Patent ID: 8568140

Claim:
A hand held dental instrument for curing light-curable compounds curable in the mouth of a patient comprising: a housing having a handle portion for being held by a user and a barrel portion, the barrel portion configured for being manipulated to position a tip end of the barrel portion proximate to a curing site for curing a light curable compound; a plurality of solid state, light-emitting dies mounted in a collective array on a substrate in the housing, each die including at least one generally bare semiconductor junction, the array of dies operable for collectively emitting light having wavelengths within a narrow band of wavelengths and at a power to cure a dental compound; the substrate and array of dies being positioned proximate to the tip end of the housing barrel portion so the emitted light from the array is presented to directly illuminate a curing site; a clear lens layer positioned over the substrate and encapsulating the array of dies for directing light generated by the array.