Supra and subgingival tooth cleaning apparatus and method
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for the subgingival cleaning of teeth comprising:
- a handle;
an elongated tapered non-metallic cleaning tip having an axis and mounted for reciprocal rotary motion to said handle about said axis, said tip having an outer surface including circumferentially spaced radially active scrubbing means for scrubbing subgingival surfaces of a tooth, said cleaning tip including a tapered shank, said scrubbing means comprising a tuft of fibers connected near an end of said shank; and
drive means connected to said tip for reciprocally rotating said tip about its axis, said drive means rotating said tip by from one quarter to one full turn in either rotary direction.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for the supra and subgingival cleaning of teeth comprises and handle with a driving mechanism for reciprocally rotating a tapered cleaning tip about its longitudinal axis. A tuft or other scrubbing mechanism is provided on the outer circumference of the tip. The tip includes circumferentially disposed flutes which can be used to receive and dispense medication to the subgingival area. The tip is introduced into the gap between the gum and the tooth for scrubbing the outer surfaces of the tooth near and under the gum line. This effectively disrupts any bacteria plaque in these areas to clean the tooth.
105 Citations
29 Claims
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1. An apparatus for the subgingival cleaning of teeth comprising:
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a handle; an elongated tapered non-metallic cleaning tip having an axis and mounted for reciprocal rotary motion to said handle about said axis, said tip having an outer surface including circumferentially spaced radially active scrubbing means for scrubbing subgingival surfaces of a tooth, said cleaning tip including a tapered shank, said scrubbing means comprising a tuft of fibers connected near an end of said shank; and drive means connected to said tip for reciprocally rotating said tip about its axis, said drive means rotating said tip by from one quarter to one full turn in either rotary direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A tip for the subgingival cleaning of teeth comprising:
a one piece non-metallic member having a handle engagement end, a tapered shank connected to said handle engagement end and tapering toward a small diameter insertion end, and circumferentially spaced radially active scrubbing means for scrubbing subgingival surfaces of a tooth, said scrubbing means comprising a tuft of fibers connected to said tapered shank extending at least to said insertion end, said tapered shank has a length of from 7mm to 37mm and a taper angle of from 0°
to 45°
, said handle engagement end having a diameter of from 1mm to 5mm.- View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for the subgingival cleaning of teeth comprising:
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a handle; an elongated tapered non-metallic cleaning tip having an axis and mounted for reciprocal rotary motion to said handle about said axis, said tip having an outer surface including circumferentially spaced radially active scrubbing means for scrubbing subgingival surfaces of a tooth, said cleaning tip including a tapered shank, said scrubbing means comprising a tuft of fibers connected near an end of said shank, said tapered cleaning tip having a spherical end; and drive means connected to said tip for reciprocally rotating said tip about its axis. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for the subgingival cleaning of teeth comprising:
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a handle; an elongated tapered non-metallic cleaning tip having an axis and mounted for reciprocal rotary motion to said handle about said axis, said tip having an outer surface including circumferentially spaced radially active scrubbing means for scrubbing subgingival surfaces of a tooth, said cleaning tip including a tapered shank, said scrubbing means comprising a tuft of fibers connected near an end of said shank, the tip having a length of from 10mm to 25mm, the tip having a taper angle of between 3° and
10°
, the maximum diameter of the top being 3mm to 5mm; anddrive means connected to said tip for reciprocally rotating said tip about its axis. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for the supra and subgingival cleaning of teeth, comprising:
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engaging the side of a tapered non-metallic cleaning tip having circumferentially spaced radially active scrubbing means, against subgingival surfaces of a tooth; and reciprocally rotating said tip about a longitudinal axis thereof by one quarter to one full turn in either direction. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification