Patent ID: 8579630

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring dentin hypersensitivity, the apparatus comprising: a dental probe configured to apply force increasingly on a tooth until the applied force corresponds to a threshold force; a load cell, positioned in the dental probe, configured to generate an electrical signal proportional to the applied force; a microcontroller configured to: determine one or more selected preset values from a set of preset values, wherein the selection of one or more preset values is carried out for gradual determination of the threshold force; determine that the applied force has reached the threshold force for a particular selected preset value, wherein the applied force is detected based on the electrical signal received from the load cell; and ascertain an applied force value corresponding to the applied force and a threshold force value corresponding to the threshold force, wherein the threshold force value is a quantifiable value of the applied force to which a patient responds and is a measure of the dentin hypersensitivity; and a display device, in communication with the microcontroller, configured to display the applied force value and the threshold force value digitally.