Abstract: A drill bit and method for normalizing bone is provided. The drill bit has a non-round drill bit core that is adapted to cut hard bone and to not cut soft bone. The drill bit has a cutting edge which may be positioned within a compression zone of the non-round drill bit core. The rotational speed of the drill bit and the profile of the drill bit core are tuned so that hard bone recovers into a cutting zone defined by the cutting edge while soft bone remains outside of the cutting zone. The insertion torque of the drill bit can be measured to determine when the normalization is adequate.

Abstract: Orthodontic and/or dental treatment planning methods and apparatuses. In particular, described herein are methods of generating a plurality of potential treatment plan variations for the concurrent and interactive review of the treatment plan variations. Treatment settings may be determined based on initial tooth positions and may be arranged in a hierarchy of treatment settings. Each of the plurality of treatment plans may be generated based on a set of treatment settings from the hierarchy of treatment settings. Also described herein are orthodontic and/or dental treatment planning methods and apparatuses that present the plurality of treatment plans to the user to allow a user to select a treatment plan from a plurality of different treatment plans.

Abstract: A method for excavating tooth material, having the steps of placing (S101) a structure-borne sound sensor on a tooth; excavating (S102) the tooth material by means of a fluid jet; detecting (S103) structure-borne sound signals during excavation by the structure-borne sound sensor; and regulating or controlling (S104) a fluid jet generating device based on the structure-borne sound signals.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a dental device for shaping and simultaneous flushing and suction of a tooth root canal, a head of a dental device for shaping and simultaneous flushing and suction a tooth root canal by shaping the tooth root canal and a hollow endodontic file for shaping and simultaneous flushing and suction a tooth root canal by shaping the tooth root canal.

Abstract: A dental turbine driven by pressurized air comprises a head housing (1) with a turbine chamber (2) and a rotor shaft (3) mounted using an anti-friction bearing (8a) with a non-rotatably mounted turbine wheel (13). The outer race (10a) of the anti-friction bearing (8a) extends into the turbine chamber (2) in axial direction. The turbine wheel (13) comprises an annular web (16a) that is arranged concentrically to the outer race (10a) of the anti-friction bearing (8a) and, together with the outer race (10a), forms a gap seal (17a). This gap seal (17a) extends in axial direction between outer race (10a) and annular web (16a) and prevents the sucking-in of liquids and dirt particles into the turbine chamber (2) during inertial rotation of the turbine wheel (13).

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus's for improving orthodontic treatments. In an embodiment, an orthodontic tracking template is provided for assisting in determining whether a patient's teeth are in an appropriate tooth arrangement for transitioning between a wire and bracket orthodontic treatment to a patient-removable orthodontic appliance treatment. The tracking template may include a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities arranged to fit over at least a portion of the patient's teeth in an intermediate tooth arrangement without applying a tooth-moving force to the teeth or to any brackets attached to the teeth.

Abstract: A dental bite block for final impression and bite registration includes at least one dental impression tray, a plurality of spikes, and at least one wax rim. The plurality of spikes is connected onto the at least one dental impression tray, and the plurality of spikes is oriented away from the at least one dental impression tray. Resultantly, the plurality of spikes is able to traverse into the at least one wax rim thus mounting the at least one wax rim onto the at least one dental impression tray.

Abstract: A dental mouthpiece is provided that may be attached to a high-suction dental adapter for the purpose of assisting the dental staff during dental procedures through chair-side, hands-free suction, and isolation. Such a mouthpiece may comprise a main body portion, a cheek retractor portion, and a suction connector portion. In an embodiment, the main body portion, cheek retractor portion, and suction connector portion may be molded in one piece, preferably by injection molding. The main body portion has an anterior wall inside the curve and a posterior wall outside the curve, and an at least one connector connecting the anterior wall and the posterior wall. The main body portion has an anterior intervening wall and the posterior intervening wall in between the anterior and posterior walls. The anterior intervening wall and the posterior intervening walls have alternating crests and troughs.

Abstract: A first dental drill bit for creating a particularly shaped osteotomy in human jawbones includes: a mounting shank and cutting head. The cutting head includes: four blades protruding from an axis of the bit, each blade having a thickness and being positioned 90 degrees to each adjacent blade to form a cruciform-shaped cross-section. Each of the pair of blades are positioned 90 degrees apart, and the blades of each pair are offset laterally a distance about equal to one-half of the blade thickness. Each blade has a shaped periphery that includes: a first radiused periphery; and a second radiused periphery. The first radiused periphery is shaped to form a spherical frustum-shaped socket portion when rotated about the axis of the drill bit, and includes embedded diamond particles. The second radiused periphery is shaped to form a bullet shaped socket portion when rotated about the axis of the drill bit.

Abstract: A suction device for use with a dental prophy angle, the suction device comprising a generally horizontal, tubular, open-bottomed hood and a generally vertical suction channel. The hood is configured to cover an upper circumferential portion of the prophy angle head and optionally an upper circumferential portion of the prophy angle's working tip (such as a soft rotary cleaning cup) to define an upper suction region above the head and tip, while leaving a lower circumferential portion of the prophy angle head and full circumferential portion of at least an outer end of the tip exposed. The suction device may be a removable or a permanent part of the prophy angle.

Abstract: An approach for attaching a superstructure, such as a crown, to an abutment by an approach that includes causing thermoplastic material to become flowable due to mechanical energy input, and to flow relative to an attachment structure to secure the superstructure and crown together.

Abstract: A dental implant assembly comprises a base member and an abutment member. The base member is adapted for placement into an opening in a jawbone and comprises elongated vertically parallel side walls coupled with opposing curved end walls which together define an eccentrically shaped external surface and an eccentrically shaped internal cavity. The base member also includes an eccentrically shaped curved lip which couples top edge perimeters of the external surface and the internal cavity to one another. The abutment member is adapted for placement into the eccentrically shaped internal cavity of the base member. Responsive to placement of the abutment member in the eccentrically shaped internal cavity of the base member, a trans-gingival emergence profile is formed between the eccentrically shaped curved lip and a region of the lower portion between the eccentrically shaped curved lip and the shoulder.

Abstract: A self-ligating bracket for orthodontics includes a resilient clamp, wherein a first clamp leg is inserted in a slit and can be moved therein between a closed and open position to prevent an unintended loss of the clamp. The first clamp leg has at least one oblong recess, into which protrudes a projection that proceeds from the lingually or labially situated surface of the slit. The recess is bordered on its end facing away from the clamp bend by a stop, which hits the projection in the open position of the clamp and limits a further movement of the clamp. The surface situated opposite the projection forms an escape space inside of the slit, into which the first clamp leg escapes with the stop under a resilient deformation when the stop slides over the projection during insertion of the clamp.

Abstract: A method that includes the step of engaging an orthodontic protection device with a surface within a person's mouth chosen from the group consisting of: a tooth surface; an orthodontic appliance affixed to the tooth surface and a combination of the tooth surface and the orthodontic appliance affixed to the tooth surface. The orthodontic protection device includes an extruded base material that includes an uncured, uncross-linked silicone high consistency rubber base and the extruded base material has at least one dry, powdered hydrophilic polymeric substance on a surface of the extruded base material.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for treating a root canal in a tooth or hard and/or soft tissue within a tooth and surrounding tissues by pulsing a laser light into a reservoir, preferably after introducing liquid fluid into the reservoir, so as to disintegrate, separate, or otherwise neutralize pulp, plaque, calculus, and/or bacteria within and adjacent the fluid reservoir without elevating the temperature of any of the dentin, tooth, bones, gums, other soft tissues, other hard tissues, and any other adjacent tissue more than about 5° C.

Abstract: The invention concerns a supra structure abutment holder for holding an arrangement of supra structure 16 and abutment 14, with a clamping device 12 for the arrangement, and is characterized in that clamping device 12 is adjustable in its height relative to an auxiliary device 26, in particular via threads.

Abstract: A dental treatment apparatus includes: a handpiece including a head that holds a cutting tool; a drive unit capable of performing forward rotation driving for rotating the cutting tool held at the head in a cutting direction, and reverse rotation driving for rotating the cutting tool held at the head in a non-cutting direction; an operation receiving unit that receives an operation of an operator; and a controller that controls the drive unit that drives the cutting tool, according to the operation received by the operation receiving unit. Only when a prescribed condition is satisfied, the controller sets the operation received by the operation receiving unit as an operation to drive the cutting tool by reverse rotation driving, or as an operation to drive the cutting tool by twist driving by which the forward rotation driving and the reverse rotation driving are alternately performed.

Abstract: A dental appliance set may include a base frame and at least one attachment. The base frame may be configured to engage at least one of a gum tissue area, a bone structure, an existing detention, and an artificial fixed prosthesis of a patient. The base frame may have an arcuate shaped structure and may not obstruct a surgical site region of an alveolar ridge of a patient jaw. The at least one attachment may be attachable to the base frame using a second connector element selectively engaging the first connector element. The at least one attachment may be configured to obstruct at least a portion of the surgical site region of the top ridge. The base frame and the at least one attachment may be configured to be fully received in the patient's mouth in an assembled orientation.

Abstract: The disclosed computer-implemented method for selecting locations of mandibular relocation features (MRFs) on oral appliances may include determining candidate locations for placing an MRF on a first oral appliance for a first stage of mandibular relocation (MR) treatment and determining candidate locations for placing an MRF on a second oral appliance for a second stage. The method may include selecting from the candidate locations for the first stage and the second stage based on decreasing a distance between the selected pair of candidate locations. The method may further include processing multiple MRFs in parallel. The method may also include increasing a number of initial candidate locations. Locations for intermediate stages may be selected based on interpolating between the first and second stages or based on decreasing a distance between the selected pair if the interpolation fails. The intermediate stages may be processed using a binary search or a linear search.

Abstract: The disclosed systems, methods, and apparatus for designing, fabricating, and making directly fabricated metal and polymer dental appliances may include receiving patient data and a treatment plan and determining, using the patient data and the treatment plan, an appliance design for treating the patient. The method may include directly fabricating a metal and polymer appliance based on the appliance design. The apparatus may include a directly fabricated metal and polymer appliance.