Patent ID: 6994546

Claim:
A relatively light weight, hand-held dental device for curing light-curing compounds, and that is adapted for use in a system that includes a holding fray comprising one or more recesses, at least one of which is for receiving the dental device so as to hold the dental device in a convenient, generally upright fashion for easy grasping, the dental device comprising: body means for defining a generally elongated, light-weight, slender body for enabling the dental device to be held and easily rotated into various positions when using the dental device for curing procedures in a patient's mouth, and said body means also comprising means for controlling application of power; means, disposed at a first end of the body means, for emitting radiant energy directly to a light-curable compound within a patient's mouth, said radiant energy being suitable for curing light-curable dental compounds; power means, disposed at a second end of the body means, for providing power to the means for emitting radiant energy, and said means for providing power also comprising means that adapts the dental device for securely sitting in an essentially elongated, upright fashion within the at least one recess of the holding tray when it is not in use; and detachment means for detachably connecting the means for emitting radiant energy to the power means so that the means for emitting radiant energy can be selectively detached from the body means for autoclaving.