ENDODONTIC FILES HAVING VARIABLE HELICAL ANGLE FLUTES
A rotatable endodontic file for cleaning/shaping a tooth root canal, comprising an elongated shaft having a proximal end portion, a distal end and a tapered working portion having a rotational axis, the working portion extending from the proximal portion to the distal end, the external surface of the shaft working portion having a plurality of at least two spiraled, spaced apart continuous helical flutes, the flutes having therebetween an equal number of spiraled, spaced apart flanges, each flange having in a plane perpendicular the rotational axis an outer end surface forming a continuous spiraled scraping/cutting edge extending the length of the shaft working portion, the flutes having helical angles relative to the rotational axis of between 10° and 30° and wherein the helical angles vary at selected longitudinal locations.
This application is not based upon any pending domestic or international patent applications.
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIXThis application is not referenced in any microfiche appendix.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to endodontic files and more particular to root canal files or reamers used in the cleaning of material present in the root canal of human teeth and for enlarging and shaping the root canal so that it is prepared for receiving filling material.
2. Description of the Related Art
A great improvement in the dental profession in the last half century has been in the field of endodontics, that is, the treatment of abscessed teeth by treatment of the tooth root canal. A relatively, but yet difficult dental procedure is that of cleaning, shaping and filling the root canal of a patient's tooth. In the performance of the root canal procedure typically a hole is first drilled in the crown or the exposed portion of the tooth. The hole drilled through the crown provided access to the interior of the tooth and specifically access to the tooth root canal or root canals. In order to treat the tooth, the canal or canals must be thoroughly cleaned of pulpal material that, in the case of an abscessed tooth, is typically infected. The technician or dental practitioner must remove this pulpal material to alleviate the infection. Next the technician or dental practitioner must clean and shape the root canal so that it can be effectively filled with a filler material, such as gutta percha.
Much work has been done on the instrumentation need for effective treatment of root canals. Root canals are typically treated with endodontic files. The term “file” as used in this patent application means an elongated device insertable into a root canal and that can be manipulated either manually or by machine, to clean and shape the root canal. Thus a dental file serves two basic purposes. First it serves to remove pulpal material from the interior of the tooth. Second it serves to shape the tooth root canal so that it can be more effectively filled. Thus, in addition to the cleaning function, a typical dental file serves also as a reamer, that is, a device to enlarge and shape the canal. In this application, the term “file” is intended to mean a “reamer/file” since it functions not only to clean a root canal of pulpal material but also to shape or ream the root canal.
For background information relating to endodontic files of the type that is the subject of this patent application, reference may be had to the following issued United States patents and publications:
The invention herein relates to endodontic files having variable helical angle flutes. The file of this invention is for cleaning and/or shaping a root canal of a human tooth. The improved file is in the form of an elongated shaft having a proximal end portion, a distal end and a tapered working portion having a rotational axis, the working portion extending from the proximal portion to the distal end. The external surface of the shaft working portion has a plurality of at least two spiraled, equally spaced apart, continuous concave helical flutes. The spaced apart flutes have a concave flute surfaces. The flute surfaces have therebetween an equal number of spiraled, spaced apart, continuous flanges. Each flange has, in a plane perpendicular the rotational axis, an outer end surface forming a continuous spiral scraping/cutting edge. The scraping/cutting edge extends the length of the shaft working portion.
The flutes have helical angles relative to the rotational axis. The angle of the helical flutes can vary between about 10° and about 30°. In preferred embodiments, the helical angle can typically vary between 10° and 20°.
The shaft working portion is typically tapered from a larger diameter adjacent the proximal end portion to a small diameter adjacent the distal end. In some files, the helical angle varies in proportion to the cross-sectional diameter of the shaft working portion.
In short, a typical endodontic file in use today has flutes with consistent helical angles, the consistency being in one case where the same helical angle exists from one end to the other of the tapered working portion or in the case where the helical angle varies in proportion to the diameter of the file. Further, the file can have an outer end surface of each flange that in one area provides a positive scraping/cutting edge and in another area a negative scraping/cutting edge. An important aspect of the invention herein is the provision wherein the helical angle of the flute is selectably varied at selected areas along the length of the file to thereby vary the characteristics of the file.
Most passive files have helical angles that are constant from the tip to the top of the shaft. In the smaller sizes this presents few problems. However, in sizes above 30 or 35 hundreds of a millimeter tip diameter the surface area of the radial lands in contact with the root canal sidewall is so great the file has a tendency to self-thread or pull into the canal. By reducing the helical angle the surface area of the radial lands in contact with the root canal sidewall is reduced and slippage of the rotating file occurs reducing the feed rate of the file into the canal.
In an additional embodiment, the invention is in the form of a plurality of sets of endodontic files wherein all of the files in each set have essentially the same helical angle and wherein different sets have variable diameters and/or tapers.
A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
It is to be understood that the invention that is now to be described is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and arrangement of the parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. The phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and not limitation.
Elements illustrated in the drawings are identified by the following numbers:
Referring to the drawings and first to
Chuck stem 12 is typically integrally formed with the metal file and is configured to be received in a chuck (not shown) of a dental hand piece by which the file is rotated and by which the file can be manipulated in and out of a root canal by an endodontist. Chuck stem 12 can be replaced by a small plastic handle portion configured for manual manipulation by an endodontic practitioner. Whether a chuck stem or a handle portion is used is irrelevant to the invention herein and the specific configuration of chuck stem 12 is not part of the invention. Instead, an important aspect of the present invention is the configuration of the external surface of the file shaft working portion 18. Exemplary cross-sectional configurations are illustrated in the cross-sectional views of
Formed on the exterior surface of shaft working portion 18 are a plurality of at least two helical flutes 22. In the illustrated arrangement there are three spaced apart helical flutes 22. These helical flutes are formed into the exterior surface of the file working portion 18. Each helical flute has a flute surface 24. While three helical flutes 22 are illustrated, the file can be manufactured with only two flutes or can be manufactured with more than three flutes. As a practical consideration, however, the file is typically made with two or three flutes with three flutes being ideal. While four or more flutes could be employed, additional flutes serve to increase the complexity of manufacture without adding significantly to performance of the tool. Thus, for practical purposes, the ideal file construction that incorporates the principles of this invention will employ three flutes 22. These flutes provide therebetween three helical flanges 26.
Each of the helical flanges 26 has, at the outer end thereof, an end surface 28. Each end surface 28 contacts, in cross-sectional views, opposed flute surfaces 24. A continuous spiraled scraping/cutting edge 30 is formed at the outer end of each end surface 28, that is, where each end surface 28 contacts an opposed flute surface 24.
Each of the flange end surfaces 28 of
In the illustrated embodiment of
Further, the helical angle has a dramatic effect on the possibility of the file breaking off within the tooth. That is, a file that has a pronounced screwing action tends to thread deeper towards the apical area of the tooth and to become more quickly and easily stuck in a position within the tooth so that further rotation can cause the file to be twisted into broken pieces. Breaking a file in a root canal is always a serious matter. One of the important concepts of this invention is that advantages can be taken of the helical angle of the flanges so that the advantages of both higher helical angles and lower helical angles can be combined into a file.
The arrangement of
While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.
Claims
1. A rotatable endodontic file for cleaning/shaping a tooth root canal, comprising:
- an elongated shaft having a proximal end portion, a distal end and a tapered working portion having a rotational axis, the working portion extending from said proximal portion to said distal end;
- the external surface of said shaft working portion having a plurality of at least two spiraled, equally spaced apart continuous concaved helical flutes, the flutes having therebetween an equal number of spiraled, spaced apart flanges, each flange having in a plane perpendicular said rotational axis an outer end surface forming a continuous spiraled scraping/cutting edge extending the length of said shaft working portion, said flutes each having a helical angle as measured relative to said shaft rotational axis at each location along the length of said shaft working portion and wherein there are at least two different helical angles for each said flute and wherein the helical angles are proportionally unrelated to locations or diameters along the length of said working portion.
2. A set of rotatable endodontic files for cleaning/shaping a tooth root canal, comprising:
- a plurality of files each having an elongated shank having a proximal end portion, a distal end and a tapered working portion of a selected angle of taper and having a rotational axis extending from said proximal portion to said distal end;
- the external surface of said shank working portion of each file having a plurality of at least two equally spaced apart continuous concaved helical flutes, the flutes having therebetween an equal number of spiraled, spaced apart flanges, each flange having in a plane perpendicular said rotational axis an outer end surface forming a continuous spiraled scraping/cutting edge extending the length of said shaft working portion, said flutes each having a helical angle as measured relative to said shaft rotational axis at each location along the length of said shaft working portion and wherein there are at least two different helical angles for each said flute, wherein the helical angles are proportionally unrelated to locations or diameters along the length of said working portion, and wherein each file in the set has essentially the same helical angles at selected locations and wherein each file in the set has a different diameter and/or taper.
3. An endodontic file according to claim 1 wherein areas of said shaft working portion having flutes with a helical angle that produces increased threading action and reduced scraping action as said shaft is rotated and areas of said shaft working portion having flutes with a helical angle that produces decreased threading action and improved scraping action as said shaft is rotated.
4. An endodontic file according to claim 1 wherein a first area of said shaft working portion adjacent said proximal end portion has flutes with a selected helical angle and a second area of said shaft working portion adjacent said distal end has flutes with a second helical angle.
5. An endodontic file according to claim 1 wherein said outer end surface of each of said flanges has in one area a positive scraping/cutting edge and in another area a negative scraping/cutting edge.
6. A rotatable endodontic file according to claim 1 wherein each said flange outer end surface has a radius of curvature of the said shaft working portion.
7. A set of rotatable endodontic files according to claim 2, wherein at least one of said files in said set has a flange outer end surface having a radius of curvature of said shaft working portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 2, 2006
Publication Date: Sep 6, 2007
Inventor: William Johnson (Tulsa, OK)
Application Number: 11/366,059
International Classification: A61C 5/02 (20060101);