Grooved intraosseous dental drill bit
OwnerArthur Kitchings Weathers, Jr.inventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This application relates to a dental apparatus for the initial and subsequent guidance of hypodermic needles, or similar drug delivery devices into the cortical plate of human mandibular and maxillary bones. The invention comprises a solid drill bit bearing a channeling groove along the majority of the shaft. The groove is scalloped at its delivery end to flex the needle tip and deflect the tip out from the drill and into the desired tissue. Variations are described, with the preferred embodiment having the circumference of the drill bit reduced in girth for the length bearing the groove. This permits an inexpensive plastic covering which serves as a practical seal against bacteria. The seal is permeable to the needle's tip and closes back on itself after withdrawal of the needle.
Claims15
A solid drill bit for facilitating the controlled perforation of the cortical area of the jawbone of humans or other species for subsequent injection of fluids,
- said drill bit comprising two sections of which a first section terminates in a standard tip suitable for the penetration of bone and a second section abutted to or contiguous to said first section,
- said second section of a passage diameter equal to or less than equal to a passage diameter of said first section,
- where said second section has an excavated groove for a majority of the length of said second section placed in a linear manner such that said groove runs along the surface of a shank of said second section of said drill bit in a direction away from said contiguous first section,
- said groove of a size sufficiently small enough relative to said solid drill bit to not impede the success of a drilling operation through living bone and sufficiently large enough relative to said solid drill bit to allow the tip and shank of a hypodermic needle to pass undeterred along said groove while said solid drill bit is in situ in said living bone,
- said groove of decreasing depth at the end closest to said first section in a scalloped curvature sufficient to turn the tip of said needle in a direction such that said tip of said needle emerges through a roughly circular plane established by the outer circumference of said drill bit in such a manner that a discharge of fluid from said tip of said needle is feasible under operator control,
- where a distal end of said second section furthest away from said first section is suitable to accept the subsequent fitting of a separate hub designed to allow said groove to continue unimpeded through said hub,
- where said separate hub is means for further connection to join either with an adapter or with the chuck of a drill.
A method of administering medication through cortical bone, said method comprising the steps of:
- deadening the gingiva over said cortical bone;
- drilling an opening in said cortical bone with a modified drill bit bearing an excavated groove of longitudinal direction and also bearing a hub suitable for connection to either an adapter or directly to the chuck of a dental drill;
- said modified drill bit comprising two sections of which a first section terminates in a standard tip suitable for the penetration of bone and a second section abutted to or contiguous to the first section;
- said second section of a passage diameter equal to or less than equal to a passage diameter of said first section;
- where a majority of the length of said second section has said excavated groove placed in a linear manner such that said groove runs along the surface of a shank of said second section of said drill bit in a direction away from said contiguous first section;
- said groove of decreasing depth at the end closest to said first section in a scalloped curvature;
- detaching said dental drill from said drill bit and said hub while said drill bit is still penetrating through said cortical bone,
- inserting the delivery tip and shaft of a hypodermic needle, or a hollow delivery device, down said groove from said hub sufficiently far enough that said delivery tip is deflected by the decreasing depth of said groove and emerges through a roughly circular plane established by the outer circumference of said drill bit;
- injecting medication into the desired tissue of the patient;
- withdrawing said hypodermic needle or said delivery device and allowing said medication to produce an effect on the patient.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.