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US 5,178,540 AGranted
Tooth dowels
OwnerRobert Nooneinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerRobert Nooneinventor
Estimating the term…
A tooth dowel 10 has a shaft 11 and a coronal restoration frame or head 12 enlarged to provide support for substantially all parts of a total restoration and so constructed as to be relatively readily reducible to fit a restoration of a tooth requiring only a partial restoration. The head includes segmental finger elements 14 adapted to be removed to reduce the size of the head, e.g. by a small disc cutting wheel or pair of snips. A damaged tooth can be rebuilt by (a) obturating (stopping) the root canal, (b) enlarging the coronal portion of the canal, (c) reducing the segments of this tooth dowel appropriately, (d) fixing the so reduced dowel in the canal, and either (e) immediately reducing any remaining coronal tooth structure and fixing a crown on the so reduced tooth and dowel head, or (e1) fabricating a restoration on the dowel head and any remaining tooth structure (FIGS. 2A, 2B), and optionally (e2) reducing the restoration to a core (FIGS. 3A, 3B) and fixing a crown thereon at a later date.
A tooth dowel having a design suitable for use for partial or maximum restoration of different types of teeth comprising a rod-like portion extending from a head having an enlarged segment extending transversely from a longitudinal axis of the rod-like portion, the enlarged segment being symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis, the rod-like portion having a size and shape adapted to fit into a root canal of a tooth, the head enlarged segment having a size and shape adapted to fit into a coronal end of the tooth, the head including a structure enabling the enlarged region to be reduced in size along a predetermined region extending parallel to the longitudinal axis so that, with a total or near total restoration, the head size is not usually altered, and with a partial restoration, the enlarged head segment is reduced in size along the region prior to insertion of the tooth dowel with the tooth.
A tooth dowel having a design suitable for use for partial or maximum restoration of different types of teeth comprising a rod-like portion extending from a head having an enlarged segment extending transversely from a longitudinal axis of the rod-like portion, the rod-like portion having a size and shape adapted to fit into a root canal of a tooth, the head enlarged segment having a size and shape adapted to fit into a coronal end of the tooth, the head including a structure enabling the enlarged region to be reduced in size along a predetermined region extending parallel to the longitudinal axis so that, with a total or near total restoration, the head size is not usually altered, and with a partial restoration, the enlarged head segment is reduced in size along the region prior to insertion of the tooth dowel with the tooth said enlarged head including a pair of tapered side edges extending outwardly in opposite directions from a region of the rod-like portion remote from both longitudinal ends of the dowel toward the end of the dowel adapted to be inserted in the coronal end of the tooth.
A method of partially restoring a damaged tooth with a tooth dowel having a head with an enlarged region extending transversely from a longitudinal axis of a rod-like portion of the dowel, comprising the steps of:
A method of partially restoring a damaged tooth with a tooth dowel having a head with an enlarged region extending transversely from a longitudinal axis of a rod-like portion of the dowel, comprising the steps of:
A method of using first and second tooth dowels having the same size and shape for maximum and partial restoration of first and second different teeth, respectively, each tooth dowel including a rod-like portion extending from a head having an enlarged segment extending transversely from a longitudinal axis of the rod-like portion, the rod-like portion having a size and shape adapted to fit into a root canal of a tooth, the head enlarged segment having a size and shape adapted to fit into a coronal end of the tooth, the head including a structure enabling the enlarged region to be reduced in size, the method comprising
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.