JP2001198144A - Dental three-way syringe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dental three-way syringe without having danger of an outflow of bacteria growing in a water circuit in a dental unit. SOLUTION: This three-way syringe 10 comprises a nozzle 24 installed on the syringe body 12 by a holding nut 26. In the holding nut 26, a cavity 34 communicated with water passages 18, 32 in the syringe 10 are formed, and in this cavity 34, a micro-porous filter 36 is contained. Even when bacterial grow in a water circuit in a dental unit, they are prohibited by the filter 36 from flowing out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dental three-way syringe used for cleaning and cleaning teeth by spraying water or a spray on the teeth during dental treatment and for blowing air to the teeth.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The water circuit of a dental unit installed in a dental clinic or a dental clinic is connected to a water pipe of a public water supply, and a dental handpiece or a dental three of the dental unit is used for dental treatment. Cleaning water and cooling water are supplied to way syringes and spitton devices.

[0003] Since dental handpieces, dental three-way syringes and spitton devices are only used intermittently and have low flow rates, the water in the water circuit of the dental unit is usually stagnant. For this reason, bacteria mixed in the tap water easily adhere to the inner peripheral surface of the piping of the water circuit of the dental unit, and easily form a microbial layer called a biofilm.

[0004] In dental treatment, a dental handpiece or a dental three-way syringe is used, and when water is supplied to these dental instruments from a water circuit of the dental unit, bacteria are transferred to the biofilm as the water flows. The released bacteria are supplied into the patient's mouth along with the washing water and turbine cooling water.

[0005]

In recent years, in the dental medical field, bacterial contamination in a water circuit of a dental unit has been taken up as a considerable problem, and has been discharged from dental handpieces and dental three-way syringes. Infection by bacteria, such as Pseudomonas, Legionella, and non-tuberculous mycobacteria, has become a major concern.

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a dental three-way syringe capable of preventing infection of a patient despite bacterial contamination of the water circuit of the dental unit.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a dental three-way syringe connected to a dental unit via a dental hose to receive a supply of pressurized water and compressed air from the dental unit. A filter for preventing bacteria existing in the water circuit of the unit from flowing out of the nozzle is disposed at the nozzle mounting portion.

If a filter for filtering bacteria is provided in the dental unit, there is a considerable distance between the filter and the tip of the nozzle of the dental three-way syringe, and bacteria grow between them. There is a risk. However, according to the present invention, since the filter is arranged at the nozzle mounting portion of the three-way syringe located at the farthest end of the water circuit of the dental unit and closest to the mouth of the patient, the outflow of bacteria is effectively prevented. be able to. Further, by disposing the filter in the nozzle mounting portion in this manner, the filter can be easily replaced.

In a preferred embodiment, the nozzle comprises a disposable nozzle which is removably attached to the syringe body by a nozzle attachment, and the filter is also disposably mounted on the nozzle.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG.
An embodiment will be described. The three-way syringe 10 of the present invention comprises an elongated body 12 adapted to be grasped by hand.
And a nozzle portion 14 detachably attached to the main body 12.
It has. A dental hose 16 extending from a dental unit (not shown) is connected to the rear end of the main body 12, and is supplied with pressurized water and compressed air from the dental unit.

A water passage 18 and a compressed air passage 20 communicating with a water passage and a compressed air passage (not shown) in the dental hose 16 are formed in the main body 12. Although not shown in the drawings, these passages 18 and 20 are provided with two conventional control valves operated by operation buttons 22 (only one control valve operation button appears in FIG. 1). ), And water or compressed air is ejected from the nozzle by pressing the operation button 22.
As is well known, if the operation button 22 of the compressed air control valve is pressed, only the compressed air is injected from the nozzle, and if the operation button 22 of the water control valve is pressed, only the water is injected from the nozzle,
By simultaneously pressing the operation button of the compressed air control valve and the operation button of the water control valve, a spray or mist, which is a mixture of water and compressed air, is ejected from the nozzle.

The nozzle portion 14 has a nozzle 24 having a double pipe structure.
And a holding nut 26 acting as a nozzle mounting portion for mounting the nozzle 24 to the main body 12. The nozzle 24 is connected to the holding nut 2 by welding or bonding.
6 fixed. The retaining nut 26 is formed with a female screw 30 that meshes with a male screw 28 provided at the tip of the main body 12. The nozzle portion 14 is detachably fixed to the main body by screwing the retaining nut 26 to the main body 12.

In the center of the holding nut 26, a cavity 34 is formed which is aligned with the central water supply pipe 32 of the nozzle 24 having the double pipe structure and the water passage 18 of the main body. The cavity 34 of the retaining nut 26 contains a microporous filter 36 having a pore size of a few micrometers to a few micrometers.

At a position radially outwardly offset from the central cavity 34, a compressed air passage 38 extending substantially in the axial direction is formed in the holding nut 26, and the compressed water passage 38 and the central water supply pipe 32 of the nozzle 24 having a double pipe structure are formed. The compressed air passage 42 formed between the outer tube 40 and the compressed air passage 20
It is designed to communicate with

In use, the dental three-way syringe 10 is constantly supplied with pressurized tap water and compressed air via the dental hose 16. Conventional three-way technology
Similarly to the syringe, the syringe can be operated in the compressed air injection mode, the water injection mode, or the spray injection mode by appropriately operating the operation button 22 provided on the main body 12 to inject a desired working fluid.

As described above, since the filter 36 has a pore size of several micrometers to several micrometers, the bacteria can be filtered and the water passage 1 can be filtered.
Bacteria floating in the water sent from the nozzle 8
4 can be prevented from flowing out. Therefore, even if the water circuit and the dental hose 16 of the dental unit are contaminated with bacteria, no bacteria will flow out of the nozzle 24 of the three-way syringe 10.

The filter 36 attached to the holding nut 26
Can be replaced with a new filter as needed. As a variant of this embodiment, the retaining nut 26 and the filter 36 can be made transparent. By making the filter transparent, it is possible to know when to replace the filter by monitoring the filter.

FIG. 2 shows a dental three-way syringe according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is characterized in that the nozzle 24 and the filter 36 are configured to be disposable. In FIG. 2, components common to those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and only the differences will be described. A nozzle holder 44 is fixed to the tip of the main body 12 by screwing or the like. The holding nut 26 is screwed into the nozzle holder 44.

In the second embodiment, the nozzle 24 is made of a disposable plastic. Nozzle 2
A disposable filter 36 is integrally fixed to the rear end of the central water supply pipe 32 by a filter fixing bracket 46. Therefore, a nozzle 24 with a filter having the illustrated structure is configured.

At the tip of the nozzle holder 44, for example, a quarter-type collet chuck 48 is formed by slit processing. At the center of the nozzle holder 44, the main body 12
A cavity 50 communicating with the water passage 18 is formed. FIG.
As shown in (B), the central cavity 5 of the nozzle holder 44
When the filter 36 and the rear end of the nozzle 24 are inserted into the nozzle 0 and the holding nut 26 is screwed into the nozzle holder 44, the collet chuck 48 is tightened and the nozzle 24 is gripped.

The mode of fluid ejection of the three-way syringe according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. After use, the used nozzle 24 with the filter 36 is detached by loosening the holding nut 26, and is disposed of, and a new nozzle 24 with the filter 36 is mounted.

[0022]

According to the present invention, since the filter is disposed at the nozzle mounting portion of the three-way syringe closest to the oral cavity of the patient, there is no long pipe downstream of the filter that allows biofilm formation. Therefore, outflow of bacteria can be effectively prevented, and infection of a patient can be reliably suppressed. In addition, since the filter is disposed in the nozzle mounting portion, the filter can be easily replaced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show a dental three-way syringe according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a side view, and FIG. 1B is a partially cutaway enlarged sectional view showing a state where a nozzle is removed. is there.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a dental three-way syringe according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein (A) shows a state where a nozzle is removed, and (B) shows a state where a nozzle is mounted. Is shown.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Dental three-way syringe 16: Dental hose 24: Nozzle 26: Retaining nut (nozzle mounting part) 36: Filter

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A dental three-way syringe connected to a dental unit via a dental hose to receive a supply of pressurized water and compressed air from the dental unit.
A three-way syringe for dental use, wherein a filter for preventing bacteria existing in a water circuit of a dental unit from flowing out of a nozzle is disposed in a nozzle mounting portion. 2. The dental appliance according to claim 1, wherein said nozzle comprises a disposable nozzle which is detachably attached to a syringe body by a nozzle attachment portion, and wherein said filter is also detachably attached to said nozzle. For three-way syringes.