Laser beam dental instrument

Details Laser beam dental instrument Laser beam dental instrument

1991-12-16

1995-02-14

Wilson, John J.

Dentistry

Apparatus

Having means to emit radiation or facilitate viewing of the...

433101, 606 18, A61C 300

Patent

active

053889878

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The subject of the present invention is a dental instrument for the treatment of caries and for oral surgery, of the type comprising a laser beam emission source, the said laser radiation being conveyed by optical fibre through the dental instrument up to the zone to be treated.
In what follows, a dental instrument employing laser radiation will be described specifically. It will be understood that this is in no sense limiting; the principles described will also be usable in surgery.
The sought-after aim is to obtain the painless ablation of hard or soft tissues (dentine, cement, pulp etc). For this purpose it is necessary to engender the vaporising, or even the sublimating, of these tissues without the tooth undergoing a rise in temperature and hence absorbing a significant quantity of energy or of power.
The lasers currently used in dentistry are provided with a light-conducting device which terminates in a hand-piece enabling use of the laser beam in the mouth. These hand-pieces are somewhat impractical to use since they are too bulky, this greatly hampering accessibility to the mouth, particularly when working at the back of the mouth. Moreover, these lasers are in general controlled by means of a programmed device which does not allow the practitioner, without interrupting the treatment, to adapt perfectly the laser operating parameters to the effects which he observes whilst operating. Finally, the purchase of a laser for a practitioner represents a high investment, which it is not currently possible to share out among several practices in the case of group practices, other than by moving all the laser equipment from one practice to the next.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to remedy these disadvantages of the laser dental instruments of the prior art.
In accordance with the invention, this result is obtained with a dental instrument for the treatment of caries and for oral surgery, of the type comprising a laser beam emission source, the said laser radiation being conveyed by optical fibre through the dental instrument up to the zone to be treated, characterised in that it comprises control means enabling the user to vary at will during an operation at least one of the emission parameters of the laser beam chosen from the group comprising: the firing of the laser shot or shots, the energy of the laser beam, the frequency of the shots, and the optical fibre. According to a practical embodiment, the said control means are brought together, for example, in a pedal controlled by the user's foot and of the single, double or triple action type.
For optimal transmission of the laser beam, the dental instrument will comprise a stem and a head which are attached along secant axes in a rotatable manner to a connector into which opens the optical fibre conveying the laser beam from the source.
The parameters of the laser emission source must also be determined as a function of the following criteria:
The basic laser parameters are preferably within the following ranges:
It will be possible to obtain them on the basis of a laser with solid active medium excited or pumped by flash(es).
The active medium of the laser may be a doped crystal or a doped glass.
The table below indicates the nature of the material with its doping element or elements, together with the wavelength or range of wavelengths emitted:


______________________________________ Active medium Wavelengths in nm ______________________________________ Nd : YAG 1064 Cr : Nd : YAG 1060 Er : YAG 2940 Ho : YAG 2060 Cr : Nd : GSGG 1060 Cr : Nd : GGG 1060 Er : Nd : LiYF4 850-1047-1053 Nd : YAP 1060 Alexandrite 710-800 Nd : phosphate glass 1053.5 Nd : silicate glass 1053-1061 ______________________________________
The use of a laser having these characteristics and in accordance with the present invention will be discussed more fully below. Such characteristics, in and of themselves, need not be described in greater detail since they will be readily understood by the p

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patent: 4826431 (1989-05-01), Fujimura et al.
patent: 5020995 (1991-06-01), Levy
patent: 5207576 (1993-05-01), Vassiliadis et al.

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