US 4,512,769 AGranted

Patient employed digital operated syringe device for irrigating periodontal pockets and other soft tissue spaces

OwnerGeorge Kozam, Pat Romanelliinventors

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Abstract

A periodontal lavage syringe is provided for self home use by an unskilled patient in the treatment of periodontal disease by irrigation of periodontal pockets or other soft tissue spaces. The syringe may have a single liquid retaining barrel or preferably multiple barrels, each of which contains a dispensible plunger and each of which is filled with a different treatment fluid. The bores communicate with a single liquid outlet to which is attached a flexible needle or tube terminating in a nozzle which is preferably elastomeric. The nozzle is conical in shape, having a pointed tip which enables easy insertion of the nozzle into the periodontal pocket, and tapered walls, the increasing diameter of which limits the depth of insertion of the nozzle within the pocket. Ratchet devices mounted on the syringe body are coupled to the plungers and are manually operable by the fingers of the user's hand holding the syringe to feed the different liquids successively and alternately into the periodontal pocket in equal pre-selected incremental doses.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A periodontal lavage syringe for self-administration of periodontal treatment fluids, comprising

a syringe body portion having at least one fluid retaining bore, a depressible plunger mounted in said bore, and fluid conduit means connecting said bore to a fluid outlet coupling,
an elongated flexible needle attached to and extending from the outlet coupling of said syringe body portion,
a conical nozzle secured to the free end of said needle, said nozzle having a pointed tip, tapered side walls progressively increasing in diameter from said tip to the opposite end thereof, an internal longitudinal bore communicating with the interior of said needle, at least one outlet opening located in the vicinity of said tip and communicating with said longitudinal bore, and a plurality of spaced reflux grooves in the surface of said nozzle extending from said outlet opening to an upper portion of said nozzle, and
manually operable ratchet means mounted on said syringe body portion and operatively coupled to said plunger for depression of said plunger in selected calibrated increments upon manual actuation of said ratchet means by a digit of the hand of the user holding said syringe body portion.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.