Dental Polishing Instrument Protrusions Prevent Sludge Clogging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current dental polishing instruments face challenges in achieving high gloss and efficiency when polishing difficult materials like dental composite resin and ceramic materials, often resulting in clogging and secondary flaws due to polishing sludge, which prolongs treatment time and increases operator and patient load.
Innovation Solution
A dental polishing instrument with a polishing layer featuring independently formed oval protrusions of specific height and diameter ratios, occupying 40-90% of the surface area, designed to prevent clogging and ensure effective sludge discharge, while maintaining mechanical strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional polishing instruments are used on difficult materials like composite resin and ceramic, then polishing is attempted, but clogging by polishing sludge occurs and secondary flaws are generated, extending treatment time
Solution Approach 1:
The polishing layer is segmented into multiple independent protrusions distributed across the surface. Each protrusion acts as an independent polishing element, preventing uniform clogging and maintaining continuous polishing effectiveness throughout the treatment process
Solution Approach 2:
The polishing layer incorporates a porous structure with controlled pore distribution among the protrusions. This porosity enables efficient sludge discharge channels while maintaining the mechanical integrity of the polishing instrument, preventing clogging without compromising polishing quality
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple polishing steps including puff polishing are performed to achieve high gloss, then gloss is improved, but the number of polishing steps increases and treatment efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument merges multiple polishing functions into a single integrated tool. The combination of protrusion geometry, material composition, and porous structure enables the instrument to perform both rough polishing and final glossing in one step, eliminating the need for separate puff polishing steps while achieving high surface gloss
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusions are designed with specific dimensional parameters (height, diameter, spacing) and material properties that optimize polishing performance across different stages. By controlling the size distribution and arrangement of protrusions, the instrument achieves high gloss directly without requiring additional polishing steps
3Object-generated harmful factors
If the polishing layer structure is modified to discharge sludge effectively, then clogging is reduced, but mechanical strength of the polishing instrument may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The polishing layer utilizes a porous structure with optimized pore size and distribution. The porosity is controlled to provide adequate sludge discharge pathways while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength through the interconnectivity and distribution of pores within the protrusion matrix
Solution Approach 2:
The polishing layer employs composite material composition combining abrasive particles, binder materials, and porous structure. This composite design enables simultaneous achievement of sludge discharge capability and mechanical strength by optimizing the ratio and arrangement of different material components within the protrusions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The instrument achieves high gloss in a shorter time, reduces clogging and secondary flaws, and decreases the load on operators and patients by efficiently polishing challenging materials like composite resin and ceramic materials.
Implementation Method 1
The protrusions are each formed independently from each other being raised... each of the protrusions has a height of 20 μm to 80 μm, and has an oval shape when viewed from top... a rate of occupancy by the protrusions per unit area in the polishing layer is 40% to 90%
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide a dental polishing instrument that causes no clogging, that prevents occurrence of any secondary flaw, that is excellent in the polishing property, and that can provide high gloss in a short time period, for a dental prosthetic appliance difficult to polish. Another object thereof is to provide a dental polishing instrument that enables easy discharge of polishing sludge while that simultaneously shows sufficient strength. A dental polishing instrument according to the present invention can suppress clogging and occurrence of any secondary flaw due to the polishing sludge and can efficiently polish by forming a polishing abrasive grain layer (4) including polishing abrasive grains (1) and a resin material (1), into protrusions (2) on the surface of a base material thereof and by disposing the protrusions on the base material.