Modular dental material dispenser

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates to dental devices, and in particular, to a modular, multiple syringed dental material dispenser.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many modern dental procedures require different materials to be dispensed into a patient's mouth throughout the procedure. For example, a practitioner may prepare a surface of a tooth for bonding using an acid etch solution. The acid etch solution dissolves some of the enamel and dentine to create a surface that better absorbs a bonding agent. Then, the practitioner typically applies a bonding agent to the etched tooth, followed by a dental restorative material on top of the bonding agent to provide a fully restored tooth.

In many cases, the materials are dispensed in consecutive steps. Switching between different dispensers for each material may extend the duration of the procedure and increase the chance of error. Thus, a dental material dispenser solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY

A modular dental material dispenser can include multiple stackable, modular components, each having a syringe extending therethrough. Each syringe may be filled with a different material. A detachable nozzle attachment, such as a needle attachment or a brush attachment, may be attached to each syringe to assist in efficiently dispensing the material therein. Two or more modular components may be detachably connected to provide a dispenser capable of dispensing multiple materials.

The modular dental material dispenser may be provided in a kit having multiple modular components that may be assembled as desired by a user. The kit may also include nozzle attachments.

These and other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a modular dental material dispenser having multiple syringes.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a modular component of the dispenser of FIG. 1.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a modular dental material dispenser 100 including a plurality of stacked modular components 110. In some embodiments, each modular component 110 threadedly engages an adjacent modular component 110. Each modular component 110 includes threads 112, a syringe 120 having a barrel 124, a plunger 126, a nozzle 122, and sealable side aperture 129. Nozzle attachments 132, 134 may be provided for connection to the nozzles 122 based on the material being dispensed and the procedure of applying the material. For example, an upper syringe 120 may be filled with an acid etching solution, a middle syringe 120 may be filled with a dentine bonding agent, and a lower syringe 120 may be filled with a dental restorative material. Accordingly, the upper syringe 120 may have a needle attachment 132 attached to the nozzle 122 for accurately administering the less viscous acid etch material, the middle syringe 120 may include a brush attachment 134 for evenly spreading the dentine bonding agent around the surface of a tooth, and the lower syringe 120 may not include a nozzle attachment since the restorative material may have a high viscosity that is easily applied via the syringe nozzle 122. Once the modular components 110 are assembled, a cap 140 may be removably attached to the upper end of the upper most modular component 110. In some embodiments, the dispenser 100 may include 2 to 5 modular components.

In some embodiments, the syringes 120 of different modular components 110 may have different sizes. For example, some procedures may require a different amount of each material amount, which may be accommodated by combining modular components 110 having different sized syringes 120. Smaller syringes 120 may be provided in smaller modular components 110, thus reducing the overall size of the dispenser 100. In addition, syringes 120 having smaller diameter barrels 124 allow for more precise dispersion of the material therein. Accordingly, modular components 110 having smaller diameter barrels 124 may be added to the dispenser 100 for procedures that require high precision material dispensing.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the modular component 110. The modular component 110 includes a tubular body 114. A top end of the body 114 may define an outward facing thread pattern 112a and a lower end of the body 114 may define an inward facing thread pattern 112b configured to threadingly engage with the upper thread pattern 112a of an adjacent modular component 110. Although thread patterns are shown, it should be understood that the modular components 110 may be attached together by snap fit connection or other suitable means. The syringe 120 may extend through the body 114, with the nozzle 122 extending out of one side of the body 114, and a plunger accepting opening 128 extending out of an opposing side of the body 114. The syringe 120 may be integrally formed with the body 114 or it may be a separate component inserted into an opening defined by the body 114. The plunger 126 includes a disc-shaped head 127a, a flat end 127c, and an elongated intermediate portion 127b extending between the head 127a and the end 127c. The head 127a can have a diameter that is at least as large as a diameter of the barrel 114 and may be pressed to dispense material from the barrel 124. A material can be loaded into the barrel 124 through the sealable opening 129 prior to assembling the components 110 together.

Components of the material dispenser 100 may be provided in a kit. The kit may include multiple modular components 110 and multiple nozzle attachments 132, 134. The nozzle attachments 132, 134 may have different sizes. In some embodiments, the syringes 120 in the kit may be prefilled with materials such as acid sketch solutions, dentine bonding agents, and/or dental restorative materials that are known in the art.

The body 114, barrel 124, nozzle 122, and plunger 126 may all be made of a suitable polymer, such as polypropylene. The head 126a of the plunger may be made of, or coated in silicone or rubber. The body 114 and barrel 124 may be made of a clear material, as shown in the figures, to provide visual access to the material within the syringe 120. In some embodiments, the syringe barrel 124 may include markers along its length to indicate the amount of material within the barrel 124.

It is to be understood that the modular dental material dispenser is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the generic language of the following claims enabled by the embodiments described herein, or otherwise shown in the drawings or described above in terms sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed subject matter.