Titanium Dental Drill Tip Geometry for Controlled Bone Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dental drills made from stainless steel struggle to provide adequate cutting ability due to the difficulty in grinding and hardening titanium and titanium alloys, which are softer and cannot be hardened like stainless steel, making it challenging to achieve efficient and controlled cutting in bone drilling.
Innovation Solution
A dental drill design featuring a titanium or titanium alloy with a central solid web and tapering flanks, incorporating grooves at the distal end to prevent 'dead metal' and enhance cutting ability, along with specific geometries and relief angles to improve cutting efficiency and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If titanium or titanium alloy is used to manufacture dental drills, then corrosion resistance and biocompatibility are improved, but cutting ability deteriorates due to softer material properties
Solution Approach 1:
The drill features a central solid web with grooves at the distal end that create localized sharp edges and remove dead metal, concentrating cutting functionality in specific regions while maintaining the overall titanium material structure for corrosion resistance and biocompatibility
Solution Approach 2:
The drill design incorporates pre-formed grooves in the central web that create sharp cutting edges before use, and the tapering flanks are pre-configured to facilitate bone cutting without requiring post-manufacturing hardening or grinding processes
2Ease of manufacture
If titanium or titanium alloy is used to manufacture dental drills, then ease of anodization and laser marking are improved, but cutting ability deteriorates due to inability to harden and grind the material
Solution Approach 1:
The central solid web with grooves creates localized sharp edges that concentrate cutting functionality, while the rest of the drill body maintains titanium's advantageous properties for anodization and laser marking
Solution Approach 2:
The grooves in the central web are pre-formed during manufacturing to create sharp cutting edges, eliminating the need for post-manufacturing grinding while preserving titanium's surface treatment capabilities
3Object-generated harmful factors
If traditional three-step manufacturing process (machining, hardening, grinding) is used for stainless steel drills, then cutting ability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves in the central web and the tapering flanks are pre-configured during the single-step titanium manufacturing process to create sharp cutting edges and efficient bone-cutting geometry, eliminating the need for separate hardening and grinding steps
Solution Approach 2:
The drill design changes the geometric parameters of the flutes, lands, and central web to optimize cutting performance of titanium material without requiring changes to the material's physical properties through hardening or grinding processes
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a dental drill (10) formed of titanium or a titanium alloy having a hardness greater than pure titanium, said drill extending along a central axis (A) from a proximal end (14) to a distal end (16). The drill comprises a shank (12) arranged in a proximal end region of the drill (10) and extending along the central axis (A), a flute portion (20) arranged distally to and running coaxially with the shank (12), said flute portion (20) comprising two or more flutes (22a, 22b, 22c) extending along the flute portion (20) and being interposed by lands (24a, 24b, 24c), the flute portion further comprising a central solid web and a drill tip (26) directly adjoining the distal end (28) of the flute portion (20) and comprising two or more flanks (25a, 25b, 25c) which taper radially inwardly from the distal end of each land in the distal direction toward the central axis (A), each flank (25a, 25b, 25c) comprising a cutting edge (30a, 30b, 30c). According to the invention, at the distal end of the drill point (26) at least one groove (32, 33a, 33c) is formed in the web such that the distal most end (36a, 36b, 37b, 37c) of at least one of the flanks (25a, 25b, 25c) is located radially remote from the central axis (A).