A drill bit and method for normalizing bone is provided. The drill bit has a non-round drill bit core that is adapted to cut hard bone and to not cut soft bone. The drill bit has a cutting edge which may be positioned within a compression zone of the non-round drill bit core. The rotational speed of the drill bit and the profile of the drill bit core are tuned so that hard bone recovers into a cutting zone defined by the cutting edge while soft bone remains outside of the cutting zone. The insertion torque of the drill bit can be measured to determine when the normalization is adequate.

Disclosed is a safety subantral membrane lifter including a bone-fixing unit including a bone-fixing arm mounted on the top of the bone-fixing unit, a bone-fixing unit body arranged at the lower end of the bone-fixing unit, and a bone-fixing unit support arranged at the lower end of the bone-fixing unit body. The bone-fixing unit includes a bone-fixing unit body; a bone-fixing arm arranged at one end of the bone-fixing unit body and which is inclined toward one end thereof, two side blades protruding outwardly from both sides of the bone-fixing unit body and formed in the vertical direction so as to be sharp, and a bone-fixing support arranged at the lower end of the bone-fixing unit.

A surgical drilling system for determining proximity of a surgical drill bit to an artery during a drilling procedure, including an excitation and/or collection optical channel of a spectral absorption probe, wherein the excitation channel provides light configured for absorption by blood chromophores and the collection channel captures diffused back-scattered light modulated by said artery; a light detector; and a signal processor for determining a distance between the tissue and the probe based on said back-scattered light. A process for determining proximity of a surgical drill bit to an artery during a drilling procedure includes bringing said excitation light near the tissue including the artery; capturing diffused back-scattered light from said tissue; detecting said light modulated by said blood flow dynamics including an oscillating signal related to said periodic change; and processing said light and determining the proximity of the surgical drill bit to the artery.

Methods and devices for subperiosteal minimally invasive aesthetic ridge augmentation and reconstruction, including of the mandible and maxilla. Implementation of procedures that manipulate the tissue to accept an implantable article are carried out. The reconstruction or augmentation involves selecting a surgical site at which an implantable article is to be installed, making one or more incisions in the tissue remote from the selected site, developing a tunnel leading to the site, forming a pouch under the periosteum at the site, and positioning an implantable article, such as a bone graft, in the pouch using the tunnel as the passageway. Implementations may include forming a customized bone graft to address a specific defect, and providing specially configured instruments for use in carrying out the method.

A low coherence interferometry probe system for evaluating proximity to a tissue layer, comprising a low coherence light source for generating low coherence excitation light, an excitation optical fiber to bring the low coherence excitation light near the tissue layer and a collection optical fiber for capturing back-scattered light from the tissue layer. The probe system comprises a low coherence interferometry sub-system and a digital signal processor for evaluating a distance to the tissue layer. There is also provided a spectral absorption probe system for evaluating proximity to an artery, comprising a light source excitation light having a wavelength adapted for absorption by blood chromophores, an excitation optical fiber and a collection optical fiber. The probe system comprises a light detector and a signal processor for determining a distance to the artery based on the back-scattered light and on Beer-Lambert law of light absorption using a value for surrounding tissue attenuation coefficient (eff). A probe system combining low coherence interferometry and spectral absorption is also provided.

A method of increasing movement of a tooth in a jaw having at least one tooth with an orthodontic brace thereon includes: (1) holding a handle of a device, the device having an elongate member extending from the handle and a screw tip at a distal end of the elongate member; (2) moving a sleeve along the elongate member to set a length of exposed screw tip; (3) locking the sleeve in place relative to the screw tip; (4) drilling a hole with the screw tip through a cortical bone of a jaw to increase movement of the tooth; and (5) stopping the drilling when the length of exposed screw tip has penetrated the jaw.

A drill bit and method for normalizing bone is provided. The drill bit has a non-round drill bit core that is adapted to cut hard bone and to not cut soft bone. The drill bit has a cutting edge which may be positioned within a compression zone of the non-round drill bit core. The rotational speed of the drill bit and the profile of the drill bit core are tuned so that hard bone recovers into a cutting zone defined by the cutting edge while soft bone remains outside of the cutting zone. The insertion torque of the drill bit can be measured to determine when the normalization is adequate.

A piezoelectric device comprising: (a) a handpiece for holding by a user; (b) a cutting insert for said handpiece; (c) an ultrasound transducer disposed within the handpiece, the ultrasound transducer capable of providing first and second ultrasound frequency vibrations to the cutting insert in response to an electrical signal; and (d) a switch allowing the user to control the electrical signal and thereby provide either said first or second ultrasound frequency vibrations to the cutting insert.
The device is useful in a method of placing an implant into an implant site comprising cutting overlying gingival tissue at a first ultrasound frequency capable of cutting soft tissue, then switching to a second ultrasound frequency capable of cutting the underlying jawbone.

Tools and methods for expanding a precursor hole in a host material to receive a fixture. The precursor hole is enlarged by a rotary tool having helical flutes and interposed lands. The flutes have a negative rake angle. The lands each have a working edge that cuts the host material when the tool is rotated in a cutting direction, and that condenses the host material when the tool is rotated in a densifying direction. The body of the rotary tool has a stopper section that plugs the hole when a certain depth is reached. When the tool is used with a copious wash of irrigating fluid at or below the necessary depth, hydraulic pressure builds inside the precursor hole. The hydraulic pressure can be advantageously exploited in cutting mode to autograft a slurry of host material particles into the sidewalls of the hole and create an incipient densifying crust.

A set of osteotomes have conical tips with free end diameters alternately increasing by a constant increment, k, as a step function, beginning with the first osteotome; and working base diameters alternately increases by a constant increment, C, as a step function, beginning with the second osteotome. For seven osteotomes, the first and second diameters respectively are: 1 mm and 2 mm; 1 mm and 3 mm; 2 mm and 3 mm; 2 mm and 4 mm; 3 mm and 4 mm; 3 mm and 5 mm; and 4 mm and 5 mm. In a first mode all seven osteotomes are used to provide very gradual diameter escalations. In a second mode the first, third, fifth, and seventh osteotomes provide conventional Summers' diameter escalations. In third and fourth modes the first, fourth, and seventh osteotomes, and the second, fifth, and seventh osteotomes respectively provide increasingly more aggressive Summers' type escalations.