Patent Publication Number: US-2005130102-A1

Title: Periodontal scaling instruments

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention concerns periodontal scaling instruments used by dental practitioners for removing plaque and calculus from tooth surfaces within periodontal pockets.  
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART  
      A periodontal pocket is a space between a tooth and the adjacent gum and the removal of plaque and calculus from a tooth surface within such a pocket generally requires the professional attention of a qualified dental surgeon or hygienist. According to need. the practitioner may use any one or more of a variety of scaling instruments, generally known as scalers (which term is herein deemed to include sickles, hoes and jaquette scalers) and curettes.  
      The depth of a periodontal pocket—that is, the amount by which it extends inward of the gingival margin—is a diagnostic of oral health. As such it is commonly measured by a dental practitioner, and several different probes are available for this purpose, including those known as CPITN probes, BPE probes and Weston probes. These all bear marking to show the depth of the pocket when the tip of the probe engages the inward end of the pocket. A typical probe has marking in the form of contrasting bands showing depths of 3.5 mm, 5.5 mm, 8.5 mm and 11.5 mm.  
      It may be noted at this point that, although periodontal probes have been in widespread use for many years, it has never previously been thought useful to apply similar marking to a periodontal scaling instrument. Heretofore, even when a pocket depth has been measured, a practitioner has had to rely on skill, experience and dexterity to know how far down to extend a scaling instrument: too little, and plaque or calculus may be left to accumulate, with damaging consequences for the patient&#39;s oral health; too far, and the patient will be hurt and possibly injured.  
      It is an object of the present invention to help a dental practitioner to know how far to penetrate a periodontal pocket when removing plaque or calculus from a tooth surface therewithin.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Thus according to the invention there is provided a periodontal scaling instrument having a tip formed for removing plaque and/or calculus from a tooth surface within a periodontal pocket, wherein said tip has marking to indicate, in use, its extent of penetration into the pocket.  
      The marking may comprise mutually contrasting bands or a plurality of grooves.  
      Many periodontal scaling instruments are used with the tip at an inclination to the tooth surface, and to accommodate this the tip marking may be inclined relative to the tip at an angle substantially equal to the inclination of the tip on the tooth surface in use. Further, practitioners often use instruments such as sickles and curettes in such a way that the inclination is varied during use, and to accommodate this the marking may vary along said tip to correspond to a varying inclination of the tip in use.  
      The marking may be provided by paint or the like applied to said tip or it may be formed in the tip, eg by etching, by laser etching or by machining.  
      Certain different materials of use in periodontal scaling instruments differ in colour. For instance, hard titanium and tungsten alloys used for the cutting edges of periodontal scaling instruments are commonly quite different in appearance from the steel shafts of such instruments. Such different materials may be utilised to provide the instrument marking.  
      The marking may replicate marking of a CPITN probe or a BPE probe or a Weston probe, or it may have some other marking.  
      The instrument may be configured and arranged for manual use or for attachment to a sonic, ultrasonic or piezoelectric scaling unit. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which  
       FIG. 1  shows enlarged in side elevation a tip of a periodontal curette embodying the invention;  
       FIG. 2  shows enlarged in side elevation a tip of a periodontal hoe embodying the invention;  
       FIG. 3  shows enlarged in side elevation a tip of a periodontal jaquette scaler embodying the invention;  
       FIG. 4  shows enlarged in side elevation a tip of a periodontal sickle embodying the invention;  
       FIG. 5  shows further enlarged in plan view the tip of the periodontal sickle shown in  FIG. 4 ; and  
       FIG. 6  illustrates the application of the invention to an ultrasonic scaler.  
    
    
     WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF THE BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION  
      Referring first to  FIG. 1 , this shows a tip  10  of a curette used for removing plaque and calculus from tooth surfaces within periodontal pockets, As shown in  FIG. 1  the tip  10  is attached to a handle, indicated partially in broken lines at  12 . The way in which the curette is used will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, and for present purposes it will be sufficient to say that its free end  14  is entered into a periodontal pocket and the adjacent debridement portion  16  is drawn over the tooth surface within the pocket to remove plaque and/or calculus.  
      As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the debridement portion  16  has a marking in the form of mutually contrasting bands  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c  and  16   d . The bands  16   b  and  16   d  are etched, to contrast with the bands  16   a  and  16   c , which are left plain. The bands  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c  and  16   d  together provide a visual indication of the extent to which the debridement portion  16  has penetrated the periodontal pocket, so that its end  14  (which is sharp) does not cause pain or injury to the patient.  
      To make it easy for the practitioner to understand the indication, the bands  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c  and led are formed in accordance with the marking of a CIPTN periodontal probe. Thus the band  16   a  has a width d 1  (its dimension from the end  14 ) wherein d 1 =3.5 mm; and the band  16   b  has a width d 2  wherein d 2 =3.0 mm, the band  16   c  has a width d 3  wherein d 3 =2.5 mm and the band  16   d  has a width d 4  wherein d 4 =3.0 mm. However it is to be understood that the bands may be dimensioned in any way appropriate to provide a visual indication of the extent to which the tip penetrates a periodontal pocket.  
       FIG. 2  shows a tip  20  of a hoe having a debridement portion  22  marked with mutually contrasting bands  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c  and  22   d  to indicate the extent of its penetration into a periodontal pocket.  
       FIG. 3  shows a tip  30  of a jaquette scaler having a debridement portion  32  marked with mutually contrasting bands  32   a ,  32   b ,  32   c  and  32   d  to indicate the extent of its penetration into a periodontal pocket.  
       FIG. 4  shows a tip  40  of a sickle having a a debridement portion  42  marked with mutually contrasting bands  42   a ,  42   b ,  42   c  and  42   d  to indicate the extent of its penetration into a periodontal pocket.  
      The debridement portion or “blade” of a sickle (and of some other periodontal scaling instruments) is arcuate and thus its inclination or “angle of attack” on a tooth surface vanes along its length. It follows that any marking to indicate depth of penetration into a periodontal pocket must be similarly inclined. This is illustrated by  FIG. 5 , from which can be seen that the bands  42   a ,  42   b ,  42   c  and  42   d  are inclined relative to the cutting edge  44  and that the angle of inclination varies along the (arcuate) length of the debridement portion  42 .  
      Referring now to  FIG. 6 , this shows a tip  60  used for ultrasonic removal of plaque or calculus within a periodontal pocket. To this end the tip  60  is caused to vibrate by an ultrasonic scaling unit, not shown, and drawn over a tooth surface by means of a handle  62 . (It should be noted that a similar tip may be used with a sonic or a piezo-electric scaling unit). The tip  60  is marked with contrasting bands  64   a ,  64   b ,  64   c ,  64   d ,  64   e  and  64   f.    
      Various modifications may be made to the instruments described without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, for sickles and other instruments which are commonly rotated somewhat during use, so that the angle of attack is altered, the marking may be curved or otherwise formed to indicate depth of penetration for different degrees of rotation. It will also be understood that the marking may be provided by means other than etching, for instance by paint or the like. Other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.