The present invention relates to a dental drill adapter designed in particular for the purpose of performing monitored drillings in the alveolar ridge bone or in the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus.

Many dental procedures require the performance of drilling in the alveolar ridge bone or in the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus; in some cases, it is necessary to drill through the whole bone, which is associated with the risk of injury to the mucous membrane padding the bone spaces on the other side of the drilled area, i.e. the nasal cavity and maxillary sinus. The risk of damaging the mucous membrane of the maxillary sinus is a significant problem related to dental procedures requiring the performance of drilling in mandibular bones, particularly in the alveolar ridge bone or the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus.

The mucous membrane can easily be ruptured when the cutting edge of the drill comes into contact with the mucous membrane during drilling. Such injuries may result from the use of excessive force by the operator or excessive drill penetration; their occurrence may also be entirely accidental.

Mucous membrane rupture may result in infection or necessitate a postponement of the procedure. Therefore, the operator should be careful to avoid rupturing the mucous membrane. Obtaining preoperative information concerning the thickness and properties of the bone at the drilling site by measuring the thickness of maxillary sinus bone walls based on X ray and/or computed tomography examinations helps limit the danger of injuring the mucous membrane, but does not eliminate it entirely, as the mucous membrane may be damaged due to the differences in its thickness and changes in the internal shapes of the maxillary sinuses. In order to curtail the risk of mucous membrane injury (rupture in particular) during drilling, special drills are employed.

Patent application WO2012111990 provides a description of a dental drill whose cutting part has cutting blades that are arranged in a circle; moreover, the cutting blades are provided with a curved surface end so that damage to the mucous membrane can be prevented even when the outer circumferential edge of the end of the cutting part comes into direct contact with the mucous membrane during drilling. The structure of the drill is very complicated, which makes it expensive.

Patent application WO2012111989 provides a description of a dental drill whose cutting part used for drilling includes numerous main cutting blades which are separated away from each other at an angle as well as auxiliary cutting blades which are arranged between the main cutting blades. The structure of the drill is very complicated, which makes it expensive.

Patent application EP2523627 provides a description of a dental drill which has a cutting blade curved inwards, forming an almost flat frontal part of the drill, which prevents the frontal surface of the drill from damaging the mucous membrane. The structure of the drill is very complicated, which makes it expensive.

The high costs associated with known specialist drills for the performance of drilling in the alveolar ridge or the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus are particularly unfavorable in the case of dental offices that rarely perform these types of drillings, especially that not only one drill is required, but a complete set of variously sized drills must be acquired. The aim of the present invention was to design a dental drill adapter enabling the adaptation of a standard dental drill for the safe performance of drillings in the alveolar ridge bone or the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus.

The dental drill adapter, to which the present invention relates, includes a sleeve with a resistance flange, as well as elements for fixing the adapter into the standard dental drill. The dental drill adapter, to which the present invention relates, serves the purpose of connecting the dental drill with a stopper restricting the drilling depth.

The stopper is an appropriately shaped sleeve whose external diameter is larger than the diameter of the cutting part; as a result, further drilling is prevented when the stopper rests on the bone. The length of the stopper is selected in accordance with the thickness of the patient's bone at the drilling site. During the procedure, the drilling depth can be easily modified by successively changing the stoppers to ones of decreasing length. The shorter the stopper, the deeper the drilling. The internal diameter of the stopper is larger than the diameter of the cutting part, which enables the operator to easily change the stopper without having to dismantle the drill from the counter-angle head or the adapter. The internal diameter of the adapter sleeve corresponds to the external diameter of the standard dental drill core - the internal diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the drill core to the extent that enables so-called sliding fitting. The internal diameter of the adapter sleeve can also be larger, but this has an unfavorable effect on the stability of the connection between the adapter and the core. The external diameter of the sleeve is equal to the diameter of the drill's cutting part; it can also be slightly larger or smaller. Small differences between the external diameter of the sleeve and the diameter of the drill's cutting part are possible, but they have an unfavorable effect on the functioning of the adapter and/or the drilling process. In practice, drills with various diameters of the cutting parts are used; therefore, a given adapter according to the present invention may be employed for drills that are different, but have the same diameter of the cutting part. Adapter with slightly smaller external diameters may be used, but this has an unfavorable effect on the drilling process as the connection between the adapter and the stopper is less stable. Apart from the diameter of the cutting part, other parameters and the structure of the drill are not significantly important for the ability to use the adapter according to the 75 invention.

The adapter sleeve has a resistance flange for fixing the stopper.

The adapter has fixing elements for stabilizing its connection to the drill.

In the adapter sleeve, preferably in the resistance flange, there is at least a single threaded opening, preferably with an axis perpendicular to the core of the dental drill, into which a screw 80 is fixed. When the screw or screws are fixed up to the point of resistance, the adapter is stabilized on the core of the drill.

In another version, the element fixing the adapter to the core of the drill features a clamping system in the form of an appropriately shaped and threaded adapter end and a nut. The adapter end is shaped in such a way that it consists of at least two parts forming the sections of 85 the sleeve and fitted with a preferably conical thread on the outside surface. After fixing the adapter into the drill, a nut is screwed in and during the screwing of the nut onto the conical thread, two or more parts of the adapter end are pressed against the core of the drill, thus fixing the adapter onto the drill.

In yet another version, the element fixing the adapter to the core of the drill features a 90 clamping cone in the form of an appropriately shaped and threaded adapter end and a nut, where the cone has a gap which makes it possible to adapt the diameter of the opening during the fixing of the nut, thanks to which the clamping cone is clamped onto the core of the drill and the adapter is fixed onto the drill.

The adapter to which the present invention relates allows for customizing standard dental 95 drills, and particularly drills used in dental and maxillofacial surgery, to performing safe and monitored drillings, especially those in the alveolar ridge bone or in the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus. Illustrations present examples of adapters to which the present invention relates. Individual illustrations present as follows:

100 Figure 1 : an overview of the adapter

Figure 2: a cross-section of the adapter

Figure 3 : an oblique view of the cross-section of the adapter

Figure 4: the adapter connected to the drill in the working condition

Figure 5 : a magnified view of section A from Figure 4 105 Figure 6: an overview of the adapter's version with two tightening screws

Figures 7-10 show the second version of the adapter, including:

Figure 7: an overview of the adapter

Figure 8: a cross-section of the fixing system

Figure 9: a cross-section view of the adapter

110 Figure 10: a cross-section of the adapter's connection with the drill in the working condition

Figure 11 : the adapter's connection with the drill in the working condition

Figure 12: an overview of the version of the adapter with a conical end divided into three segments

115 Figure 13 : an overview of the version of the adapter with a conical end and with one clamping segment Figure 1 presents the overview of the adapter consisting of a sleeve (1) with an opening (2) having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the core of the drill. The lower part of 120 the sleeve features a resistance flange (3) in which there is an opening (4) for a fixing screw.

A cross-section of the adapter is presented in Figure 2. The resistance flange (3) features an opening (4) for a fixing screw (5).

Figure 3 presents an oblique view of the cross-section of the adapter. The resistance flange (3) features an opening (4) for a fixing screw (5).

125 Figure 4 presents the adapter connected to the drill in the working condition. The adapter sleeve (1) is fixed onto the core (6) of the drill (7). The external diameter of the sleeve (1) corresponds to the diameter of the cutting element (8) of the drill (7). A stopper (9), the external diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the cutting element (8) of the drill (6), is placed on the adapter.

130 Figure 5 presents a magnified view of section A. A fixing screw (5), after being screwed into the opening (4), stretches the sleeve (1) from the core (7) of the drill, thus stabilizing the connection.

Figure 6 shows another version of the adapter to which the present invention relates.

The adapter shown in Figure 6 is comprised of a sleeve (10), the opening (11) of which 135 has a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the core of the drill. The lower part of the sleeve (10) features a resistance flange (12), which supports the stopper. Below the flange (12), there is a fixing system comprised of two conical clamping halves (14, 14') fitted with a conical thread (15), onto which a nut (16) with flat areas (17) enabling the use of a wrench is screwed.

Figure 7 shows a cross-section of the fixing system. Two clamping halves (14, 14') are 140 separated by a gap (18) with an extension (19) that facilitates the tightening of both clamping halves (14, 14') to the core of the drill after a nut is screwed onto the thread (15, 15'). Figure 8 shows a cross-section view of the adapter. A straight-threaded nut (16) is screwed on the conical thread. It is also possible to use a conically threaded nut, but that makes the slope of the tangent line to the nut's conical thread smaller than the slope of the tangent line 145 to the sleeve's conical thread. This results in the tightening of both clamping halves to the core of the drill as the nut is being screwed in.

Figure 9 shows a cross-section of the adaptor's connection with the drill in the working condition. The adapter sleeve (10) is placed on the core of the drill (21). The external diameter of the sleeve ( 10) corresponds to the diameter of the cutting element (22) of the drill (21). A 150 stopper (23), the external diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the cutting element (22) of the drill (21), is placed on the adapter. The stopper (23) is supported by the flange (12). A nut (16) tightening the adapter ( 10) to the core of the drill (21) is screwed on the conical thread (15, 15').

Figure 10 shows the adapter's connection with the drill in the working condition. The 155 adapter's sleeve (10) is placed on the core of the drill (21). A stopper (23), the external diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the cutting element (22) of the drill (21), is placed on the adapter. The stopper (23) is supported by the flange (12). A nut (16) tightening the adapter (10) to the core of the drill (21) is screwed on the conical thread (15, 15').

Figure 11 shows the adapter's connection with the drill in the working condition. The 160 adapter's sleeve (10) is placed on the core of the drill (21). A stopper (23), the external diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the cutting element (22) of the drill (21), is placed on the adapter. The stopper (23) is supported by the flange (12). A nut (16) tightening the adapter (10) to the core of the drill (21) is screwed on the conical thread (15, 15').

Figure 12 shows an overview of the adapter's end, which consists of three clamping 165 segments (14, 14', 14"), fitted with a conical thread (15, 15'). A nut is screwed on the conical thread (15). The clamping segments (14, 14', 14") are separated by gaps (18, 18', 18") ending in an extension (19) that facilitates the tightening of the clamping segments (14, 14', 14") to the core of the drill after a nut is screwed onto the thread (15, 15'). Figure 13 shows an overview of the adapter's end, which consists of a single clamping segment. The adapter's end features a notch (25), which facilitates the adaptation of the diameter of the clamping segment (26) as a result of screwing a nut (27) onto the conical thread. As the nut (26) is screwed onto the clamping segment, the clamping segment is tightened to the core of the drill.