Login| Sign Up| Help| Contact|

Patent Searching and Data


Title:
DRILL FOR OPERATING IMPLANT
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2008/088105
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
Provided is a drill for operating an implant, including: a drill body including a bone housing housing bone pieces of an alveolar bone when a hole is drilled in the alveolar bone; a plurality of cutting blades formed at an end of the drill body to drill the hole in the alveolar bone with a rotation of the drill body; and a plurality of bone discharge paths caved in a surface of the drill body at a twist angle with an outer surface of the drill body to guide discharges of the bone pieces of the alveolar bone generated when the alveolar bone is drilled. Therefore, the drill can have a simple structure to prevent heat from being excessively generated so as to prevent the alveolar bone from being necrosed and reduce the number of drilling works when the implant is operated. As a result, the time required for operating the implant can be shortened, and the implant can be easily operated.

Inventors:
PARK KWANG BUM (KR)
RYOO KYOUNG HO (KR)
CHOI SEOK KYU (KR)
LEE HAE YONG (KR)
Application Number:
PCT/KR2007/001351
Publication Date:
July 24, 2008
Filing Date:
March 20, 2007
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation   Help
Assignee:
MEGAGEN CORP LTD (KR)
PARK KWANG BUM (KR)
RYOO KYOUNG HO (KR)
CHOI SEOK KYU (KR)
LEE HAE YONG (KR)
International Classes:
A61C3/02
Foreign References:
US4820156A1989-04-11
US5941706A1999-08-24
US5261818A1993-11-16
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
KWON, Young kyu et al. (748-16Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-925, KR)
Download PDF:
Claims:

Claims

[I] A drill for operating an implant, comprising: a drill body comprising a bone housing housing bone pieces of an alveolar bone when a hole is drilled in the alveolar bone; a plurality of cutting blades formed at an end of the drill body to drill the hole in the alveolar bone with a rotation of the drill body; and a plurality of bone discharge paths caved in a surface of the drill body at a twist angle with an outer surface of the drill body to guide discharges of the bone pieces of the alveolar bone generated when the alveolar bone is drilled. [2] The drill of claim 1, wherein front ends of the plurality of bone discharge paths are cut in blade shapes to drill the alveolar bone along with the plurality of cutting blades. [3] The drill of claim 1, further comprising at least one or more auxiliary bone housing cavities that penetrate the drill body so as to be connected to the bone housing. [4] The drill of claim 3, wherein the auxiliary bone housing cavities have long hole shapes to be parallel with a longitudinal direction of the drill body. [5] The drill of claim 3, wherein a pair of incised surfaces are formed in a surface of the drill body to be perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the drill body and to be symmetrical to each other, wherein the auxiliary bone housing cavities are respectively formed in the incised surfaces. [6] The drill of claim 1, wherein at least one or more insertion depth indicating patterns are formed in the surface of the drill body to indicate insertion depths of the drill body that is inserted into the alveolar bone. [7] The drill of claim 6, wherein the at least one or more insertion depth indicating patterns have belt shapes to enclose an outer surface of the drill body. [8] The drill of claim 1, further comprising a stopper that is attachably and detachably combined with the drill body to limit a depth of the hole drilled in the alveolar bone. [9] The drill of claim 8, wherein the stopper is attachably and detachably combined with an upper portion of an inner wall of the drill body through the bone housing, wherein a male screw is formed at one of the stopper and the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body, and a female screw is formed at the other one to be screwed to the male screw. [10] The drill of claim 9, wherein the male screw is formed at the stopper, and the female screw is formed at the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body.

[I I] The drill of claim 10, wherein the stopper comprises:

a shaft comprising an outer surface on which the male screw is formed; and a head connected to the shaft, having a larger diameter than the shaft, and comprising an instrument insertion groove. [12] The drill of claim 1, wherein the cutting blades have an angle between 0°and

45°with an axis of the drill body. [13] The drill of claim 1, further comprising a shank that is coaxial with the drill body and extends from an end of the drill body in the longitudinal direction. [14] The drill of claim 3, wherein the auxiliary bone housing cavities are formed on paths of the bone discharge paths and in radius directions with respect to the axis of the drill body. [15] The drill of claim 14, wherein widths of sides of the auxiliary bone housing cavities are larger than widths of the bone discharge paths. [16] The drill of claim 8, wherein an attaching and detaching groove is caved in an outer surface of the upper portion of the drill body, and a hook is formed at the stopper to be attachably and detachably combined with the attaching and detaching groove of the drill body. [17] The drill of claim 16, wherein the hook comprises: a plurality of balls moveably installed in a radius direction in an inner surface of the stopper; and a plurality of springs elastically supporting the balls in the stopper. [18] A drill for operating an implant, comprising: a drill body comprising a bone housing housing bone pieces of an alveolar bone when a hole is drilled in the alveolar bone; a plurality of cutting blades formed at an end of the drill body to drill the hole in the alveolar bone with a rotation of the drill body; and a stopper attachably and detachably combined with the drill body to limit a depth of the hole drilled in the alveolar bone. [19] The drill of claim 18, wherein the stopper is attachably and detachably combined with an upper portion of an inner wall of the drill body through the bone housing, wherein a male screw is formed at one of the stopper and the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body, and a female screw is formed at the other one to be screwed to the male screw. [20] The drill of claim 19, wherein the male screw is formed at the stopper, and the female screw is formed at the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body. [21] The drill of claim 20, wherein the stopper comprises: a shaft comprising an outer surface on which the male screw is formed; and a head connected to the shaft, having a larger diameter than the shaft, and comprising an instrument insertion groove.

Description:

Description

DRILL FOR OPERATING IMPLANT

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a drill for operating an implant, and more particularly, to a drill having a simple structure, for preventing heat from being excessively generated during drilling to prevent necrosis of an alveolar bone and reduce the number of drilling works of the alveolar bone during an operation of an implant so as to shorten an implant operating time and easily operate the implant. Background Art

[2] An implant generally refers to a substitute for restoring a missed tissue of a human body but refers to a process of implanting artificial teeth in the dental surgery. In other words, for a missed tooth root, a tooth root formed of titanium or the like that is not rejected from the human body is implanted into an alveolar bone from which a tooth has been extracted. Next, an artificial tooth is fixed into the tooth root in order to restore the function of the missed tooth. A general prosthesis or an artificial tooth damages neighboring teeth and bones. However, an implant dose not damage neighboring teeth tissues, has the same function or shape as a natural tooth, and prevents teeth from decaying. As a result, the implant may be semi-permanently used.

[3] In order to complete an implant operation, an insertion position is drilled using a predetermined drill, an implant is inserted into an alveolar bone to merge the implant into the alveolar bone, and an abutment is combined with the implant and covered with a prosthesis.

[4] The implant restores a single missed tooth, promotes a function of an artificial tooth to a partial or complete toothless patient, restores prosthesis of a tooth, disperses stress on a surrounding support bone tissue, and stabilizes a row of teeth.

[5] An alveolar bone of a patient is drilled using a drill or the like, and then an implant is inserted into the alveolar bone. Thus, the work of drilling the alveolar bone is very important.

[6] Here, the drilling work of the drill for inserting the implant will be exemplarily described in brief. The drilling work is only an example, and thus various drilling works may be applied.

[7] An insertion position of an implant is determined on a surface of an alveolar bone using a round drill as a first drill.

[8] Next, a top of the alveolar bone of a tooth-missed part is incised to be slightly opened, and then a guide drill is installed in a predetermined instrument to drill a hole having a predetermined depth in the alveolar bone, supplying water to the alveolar

bone.

[9] Also, the guide drill is replaced with a first drill to expand the hole, supplying water to the alveolar bone. Thereafter, the first drill is replaced with a pilot drill to expand an upper end of the hole, supplying water to the alveolar bone.

[10] The pilot drill is replaced with a final drill to expand a lower end of the hole, supplying water to the alveolar bone.

[11] The final drill is replaced with a tap drill to form a screw thread in the hole, supplying water to the alveolar bone.

[12] A fixture is combined into the hole using a predetermined instrument, and the abutment is screwed to the fixture to fix an artificial tooth to the abutment using an adhesive.

[13] However, during the operation of the implant, various types of drills are sequentially replaced to perform the drilling work so as to insert the fixture. In particular, many pilot drills are used to insert a fixture having a large diameter, and a large number of drilling works are performed. Therefore, the time required for operating the implant increases, and patients feel inconvenient.

[14] Accordingly, there is required a method of drilling a hole having a wide diameter at once to reduce the number of drilling works. In this case, if bone pieces of an alveolar bone cut during drilling does not smoothly come out, heat may be excessively generated. As a result, the alveolar bone may be necrosed. Therefore, it is not easy to reduce the number of drilling works.

[15] Hence, the present applicant has developed a drill for operating an implant to omit drilling works of first, pilot, and final drills to reduce the number of drilling works for an alveolar bone, minimize the inconvenience of patients, and shorten the time required for operating the implant. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[16] The present invention provides a drill having a simple structure, for preventing heat from being excessively generated during drilling to prevent necrosis of an alveolar bone and reduce the number of drilling works of the alveolar bone during an operation of an implant so as to shorten an implant operating time and easily operate the implant.

[17] The present invention also provides a drill for operating an implant to limit a depth of a hole drilled in an alveolar bone so as to stably perform a drilling work in consideration of various shapes and positions of an alveolar bone.

Advantageous Effects

[18] According to the present invention, heat can be prevented from being excessively generated during drilling to prevent the necrosis of an alveolar bone and reduce the

number of drilling works. As a result, the time required for operating an implant can be shortened, and the implant can be easily operated. Therefore, the inconvenience of a patient can be minimized.

[19] Also, a stopper can be attached to or detached from a drill body to limit a depth of a hole drilled in the alveolar bone. Thus, drilling works can be stably performed in consideration of shapes and positions of various alveolar bones. Brief Description of the Drawings

[20] FIG. 1 is a partial exploded front view of a drill for operating an implant according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[21] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of main elements of the drill of FIG. 1.

[22] FIGS. 3 and 4illustrate the drill of FIGS. 1 and 2 used to drill a hole in an alveolar bone.

[23] FIG. 5 is a front view of a drill for operating an implant according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[24] FIG. 6 is a side view of the drill of FIG. 5.

[25] FIG. 7 is a partial exploded front view of a drill for operating an implant according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[26] FIG. 8 is a side view of main elements of the drill of FIG. 7.

[27] FIG. 9 is an exploded view of main elements of a drill for operating an implant according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[28] FIG. 10 is a front view of an assembled state of the drill of FIG. 9.

[29] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the drill of FIG. 10.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[30] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drill for operating an implant, including: a drill body including a bone housing housing bone pieces of an alveolar bone when a hole is drilled in the alveolar bone; a plurality of cutting blades formed at an end of the drill body to drill the hole in the alveolar bone with a rotation of the drill body; and a plurality of bone discharge paths caved in a surface of the drill body at a twist angle with an outer surface of the drill body to guide discharges of the bone pieces of the alveolar bone generated when the alveolar bone is drilled.

[31] Front ends of the plurality of bone discharge paths may be cut in blade shapes to drill the alveolar bone along with the plurality of cutting blades.

[32] The drill may further include at least one or more auxiliary bone housing cavities that penetrate the drill body so as to be connected to the bone housing.

[33] The auxiliary bone housing cavities may have long hole shapes to be parallel with a longitudinal direction of the drill body.

[34] A pair of incised surfaces may be formed in a surface of the drill body to be perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the drill body and to be symmetrical to each other, wherein the auxiliary bone housing cavities are respectively formed in the incised surfaces.

[35] At least one or more insertion depth indicating patterns may be formed in the surface of the drill body to indicate insertion depths of the drill body that is inserted into the alveolar bone.

[36] The at least one or more insertion depth indicating patterns may have belt shapes to enclose an outer surface of the drill body.

[37] The drill may further include a stopper that is attachably and detachably combined with the drill body to limit a depth of the hole drilled in the alveolar bone.

[38] The stopper may be attachably and detachably combined with an upper portion of an inner wall of the drill body through the bone housing, wherein a male screw is formed at one of the stopper and the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body, and a female screw is formed at the other one to be screwed to the male screw.

[39] The male screw may be formed at the stopper, and the female screw may be formed at the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body.

[40] The stopper may include: a shaft including an outer surface on which the male screw is formed; and a head connected to the shaft, having a larger diameter than the shaft, and including an instrument insertion groove.

[41] The cutting blades may have an angle between 0°And 45° with an axis of the drill body.

[42] The drill may further include a shank that is coaxial with the drill body and extends from an end of the drill body in the longitudinal direction.

[43] The auxiliary bone housing cavities may be formed on paths of the bone discharge paths and in radius directions with respect to the axis of the drill body.

[44] Widths of sides of the auxiliary bone housing cavities may be larger than widths of the bone discharge paths.

[45] An attaching and detaching groove may be caved in an outer surface of the upper portion of the drill body, and a hook may be formed at the stopper to be attachably and detachably combined with the attaching and detaching groove of the drill body.

[46] The hook may include: a plurality of balls moveably installed in a radius direction in an inner surface of the stopper; and a plurality of springs elastically supporting the balls in the stopper.

[47] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drill for operating an implant, including: a drill body including a bone housing housing bone pieces of an alveolar bone when a hole is drilled in the alveolar bone; a plurality of cutting blades formed at an end of the drill body to drill the hole in the alveolar bone

with a rotation of the drill body; and a stopper attachably and detachably combined with the drill body to limit a depth of the hole drilled in the alveolar bone.

[48] The stopper may be attachably and detachably combined with an upper portion of an inner wall of the drill body through the bone housing, wherein a male screw is formed at one of the stopper and the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body, and a female screw is formed at the other one to be screwed to the male screw.

[49] The male screw may be formed at the stopper, and the female screw may be formed at the upper portion of the inner wall of the drill body.

[50] The stopper may include: a shaft including an outer surface on which the male screw is formed; and a head connected to the shaft, having a larger diameter than the shaft, and comprising an instrument insertion groove. Mode for the Invention

[51] The attached drawings for illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention are referred to in order to gain a sufficient understanding of the present invention, the merits thereof, and the objectives accomplished by the implementation of the present invention.

[52] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail by explaining preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

[53] FIG. 1 is a partial exploded front view of a drill for operating an implant according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of main elements of the drill of FIG. 1. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the drill of FIGS. 1 and 2 used to drill a hole in an alveolar bone.

[54] Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, a drill 100 for operating an implant according to the present embodiment includes a drill body 111, a plurality of cutting blades 115, a bone housing 121, a plurality of bone discharge paths 117, at least one or more auxiliary bone housing cavities 125, and a stopper 135. The cutting blades 115 are formed at the drill body 111 to drill a hole in an alveolar bone 5 (shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) with a rotation of the drill body 111. The bone housing 121 is caved in an end of the drill body 111 to a predetermined depth in a longitudinal direction to house bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 when the hole is drilled in the alveolar bone 5. The bone discharge paths 117 guide discharges of the bone pieces during drilling. The auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 penetrate the drill body 111 to be connected to the bone housing 121. The stopper 135 is attachably or detachably combined with the drill body 111 to limit the depth of the hole drilled in the alveolar bone 5, i.e., a depth D of the drill body 111 that is inserted into the alveolar bone.

[55] The drill body 111 has a cylindrical shape. However, since the bone housing 121 is

formed from the end inside the drill body 111 to the predetermined depth in the longitudinal direction, the drill body 111 has a cavity shape to a predetermined height. The drill body 111 rotates on an axis of the longitudinal direction during drilling. A female screw 11 Ia is formed at an upper end of an inner wall of the drill body 111.

[56] A male screw 137 is formed on an outer surface of a shaft 137 of the stopper 135 that will be described later and is screwed to the female screw I l ia.

[57] The cutting blades 115 are formed at an end of the drill body 111 at predetermined intervals. The cutting blades 115 may be variously formed. However, in the present embodiment, the cutting blades 115 are formed at an angle between 0°and 45°with the axis of the drill body 111.

[58] The bone housing 121 is caved in the end of the drill body 111 to the predetermined depth in the longitudinal direction. The bone housing 121 houses the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 during drilling with the rotation of the drill body 111. After drilling is completed, the drill body 111 separates from the alveolar bone 5 with the bone pieces housed in the bone housing 121. In other words, since the cutting blades 115 cut only a part of the alveolar bone 5 corresponding to thicknesses of the cutting blades 115, the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 are housed in the bone housing 121 during drilling. Also, when the drill body 111 separates from the alveolar bone 5, the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 housed in the bone housing 121 during drilling are nearly released from being combined with an adjacent bone. Thus, the bone pieces separate from the alveolar bone 5 with being housed in the bone housing 121 of the drill body 111 and thus come out of the alveolar bone 5 together with the drill body 111. Therefore, a hole having a relatively large diameter is formed in the alveolar bone 5.

[59] After the drilling work is completed, the drill body 111 separates from the alveolar bone 5, and then an auxiliary instrument (not shown) is inserted into the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 of the drill 100 to apply an external force to the bone pieces housed in the bone housing 121 so as to remove the bone pieces from the bone housing 121.

[60] The bone discharge paths 117 are caved in a surface of the drill body 111 to predetermined depths at predetermined twist angles. The bone discharge paths 117 operate as a plurality of discharge paths through which the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 are discharged. Thus, the bone discharge paths 117 smoothly discharge the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 that are cut during drilling, to the outside, so as to prevent heat from being excessively generated during drilling and prevent the alveolar bone 5 from being necrosed due to excessive heat. Therefore, heat is prevented from being excessively generated, and a hole having a relatively large diameter is drilled at once. Tips of the bone discharge paths 117 are not given reference numeral but are sharpened in blade shapes in the present embodiment. Since the tips of the bone discharge paths

117 are sharpened in the blade shapes, the bone discharge paths 117 smoothly discharge the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 to the outside and simultaneously assist the drilling work for the alveolar bone 5 together with the plurality of cutting blades 115.

[61] The auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 penetrate the drill body 111. In the present embodiment, the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 have long cavity shapes that are formed to be parallel with the longitudinal direction of the drill body 111. In the present embodiment, the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 are formed in incised surfaces 112 that are formed on the surface of the drill body 111. In other words, the surface of the drill body 111 is vertically incised in the longitudinal direction of the drill body 111 to form a pair of incised surfaces 112 in the surface of the drill body 111. Here, the incised surfaces 112 are symmetrical to each other. The auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 penetrate the incised surfaces 112 in the long cavity shapes. As described above, the pair of incised surfaces 112 are formed in the surface of the drill body 111, and the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 are formed in the incised surfaces 112. Thus, areas of openings of the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 increase. As a result, the bone pieces housed in the bone housing 121 are easily removed by the predetermined instrument that is inserted through the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125.

[62] The auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 may house the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 that are discharged through the bone discharge paths 117 when the hole is drilled in the alveolar bone 5. Therefore, the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 are prevented from being sandwiched in the drill 100 to prevent friction so as to prevent heat from being excessively generated. Also, the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 housed in the bone housing 121 during drilling are easily removed from the bone housing 121 by the predetermined instrument that is inserted through the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 after the drilling work.

[63] A shank 131 is provided at an other end of the drill body 111, i.e., at an end of the drill body 111 opposite to the bone housing 121. The shank 131 is connected to an instrument such as a dental hand piece or the like to operate the drill body 111. The shank 131 extends from an end of the drill body 111 in the longitudinal direction to be coaxial with the drill body 111.

[64] The stopper 135 is attachably or detachably combined with the drill body 111 to limit the depth of the hole drilled in the alveolar bone 5. In other words, the stopper 135 limits the depth D of the drill body 111 that is inserted into the alveolar bone 5.

[65] The stopper 135 includes the shaft 137 and a head 136. The male screw 137a is formed on the outer surface of the shaft 137, and the head 136 is connected to the shaft 137 and has a larger diameter than the shaft 137. An instrument insertion groove 136a

is formed in the head 136. In the present embodiment, the instrument insertion groove 136a is a hexagonal wrench groove. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The instrument insertion groove 136a may also be a cross-shaped groove or a straight line-shaped groove.

[66] An additional instrument is inserted into the instrument insertion groove 136a, and then the stopper 135 is rotated. Thus, the male screw 137a formed on the shaft 137 of the stopper 135 is screwed to the female screw I l ia formed at the upper end of the inner wall of the drill body 111. As a result, the stopper 135 is easily combined with the drill body 111. Therefore, the stopper 135 limits the depth of the hole drilled in the alveolar bone 5. For reference, the stopper 135 may have a size between about lφmm) and about 7φmm). However, in the present embodiment, the stopper 135 has a diameter of about 2.5φmm) to be commonly used in implant operating drills having inside diameters between about 4φmm) and about 7φmm).

[67] A drilling work of a drill for inserting an implant into a missed-tooth using the above-described structure will now be described in brief.

[68] A round drill (not shown) is used as a first drill to determine an insertion position of the implant on a surface of the alveolar bone 5.

[69] A top of the alveolar bone 5 of a tooth-missed part is incised to be slightly opened, and then a guide drill (not shown) is installed in a predetermined instrument in order to drill a first hole 7 having a predetermined depth in the alveolar bone 5, supplying water to the alveolar bone 5.

[70] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the guide drill is replaced with the drill 100 of the present invention to expand upper and lower portions of the first hole 7, supplying water to the alveolar bone 5, i.e., form a second hole T Here, the drill body 111 of the drill 100 according to the present embodiment rotates to house the bone pieces of the drilled alveolar bone 5 in the bone housing 121 and discharge the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 through the bone discharge paths 7 during drilling. Also, the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 may be housed in the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 when being discharged through the bone discharge paths 117. Thus, the second hole 7 into which the implant is to be inserted is caved in the alveolar bone 5 of the tooth- missed part to a predetermined depth and prevents heat from being excessively generated.

[71] After the drilling work is completed, the predetermined instrument is inserted through the auxiliary bone housing cavities 125 to easily remove the bone pieces from the bone housing 121.

[72] The drill 100 is replaced with a tap drill (not shown) to form a screw thread in the second hole T supplying water to the alveolar bone 5.

[73] A fixture (not shown) is combined into a screw hole in which a screw thread has

been formed, using an instrument such as a dental hand piece or the like and then merged into an alveolar bone for a predetermined period of time. Next, an abutment is screwed to the fixture to fixe an artificial tooth to the abutment using an adhesive so as to complete an operation of an implant.

[74] As described above, the plurality of cutting blades 115 are formed at the drill body

111 to drill a hole in the alveolar bone 5 with the rotation of the drill body 111. Also, the bone housing 121 is caved in the end of the drill body 111 to the predetermined depth in the longitudinal direction so as to house the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 when the hole is drilled in the alveolar bone 5. In addition, the plurality of bone discharge paths 117 are caved in the surface of the drill body 111 to the predetermined depth at the predetermined twist angle so as to guide the discharges of the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 generated during drilling. Thus, drilling works of the first, pilot, and final drills are omitted when a drilling work is performed for the alveolar bone 5 to operate the implant. As a result, the drill 100 has a simple structure to prevent heat from being excessively generated so as to prevent the alveolar bone 5 from being necrosed and reduce the number of drilling works for the alveolar bone 5. Therefore, the time required for operating the implant is shortened, and the operation of the implant is easily performed.

[75] Also, the stopper 135 is attachably or detachably combined with the drill body 111 to limit the depth of the hole. Thus, a drilling work is stably performed in consideration of various shapes and positions of the alveolar bone 5.

[76] FIG. 5 is a front view of a drill for operating an implant according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view of the drill of FIG. 5.

[77] A plurality of insertion depth indicating patterns 21 Ia through 21 Ie are formed in a surface of a drill body 211 of a drill 200 according to the present embodiment to indicate insertion depths of the drill body 211 that is inserted into the alveolar bone 5 (shown i n FIGS. 3 and 4). The insertion depth indicating patterns 211a through 21 Ie have belt shapes to enclose an outer surface of the drill body 211.

[78] If the insertion depth indicating patterns 21 Ia through 21 Ie are formed in the surface of the drill body 211 as in the present embodiment, insertion depths Dl through D5 of the drill body 211 for drilling the alveolar bone 5 are checked. Thus, a drilling work is easily performed.

[79] For reference, in the case of the present embodiment, five insertion depth indicating patterns 211a through 21 Ie are formed. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Therefore, the number of insertion depth indicating patterns 211a through 21 Ie may be appropriately changed. An additional anodizing method, etc. may be applied to form the insertion depth indicating patterns 21 Ia through 21 Ie.

[80] FIG. 7 is a partial exploded front view of a drill for operating an implant according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a side view of main elements of the drill of FIG. 7.

[81] In a drill 300 according to the present embodiment, the bone discharge paths 117 of the previous embodiment (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) are not formed in an outer surface of a drill body 311.

[82] However, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, although the drill 300 does not include the bone discharge paths 117, a stopper 335 may be provided to limit a depth of a hole drilled in the alveolar bone 5, i.e., an insertion depth of the drill body 311.

[83] As previously described, the stopper 335 of the present embodiment is attachably and detachably combined with the drill body 311 and includes a shaft 337 and a head 336. Here, a male screw 337a is formed on an outer surface of the shaft 337, and the head 3365 is connected to the shaft 337 and has a larger diameter than the shaft 337. An instrument insertion groove 336a is formed in the head 336.

[84] Therefore, an additional instrument is inserted into the instrument insertion groove

336a, and then the stopper 335 is rotated so as to screw the male screw 337a formed on the shaft 337 of the stopper 335 to a female screw 311a formed at an upper portion of an inner wall of the drill body 311. Thus, the stopper 335 is easily combined with the drill body 311. As a result, the stopper 335 limits the depth of the hole that is drilled.

[85] FIG. 9 is an exploded view of main elements of a drill for operating an implant according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a front view of an assembled state of the drill of FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the drill of FIG. 10.

[86] As shown in FIGS. 9 through 11, a drill 400 according to the present embodiment is similar to the drill 100 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thus, its repeated descriptions will be omitted, but only elements of the drill 400 different from those of the drill 100 will be described.

[87] In the present embodiment, an attaching and detaching groove 445 is caved in an outer surface of an upper portion of a drill body 41 lto a predetermined depth. The attaching and detaching groove 445 is formed in an outer surface of the drill body 411. A hook 437 of a stopper 435 that will be described later is combined with the attaching and detaching groove 445.

[88] Bone discharge paths 417 are caved in a surface of the drill body 411 at a predetermined twist angle with the drill body 411. The bone discharge paths 417 discharge the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 (shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) that is drilled. The bone discharge paths 417 have simple groove shapes.

[89] Auxiliary bone housing cavities 425 are formed in long hole shapes to penetrate the drill body 411. The auxiliary bone housing cavities 425 are formed in radius directions

with respect to an axis of the drill body 411. Also, the auxiliary bone housing cavities 425 are formed on paths of the bone discharge paths 417. Thus, when the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 are discharged through the bone discharge paths 417 during drilling of a hole in the alveolar bone 5, the bone pieces of the alveolar bone 5 may be housed in the auxiliary bone housing cavities 425. Here, widths of sides of the auxiliary bone housing cavities 425 are wider than widths of the bone discharge paths 417.

[90] The stopper 435 of the present embodiment has a different structure from the stoppers 135 and 335 of the previous embodiments. In other words, the stopper 435 has a shorter length than the drill body 111 to limit a drilling depth of the drill 400. If the stopper 435 has various lengths, the drill 400 may drill a desired depth. The stopper 435 has a hollow pipe shape so as to enclose an area of an outer surface of the drill body 411.

[91] The hook 437 is formed in an inner surface of the stopper 435 to attach the stopper

435 to or detach the stopper 435 from the drill body 411. The hook 437 may be variously formed. However, in the present embodiment, the hook 437 includes a plurality of balls 439 and a plurality of springs 441. The balls 439 are moveably installed in the inner surface of the stopper 435 in a radius direction, and the springs 441 elastically support the balls 439.

[92] The balls 439 have spherical shapes, and areas of the balls 439 protrude from the inner surface of the stopper 435. The springs 441 are housed in the inner surface of the stopper 435 to elastically support sides of the balls 439. The balls 439 of the hook 437 are hooked onto the attaching and detaching groove 445 formed in the drill body 411 during a drilling work. The attaching and detaching groove 445 has a semi-circular cross-section corresponding to cross-sections of the balls 439.

[93] The balls 439 of the hook 437 keep hooked onto the attaching and detaching groove

445 of the drill body 411 so that the stopper 435 is installed in the drill body 411. In particular, the balls 439 are moveably installed in the attaching and detaching groove 445 of the drill body 411 to easily attach the stopper 435 to or detach the stopper 435 from the drill body 411. Also, an implant operator may selectively install the stopper 435 having various lengths in the drill 400 of the present embodiment in consideration of various shapes and positions of the alveolar bone 5 to stably perform a drilling work.

[94] It has been described in the present embodiment that a hook is formed in an inner surface of a stopper, and an attaching and detaching groove is formed in an outer surface of a drill body. However, the attaching and detaching groove may be formed in the inner surface of the stopper, and the hook may be formed in the outer surface of the drill body.

[95] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Industrial Applicability

[96] As described above, a drill for operating an implant according to the present invention can have a simple structure. Thus, heat can be prevented from being excessively generated to prevent an alveolar bone from being necrosed and reduce the number of drilling works. As a result, the time required for operating the implant can be shortened, and the implant can be easily operated. Therefore, the inconvenience of a patient can be minimized.

[97] Also, a stopper can be provided to be attachably and detachably combined with a drill body so as to limit a depth of a hole drilled in the alveolar bone. Thus, a drilling work can be stably performed in consideration of various shapes and positions of the alveolar bone.