Dental Root Canal Instrument Core Geometry for Flexible Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dental root canal instruments lack sufficient flexibility to effectively navigate the complex bends and windings of molar teeth, compromising the complete removal of dead or infected pulp tissue and complicating the preparation of the root canal.
Innovation Solution
A dental root canal instrument with a core that expands conically towards the shaft region with a smaller slope than the envelope of the cutting edges, providing enhanced flexibility by maintaining a constant or varying slopes to adjust flexibility along its length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the core expands conically with the same slope as the envelope of cutting edges, then the structural simplicity and manufacturing ease are maintained, but the flexibility is insufficient to navigate complex root canal bends
Solution Approach 1:
The core is designed with different expansion characteristics in different regions: a first core region with a steeper slope near the tip for structural integrity, and a second core region with a gentler slope toward the shaft for enhanced flexibility. This local differentiation allows the instrument to navigate complex root canal bends while maintaining manufacturability through defined geometric zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The core is divided into multiple segments or regions with different expansion slopes. The first core region (near the tip) has a steeper slope, while the second core region (toward the shaft) has a gentler slope. This segmentation enables different portions of the core to serve different functional purposes, improving overall adaptability without requiring complete redesign of the entire structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the core has a smaller slope than the envelope of cutting edges, then the flexibility and tracking capability improve, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention specifies particular slope angle ranges for the core regions (e.g., first slope angle greater than the second slope angle, with specific numerical ranges provided). By defining acceptable parameter ranges rather than requiring exact values, the design achieves improved tracking capability while maintaining reasonable manufacturing precision requirements through tolerance-based specifications.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a dental root canal instrument including a shaft region and a cutting region having cutting edges and a core, wherein an envelope curve of the cutting edges of the cutting region conically expands from a tip towards the shaft region with a first slope at a first angle, and wherein the core of the cutting edge region increases towards the shaft region with a second slope at a second angle, the second angle being smaller than the first angle.