Patent Application
20210149222
The present invention relates generally to a dental tool. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wearable tool that directs polarized light toward an object, preferably a dental patient's teeth, and provides polarized lenses through which the operator may view the teeth. This arrangement enables reduction or elimination of glare from the patient's teeth.
Recreating nature in the dental field has proven to be a difficult engineering feat in a variety of categories and industries. Employing principles of biomimicry often results in the production of optimally designed items, such that desirable properties are promoted in products. For example, many geckos have the ability to stick to glass due to the microstructure of their palms and fingers; therefore, engineers have designed glass climbing tools based off of the design of gecko fingertips. Among the useful properties of light is its ability to become polarized under the appropriate conditions. Polarization reduces the intensity of incident wavelengths by restricting their wave motion to two dimensions, thus transforming light to be less damaging to the human eye without reducing the quality of the image that may be shown through the filter. Such polarization has also been found to have beneficial effects on images seen through them, including particularly the reduction of the intensity of reflected glare from items.
However, such developments have not been adequately explored and developed in many fields. Particularly in dental work, a medical professional may have to spend time viewing teeth under a bright light. Such light naturally causes unpleasant and even distracting reflections due to the translucency and opacity of teeth. Existing techniques for facilitating the selection of the color of teeth are often deficient, particularly as they relate to communicating dental tooth shades. There is a dearth of current technologies which can assist a user in viewing the internal and external color of teeth without glare or reflection. Many that attempt this feat do so using monitors and digitized images. This slows down communication during time-sensitive processes. Current technologies do not save valuable clinical time, nor do they save valuable time for technicians. What is needed is a tool that can help dentists and other medical professionals to more clearly view teeth during practice without the visual obstruction of glare from the teeth. Further desirable is a device that facilitates office operations and procedures.
The present invention addresses these issues. The dental shade-matching device facilitates viewing teeth during medical procedures. This enhances the ability of a practitioner to select an appropriate color shade of teeth, perform inspections and cleanings, and more. A potent light source provides light within an optimal range of luminous intensity. This light is filtered through a polarizing lens, which reduces the intensity of incident wavelengths of light upon the teeth of a patient. Light reflected from the teeth then passes through a set of polarized glasses, thus enabling further control over glare and incident light. This arrangement simultaneously illuminates target objects and filters out excess light and glare, thus eliminating internal and external reflections.
All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The present invention is a dental shade-matching device that is used to improve the ability of a dentist or other oral maintenance medical professional to view a patient's mouth during medical examinations and/or procedures. The present invention is configured to illuminate teeth by shining a light through at least one filter; the light that is subsequently reflected off the teeth is then filtered again to remove glare and improve overall image. The present invention comprises an eyewear 1 and at least one high-powered source of visible light 6, as shown in
The general configuration of the aforementioned components allows the present invention to efficiently and effectively provide and subsequently adjust light to optimal viewable conditions. The left optical-filtering lens 2, the right optical-filtering lens 3, and the at least one high-powered source of visible light 6 are mounted onto the frame 4, as shown in
The present invention requires a mechanism by which to affect the outputted light from the at least one high-powered light source. To this end, the present invention may further comprise at least one optical filter 7, as shown in
It is possible that a single source of light is not ideal for providing an optimal, shadow-minimizing image of a mouth. To mitigate this possibility, the at least one optical filter 7 may be a plurality of optical filters, as shown in
Optimal viewing light for illuminating images and objects exists within a range on the electromagnetic spectrum. To provide a user with optimal lighting, a color temperature of the at least one high-powered source of visible light 6 may be approximately in between 5000 kelvins (K) and 6000 K. This range has been identified as being most similar to daylight and thus represents a preferable range for the luminous intensity of lighting sources for humans. The light can vary in intensity depending on the preference of the dental professional.
The eyewear 1 must have a mechanism for connecting to a user's face while simultaneously arranging the left optical-filtering lens 2 and the right optical-filtering lens 3. To this end, the eyewear 1 may further comprise a nose bridge 5, as shown in FIG. 1. The nose bridge 5 is a connective rigid segment capable of conforming to the shape of a nose, thus leveraging the nose as a balance and support mechanism for the eyewear 1. The left optical-filtering lens 2 is positioned adjacent to the nose bridge 5. This arrangement allows the nose bridge 5 to support the left optical-filtering lens 2. Similarly, the right optical-filtering lens 3 is positioned adjacent to the nose bridge 5, opposite the left optical-filtering lens 2. Thus, the left optical-filtering lens 2 and the right optical-filtering lens 3 are positioned apart from each other and connected by the nose bridge 5. The at least one high-powered source of visible light 6 is positioned adjacent to the nose bridge 5 in between the left optical-filtering lens 2 and the right optical-filtering lens 3. In this way, the at least one high-powered source of visible light 6 provides even and equal lighting to both the left optical-filtering lens 2 and the right optical-filtering lens 3 during a preferred usage of the present invention.
The at least one high-powered source of visible light 6 may require adjustment relative to time of day, ambient lighting, and other environmental conditions or user preferences. To enable this, the present invention may further comprise a dimmer 8, as shown in
The user may wish to examine objects more closely while using the present invention. To this end, the left optical-filtering lens 2 and the right optical-filtering lens 3 may be a pair of magnifying lenses with a specified diopter. This arrangement ensures that the user may give special attention to details and specific features of the object or objects being observed.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
The current application claims a priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 62/935,557 filed on Nov. 14, 2019. The current application is filed on Nov. 16, 2020 while Nov. 14, 2020 was on a weekend.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62935557 | Nov 2019 | US |
