Patent ID: 7553158

Claim:
A dental evacuation tool for being placed in fluid communication with a dental vacuum, the tool comprising: a suction head; a handle extending from the suction head; and a fluid conveying pathway extending through the suction head and handle, wherein the suction head includes: a housing; a mirror surface supported by the housing; a first shelf protruding laterally from the housing and having a top surface offset rearward from the mirror surface, a side surface near to and generally following an outer circumferential profile of the suction head, and a bottom surface having a beveled shape as it extends between the side surface and the housing, wherein the side surface has a height measured in a direction generally the same as a direction faced by the mirror; a first recess in the top surface of the first shelf, the first recess having a bottom defined by a depth approximately equal to the height of the side surface of the first shelf, the first recess further defined by a first edge proximal to the handle and a second edge distal to the handle, the recess extending laterally through the housing, into the fluid conveying pathway, and defining a radially outward facing portion, the first recess generally centered about a line extending across the suction head generally transverse to a longitudinally extending axis of the handle; a first upward-facing intake orifice extending through the bottom of the first recess, along an interior surface of the bevel shaped bottom surface of the first shelf, and into the fluid conveying pathway, wherein the first upward-facing intake orifice opens in a direction substantially the same as a direction faced by the mirror surface; and at least one forward-facing intake orifice.