Apparatus for filling tooth root canals under vacuum

In an apparatus for filling tooth root canals under vacuum, comprising a filling nozzle (8) designed to fit in a leaktight and detachable manner into a burred aperture of a tooth, and abutting on the dental cavity in the tooth to be filled, said nozzle including a suction tube (14) for connection to a source of partial vacuum, a reservoir (17) of filling paste, a first channel (15) which is connected at one end to the inside of the dental cavity when the nozzle is fitted on to a tooth and at another end to said suction tube (14) so as to produce a vacuum in the dental cavity;

• a second channel (21), one end of which abuts on the dental cavity and another end of which is connected to said reservoir (17) of filling material;
• and means (18) for controlling the communication between the reservoir (17) and the second channel (21) in order to control the filling of the dental cavity with the filling material coming from the reservoir under the action of the partial vacuum in the dental cavity;
• the improvement wherein:
• the nozzle is conical;
• the first channel is annular in cross-section and concentrically surrounds the second channel;
• the second channel is coaxial with the nozzle;
• and the cross-section of flow area of said first channel (15) is several times smaller than that of said second channel (21), so that, when the level of the filling material in the dental cavity reaches the lower end of said first channel (15), said filling material is then sucked into said first channel and travels, under the effect of the partial vacuum in the dental cavity, much more slowly inside said first channel (15) than in the second channel (21) but is sufficiently large to enable the necessary vacuum to be created so as to ensure that this cavity is correctly filled with this material.

In an apparatus for filling tooth root canals under vacuum, comprising a filling nozzle (8) designed to fit in a leaktight and detachable manner into a burred aperture of a tooth, and abutting on the dental cavity in the tooth to be filled, said nozzle including a suction tube (14) for connection to a source of partial vacuum, a reservoir (17) of filling paste, a first channel (15) which is connected at one end to the inside of the dental cavity when the nozzle is fitted on to a tooth and at another end to said suction tube (14) so as to produce a vacuum in the dental cavity;

• a second channel (21), one end of which abuts on the dental cavity and another end of which is connected to said reservoir (17) of filling material;
• and means (18) for controlling the communication between the reservoir (17) and the second channel (21) in order to control the filling of the dental cavity with the filling material coming from the reservoir under the action of the partial vacuum in the dental cavity;
• the improvement wherein:
• the cross-section of flow area of said first channel (15) is several times smaller than that of said second channel (21), so that, when the level of the filling material in the dental cavity reaches the lower end of said first channel (15), said filling material is then sucked into said first channel and travels, under the effect of the partial vacuum in the dental cavity, much more slowly inside said first channel (15) than in the second channel (21) but is sufficiently large to enable the necessary vacuum to be created so as to ensure that this cavity is correctly filled with this material;
• and the wall of the first channel (15) is transparent, over at least part of its length, from that end which will be in the dental cavity when the nozzle is fitted on to a tooth, so that the operator can see the progression of the filling material in the first channel (15) and thus know when it is necessary to stop the material leaving said reservoir (17).