tapered end 22a, said blade 23 serving as an exploring, cutting and planing mean for removing said calculus mass M in the manner hereinafter described.

Blade 23 may be made with flattened wide front and rear sides or faces 23a that are each hollow ground or otherwise formed with a tapered concaved surface 23d of a contour that is readily adapted to conform, as far as practical to the convexities of surfaces of the neck N or root portions R of the teeth T to permit bringing one of two leading cutting and planing edges 23b of blade 23 in position for giving maximum effective contact therewith. Fattened narrow or edge side portions 230 of the blade 23 between said wide faces 23a may be tapered down from said shank portion 221) at an angle to provide a prying wedge structure which may serve to break or split off the said mass M and thereby often reducing the requirement of the cutting and planing action by blade edge 23b to minimum.

The cutting and planing edge 231) may be made to have a convex contour transversely with respect to the length of blade 23, as shown in Fig. 3, so that it provides a shearing action when effectively used. Leading end 236 of blade 23 which terminates said tool and portion 22b is otherwise fiat or slightly concaved so that the two identical spaced apart cutting and planing edges 231) are each selectively made available of use, as is clear from Fig. i. Preferably the four corners 237 of blade end 236 which terminate spaced cutting edges 23b are rounded off or blunted, so that when contacting the tooth surfaces at an angle other than that effective to permit cutting and planing action blade edges 236, said corners 23; cannot readily score the root surface or lacerate soft tissues contiguous with the root surface thereby lessening possible bleeding and obscuring the field of treatment. Said rounding off of blade corners 23f also eliminates to a great extent possibility of injuring or destroying the radiolucent decalcified osteoid matrix.

The efficiency of the procedure with said instrument 28 is thus assured without depending only On the sense of touch but rather having the added desired advantage of reducing bleeding to a minimum and hence making greater visibility available.

Any scoring or nicking of the tooth root surface B should the corners 23 of blade 23 be left sharp creates new rough or jagged areas which provide niduses for the redeposition of additional foreign matter.

The shank portion 220 from which blade 23 extends is so constructed and arranged to be relatively, thin, narrow and of a length to give a controlled flexibility to a measured degree of pressure, namely, for a finger pressure of about three ounces on handle surface 211), the blade 23 will be flexed approximately to 7 from its normal set position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 9. Said pressure transmitted to blade 23 provides a resilient fiexure of said tool end portion 221;, permitting blade 23 to override convexity, concavity or other vertical and horizontal dilacerations of the tooth root surfaces R without destroying it normal integrity thereof, thus manipulation of the instrument 20 takes place through said feel control as well as with maximum visibility requiring a minimized digital skill with less insipient potential damage to the tooth structure being treated.

In Figs. 5, 6, '7 and 8 are shown various forms of tools 39, 4Q, 5t and 66 each adapted to be securely fitted into holder 2 la of handle 2l, each tool being provided with a blade 23 constructed as above described. These tools which are selectively used represent examples of those forming a et of so called straight, hoe and offset types, at least about eight of such tools being considered as a set for use on various tooth surfaces usually submitted to periodontal treatments.

In practising the invention, with a set of instruments 2t constructed as described above, let it be assumed that tooth T shown in Figs. 1 and 9 is to be given periodontal treatments, said tooth T having a slight gingival recession forming pocket P due to a subgingival irritant, such as calculus mass M in said pocket P. The blade 23 on a straight type tool 22 mounted in holder 2!, as shown in Fig. 1, is inserted in the pocket P with the concave surface 23d conformed to the convexed surface tooth root R. Finger pressure exerted on holder 2! is transmitted as a resilient fiexure means to blade 23 against said tooth root surface R, and on planing movement the blade 23 will cut into the mass M with the tapered Wedge of said blade 23 often splitting the mass M into fragment which can be removed thereby reducing the otherwise required scaling and curetting operations.

The mass M may be completely removed by planing with instrument 23 to leave the root tooth surface clean and smooth thereby aiding in eliminating the pocket P conducive to return the surrounding tissues to a healthy condition.

The specific shape and contour of the surfaces of blade 23 as has been described above provide means to accomplish the results sought expeditiously and with maximum control requiring a minimum of digital skill while eliminating unnecessary bleeding and destruction of the underlying soft and hard supporting tissues, as is clear from Fig. 9.

Each of the blade edges 23b shaped as described above provide highly effective shearing and planing means yet eliminate to a great extent undesirable injury to the surrounding tissue or nicking of the root surface because of the rounding of corners 23!.

It is thus seen, therefore, that there is provided an improved dental instrument in which the objects of the invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet all conditions of technical and practical use.

As various possible embodiments may be made in the above invention for use for different purposes and as various changes might be made in the embodiments and method above set forth, it is understood that all the above matters here set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

In a dental instrument construction having a flexible shank portion carrying a blade comprising flattened wide front and rear faces, a leading end terminating said wide faces, concaved surfaces formed in each of said wide faces tapered toward said leading end, each of said surfaces being of curved cross sectional shape to selectively accommodate convexed surfaces of neck and root portions of teeth, flattened narrow side ,portions extending between said wide faces tapered from said shank portion to said leading end to provide with said wide faces spaced apart planing edges each serving to remove adhering formations on said neck and root portions, said flattened tapered faces forming a wedge structure for splitting off subgingival irritants from said tooth neck and root portions, each of said planing edges formed between said concaved surfaces at the leadin end having a concave contour of a curvature of at least that of the exterior of said neck and root portions positioned to extend transversely with respect to the length of the blade, and rounded off corners provided at the 6 junction of said flattened wide faces with the leading end to terminate said edges for preventing accidental gum laceration.

ABRAHAM BERLINER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,503,610 Smith Aug. 5, 1924 1,899A89 Wickbergh Feb. 28, 1933 2,211,952 Kelly Aug. 20, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 440,585 France May 6, 1912 OTHER REFERENCES I-Iu-Friedy Products, Immunity Steel Catalog (recd in Patent Office November 13, 1929), page 41, Item: 4; page 72, Item: 52.

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