Dental Implant Drill Bushing for Precise Splint-Guided Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dental implant placement guidance systems suffer from imprecision due to manual procedures and limitations in degrees of freedom, leading to potential risks and reduced precision, especially when using high-speed drills.
Innovation Solution
A guidance system with interchangeable bushings of varying lengths and an adapter member, allowing the drill to rotate within a bushing, minimizing contact with the guidance splint and enabling precise, multi-axis movement during surgery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If clearance is provided in guidance holes to allow drill rotation, then drill rotation is enabled, but precision is lost
Solution Approach 1:
A bushing is introduced as an intermediary component between the drill and the guidance hole. The bushing fits tightly within the guidance hole without requiring clearance, while the drill rotates within the bushing. This mediator allows drill rotation to occur without compromising the precision of the hole position, as the bushing itself maintains the precise alignment while accommodating the rotating drill.
Solution Approach 2:
The guidance system is segmented into distinct functional components: the guidance splint with precision holes, the bushing that fits in the holes, and the drill that rotates. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally - the splint provides precise positioning, the bushing enables rotation, and the drill performs drilling - without the compromises required by a monolithic design.
2Manufacturing precision
If additional pieces with fixed trajectories are used to guide drilling, then precision of hole axis position improves, but degrees of freedom are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static, fixed-trajectory guidance approach to a dynamic one. The bushing is designed to rotate within the guidance hole, allowing the drill to follow a precise initial trajectory while accommodating necessary rotational movements and adjustments during drilling. This dynamic capability maintains precision while restoring the needed degrees of freedom for successful drilling operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual guidance is used, then flexibility in surgery is maintained, but imprecision and risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bushing acts as a mediator that combines the benefits of manual flexibility with mechanical precision. It provides a physical guide that ensures accurate hole positioning while allowing the surgeon to manually control the drilling process through the bushing. This intermediary component eliminates the imprecision of purely manual guidance while preserving the flexibility needed for surgical adaptation.
Data Source
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AI summary
Guidance system (10) for the placement of dental implants and subsequent placement of crowns to replace the missing teeth (9) of a patient. The guidance system (10) comprises a tool (1) with a longitudinal body where a rotating drill (5) is coupled. The guidance system (10) is characterized in that it comprises at least one bushing (4) fixed to a head (2) of the tool (1) that surrounds the drill (5). The bushing (4) guides the engine that rotates the drill (5), which is located inside the bushing (4) allowing the guidance holes (12) of a guidance splint (11) to be more adjusted to the diameter outside of the bushing (4) than in known guidance splints because the rotating drill (5) is not in contact with the guidance splint (11). In this way, a more precise guidance system (10) is achieved.