Endodontic Instrument Guiding and Cutting Tip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endodontic instruments struggle to simultaneously guide and cut root canal walls effectively, often requiring multiple instruments with gradually increasing diameters, which increases the risk of instrument breakage and perforation, especially in curved canals.
Innovation Solution
An endodontic instrument with a conical tip featuring a guiding section with smooth sides and a sharp cutting section, including multiple cutting edges, allows for both guiding and cutting while conforming to the canal's curvature, reducing the need for multiple instruments and minimizing the risk of perforation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a non-cutting guiding tip is used, then the instrument can conform to the root canal walls and avoid perforation, but it cannot effectively clean and shape the canal walls, requiring multiple instruments with gradually increasing diameters
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the guiding function and cutting function into a single integrated tip structure. The end zone includes both a guiding portion with smooth surface for conforming to canal walls and a cutting portion with cutting edges for removing debris, eliminating the need to switch between multiple instruments with different functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The tip is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: guiding the instrument along the canal path, cutting organic material, and shaping the canal walls. This multi-functional design allows a single instrument to replace what would traditionally require multiple sequential instruments.
2Reliability
If multiple instruments with gradually increasing diameters are used, then the canal can be prepared safely, but the treatment time increases and the risk of instrument breakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the gradual diameter increase function with the cutting function in a single instrument, the patent eliminates the need to sequentially use multiple instruments with progressively larger diameters. The single instrument can safely navigate and effectively prepare the canal in one continuous operation.
3Ease of operation
If an active cutting tip is used to penetrate small canals, then the instrument can enter the canal effectively, but it cannot be used in curved portions without perforating the canal wall
Solution Approach 1:
The tip is segmented into distinct functional zones: a guiding portion with smooth surface for safe navigation through curved canals, and a cutting portion with cutting edges for effective material removal. This segmentation allows each zone to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the tip have different surface properties and geometries tailored to their specific functions. The guiding portion has a smooth surface for conforming to canal walls, while the cutting portion has sharp edges for cutting, with each region optimized for its local task.
Data Source
AI summary
An instrument (10) having a working section (11) that terminates in an end zone (12) having a pointed tip. The end zone (12) has, on the one hand, a conical guiding section (13) which ends in a tip. This guiding section (13) has a tip angle of between 10° and 60° and, on the other hand, an angular cutting section (14) adjacent to the conical guiding section (13) which has three cutting edges (15). The angular cutting section (14) extends over a certain length and is located intermediate between the conical guiding section (13) and the working section (11). The angular cutting section (14) has a cross-section that progressively increases from the base of the conical guiding section (13) over at least a portion of its length.