A biodegradable replaceable toothbrush head preferably for an electric toothbrush. The replacement head can be configured to be removably connected and operated by one or more conventional electric power/drive units. Various biodegradable materials can be used alone or in combination for constructing the replacement head and in certain embodiments the biodegradable replacement can be constructed from solely or primarily corn starch or bamboo. In another non-limiting embodiment, the biodegradable replacement head can be construction from about 60-80% polylactic acid, and about 20-40% talcum.

The present invention relates to a chucking device for a drilling tool for a dental handpiece, as well as a handpiece for dental or surgical applications comprising: —a head (10) in which is inserted in removable fashion a drilling tool (100) able to be actuated in rotation about an axis of rotation (R) by means of a drive mechanism comprising a drive shaft (2) rotating about this axis of rotation (R)—a clamping device for the drilling tool (100), comprising a chucking clamp (4) disposed inside said drive shaft (2) for axial retention of the drilling tool (100) with respect to the axis of rotation (R), the clamp (4) co-operating with a plunger (5), and—a push-button (61) arranged to act upon the plunger (5) in order to release the drilling tool (100); The handpiece (1) contains a permanent magnet (7) arranged symmetrically around the axis of rotation (R) and exerting a force of magnetic attraction (F) on the plunger (5) in direction of the push-button (61).

Proposed is a mouthpiece-type electric toothbrush. The mouthpiece-type electric toothbrush includes a toothbrush body a first tooth insertion groove in which the upper teeth of a user are inserted and a second tooth insertion groove in which the lower teeth are inserted. The toothbrush body has a plurality of bristles having different lengths and formed in the first tooth insertion groove and the second tooth insertion groove in accordance with a tooth mold patterned after a row of teeth of the user.

Disclosed herein are antifungal composites, devices, and methods to reduce or prevent a fungus from growing on the antifungal composite. The antifungal composite and devices thereof may include a biocompatible polymer and a Si.sub.3N.sub.4 powder loaded in at least a portion of the biocompatible polymer. The polymer may be a thermoplastic polymer such as a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resin and the Si.sub.3N.sub.4 powder may be present in a concentration of about 1 vol. % to about 30 vol. % in the thermoplastic polymer.

An orthodontic appliance shaped to receive teeth. The orthodontic appliance can be constructed from a laminate structure with an outer transparent layer and an inner translucent layer. The translucent layer can scatter light to decrease a relative degree or perceived gloss to the human eye, and hence provide a more natural appearance to the orthodontic appliance.

A disposable, inflatable, matrix (tooth dam) used to form a temporary, removeable side wall for the placement of a tooth filling material. It establishes the original dental anatomy of the tooth, and maintains the correct contact between adjacent teeth for flossing purposes and gingival health. It accomplishes this by inflating a pair of self-sealing air chambers that extend from the back face of a planar panel that they are formed on, such that these chambers contact and press against the adjacent tooth and exert enough force to elastically secure the planar panel without wedges and clamps. It prevents the tooth filling material from leaving the prepared tooth and entering the space between the teeth to enhance flossing and proper dental hygiene. This device will greatly enhance patient comfort, procedural efficiency and consistency

A temporary alignment system and method for holding a dental coping to an implant abutment using the same threads in the abutment that are used for definitive attachment are disclosed. The disclosed temporary fasteners initially orient and hold a coping against an abutment with a force along the same axis as the semi-definitive screw. The aligned coping can be picked-up in a closed-tray impression process without unscrewing the temporary fastener. Embodiments include threaded posts that release copings from the abutment through axial forces. Some embodiments include a threaded post with separable cap that is picked-up with the coping. Methods for converting an existing prosthesis for screw attachment to implants in a single visit and digital capture of the converted prosthesis are described.

An example tissue former configured to couple to a dental implant is described herein. The tissue former can include a base portion arranged at a first end of the tissue former, a cap portion arranged at a second end of the tissue former, and a shoulder portion arranged between the base and cap portions. The first and second ends are opposite ends of the tissue former. The tissue former can also include a concave conical portion extending between the base and shoulder portions.

An abutment arrangement for connecting a dental restoration, having a post body and a screw element, to a dental implant is disclosed. The post body has an axial passage with a head socket and a press section. The screw element has a head section and a thread section. The screw element may be arranged in the post body passage so that the head section is positioned in the head socket abutting the press section, and the screw element extends through an occlusal aperture. When the screw element is arranged in the post body passage, a first locking section of the screw element is positioned adjacent to a second locking section of a mounting portion of the post body, with the first and second locking sections being configured to plastically deform the screw element and/or the post body such that the post body mounting portion is locked in an expanded position.

The invention provides a dental implant system with a surface gradient microporous structure and a preparation method thereof. The dental implant system includes a non-threaded micro-cone cylindrical dental implant and an abutment, wherein the dental implant includes a microporous layer with a bionic bone trabecular structure and a base with extremely high density and mechanical strength. The dental implant system of the invention has both the precision of the internal structure and the bionic characteristics of the surface structure, which effectively improves the long-term stability after implantation, reduces the complexity of the processing process of the dental implant system, and can realize personalized and batch production.