Abstract: A tooth loosening device comprises a body having a tooth contacting portion connected to a handling portion. The tooth contacting portion has a tooth contacting member including one or more surfaces adapted to contact a tooth, and the handling portion includes a manipulation member. The tooth contacting portion can be inserted into a mouth having a tooth in need of loosening, and the manipulation member can position the tooth contacting member so that the one or more surfaces contacts the tooth in need of loosening. The tooth in need of loosening can then be loosened by manipulation of the tooth loosening device. A vibrating mechanism can also be provided to apply vibration to the tooth in need of loosening.

Abstract: Methods and devices for separating an implanted object, such as a pacemaker lead, from tissue surrounding such object in a patient's vasculature system. Specifically, the tissue separating device includes a handle, an elongate sheath and a circular cutting blade that may extend from the distal end of the sheath upon actuating the handle. The elongate sheath, particularly its distal end, includes a non-uniform wall thickness having one or more thicker portions in the outer sheath, particularly the outer cam member, and/or one or more thicker portions in an inner member disposed radially inward of the blade.

Abstract: The dental extractor includes a housing coupled to a flexible shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, and a lumen extending therethrough; a dental bridge coupled to the flexible shaft, the dental bridge having a top portion coupled to a first elongated member, including a first bottom support member, and a second elongated member, including a second bottom support member; an opening between the first bottom support member and the second bottom support member adapted to receive the tooth; a gripping mechanism having a top portion pivotally coupled to a first gripping member and a second gripping member, the gripping mechanism being slidably positioned between the first elongated member and the second elongated member of the dental bridge; a control mechanism positioned inside the housing to control the opening and closing of the gripping mechanism; and a selectively movable member coupled to the housing.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for producing ethanol from xylose using a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain transformed to express a xylose reductase that uses NADH as a cofactor and a xylitol dehydrogenase that uses NAD+ as a cofactor, which are coupled with each other. The method provides an increase in ethanol yield and production efficiency, as compared to a control group, and enables production of ethanol at higher yield and high production efficiency by further eliminating acetaldehyde dehydrogenase which mediates production of acetic acid (by-product).

Abstract: jIn restoration of teeth, the use of conventional matrix bands and wedges tends to leave gaps or spaces which can through inefficient restoration lead to fracture or infection, and also prove to be time consuming and inefficient. This invention addresses shortcomings of conventional restorative devices by providing an easy to use dental tool that has a first member and a second member with struts that adjust to fit into the proximal box, and that provides a predictably tight contact area for optimal tooth restoration.

Abstract: A dental post extractor which includes a main body having a fixed jaw against which a second movable jaw is urged to grasp a dental post. The main body also includes a fixed handle against which a second movable handle may be urged, creating lateral movement in an elongated plate that extends through the main body. Lateral movement in the elongated plate causes downward force to be exerted on the tooth containing the dental post, resulting in the removal of the post.

Abstract: A dental instrument comprising a grasping device in the form of a tweezer member having a finger receiving ring detachably connected to one of the legs of the tweezer member is disclosed. The instrument is used for holding and inserting a Cerec inlay, manufactured by a dental Cerec machine, in a tooth undergoing a restorative procedure. The instrument may further include a threaded axle which coacts with each leg of the tweezers and protrudes from one of the legs. The instrument may also further include a plunger mechanism which facilitates the insertion of an inlay in a prepared tooth cavity.

Abstract: An improved modular prosthetic joint has a stem portion embedded in a bone with a removable bearing head frictionally mounted on the stem portion. The bearing head has a bore which mates with a tapered shaft of the stem portion. The bearing head has a generally thin wall defining its continuous and unbroken bearing outer surface, with a wall portion extending directly over the tapered shaft which is thinner than the remainder of the bearing head wall. A puller engages an annular shoulder of the bearing head to pierce through the thinner wall portion of the bearing head, engage the tapered shaft and urge the bearing head away from the tapered shaft. Thus, the bearing head is pierced and removed from its associated stem portion, and second replacement bearing head is then mountable on the tapered shaft by impaction.

Abstract: An adjustable mandrel for grasping and supporting a workpiece such as a dental retention device. The mandrel includes a stationary jaw having a body portion with a dependent grasping leg, and a movable jaw also having a body portion with a depending grasping leg. The two grasping legs are arranged to each other. A captured screw member is rotatably secured to the body portion of the stationary jaw with the body portion of the movable jaw threadingly receiving the screw member therethrough. A pair of guide rails maintain a parallel relationship between the stationary and movable jaws. As the screw member is rotated, the movable jaw moves into and out of engagement with the stationary jaw to grasp a workpiece with the grasping legs, where either external or internal surfaces of the workpiece can be grasped.

Abstract: A dental crown (cap) remover with unique crown separating and removing means is adaptable to a wide variety of crown sizes and configurations and does not place compressive or axial forces on the underlying tooth or its supporting processes (alvoelar bone and periodontal fibers). The crown remover has a grasping and tightening mechanism that allows the dentist operator to firmly seat the crown remover on the crown to be removed, and has an elliptical separating mechanism that inserts in a precut groove in the crown and forces separation of the halves of the crown, increasing the circumferential dimension breaking the cementing medium and loosening the crown from the underlying tooth, providing for ease of separation of the crown from the tooth.

Abstract: A crown removal tool comprising an elongated hollow cylindrical body having at one end perpendicularly protruding tangs and a slot opening formed therebetween, the tangs adapted to engage one side of a groove formed in a patient's tooth crown, the device additionally comprising an inner rod slidable in the central elongated opening of the hollow cylindrical body, the inner rod having at one end a perpendicularly protruding tang slidably residing in the slot formed between the pair of tangs attached to the hollow cylindrical body, the inner rod tang adapted to engage the other side of the groove formed in a patient's tooth crown, the other end of the inner rod being threaded and having a rotatable nut thereon, the nut adapted to be screwed against the end of the hollow cylindrical body whereby rotation of the nut while engaging the end of the hollow cylindrical body draws the tang attached to the inner rod away from the tangs attached to the hollow cylindrical body.

Abstract: A porcelain crown is non-destructively removed by exerting an upward force on a noose about the neck of the crown from a balanced bar-body resting on the tooth by means of a screw threaded through the bar-body. Balancing is achieved by connecting the noose to the bar-body with a plurality of special straps spaced about the crown circumference and passed over pegs on which cylindrical bushings of various diameters may be placed for changing the effective lengths of the straps. Special light-weight tooling is made feasible for tightening the noose about the crown and clamping it in place so that hands are freed to thereby effect a simpler more efficient crown removal process.

Abstract: Dental bridge or crown caps are removed by drilling a hole in the crown for inserting the end of a bolt to contact the tooth stub. The bolt is in a metal stabilizing bar member which rests in balanced and aligned position upon the cap structure and is connected thereto as a unit that moves together by means of wire or equivalent flexible means wrapped thereabout and tightened so that the bolt pressure on the tooth stub will apically lift the crown without shear stresses.

Abstract: A dentistry kit for tooth extraction consisting of a vise-type grip member having a joint member engaged by a forked end of a lever whose convexly curved fulcrum surface rests against a planar base plate located on teeth adjacent to the extracted tooth. The connection between the grip member and the lever is thus of the type generally resembling an angularly loose swivel joint. The grip member has two hemispherical tips, for engaging correspondingly shaped indentations drilled in the buccal and lingual side of the tooth. The tool set combines a virtually ultimate simplicity of the elements, resulting in an easy cleaning and disinfection, with an improved operation mainly due to the fact that the extreme pull force can be delicately gauged, while the direction of the force can also be changed by displacing the point of contact between the fulcrum and the base plate.

Abstract: Disclosed methods and apparatus for removing a dental restoration from a tooth provide an aperture in the restoration and establish part of the restoration at the aperture as a shelf facing in the direction of the tooth. A force acting on the shelf relative to and away from the tooth is established at the provided aperture and the restoration is removed from the tooth with the force. In practice, the shelf may be established by undercutting the restoration at the aperture.