An oral care appliance comprises: a fluid delivery system for producing discrete fluid bursts by means of a pump (130), a regulator (132) regulating liquid in a pressurized liquid tank (134) delivered via a valve (140) through a fluid delivery path (123) in an outlet member (124), directed to a nozzle assembly (126) from which the resulting fluid bursts are directed to the teeth.

A system and method for mitigating pain associated with dentistry provides a removal apparatus for removing a portion of a tooth. A desiccation apparatus flows a desiccated gas to the portion of the tooth to desiccate dentinal tubules in a region surrounding the portion of the tooth, generally preventing nerve cells within the tooth from transmitting pain signals associated with the removal. The removal apparatus has a drill head with a body having an axial opening configured to accept a dental burr. An annular passage exists between the dental burr and the body within the axial opening. A chamber in the body is in fluid communication with the axial opening, where a channel is fluidly coupled to an external port and to a source of the desiccated gas to flow the desiccated gas therethrough and expose a drilling region of the dental burr to the desiccated gas to mitigate pain.

An adapter for a tailpiece for a dental valve is disclosed which has a body having an exterior surface, a valve receiving end, a tailpiece receiving end, a lumen formed between the valve receiving end and the tailpiece receiving end, the lumen having an interior surface, an interior annular groove formed in the interior surface, and an exterior annular rib formed in the exterior surface, with the exterior annular rib being positioned near the tailpiece receiving end and the interior annular channel being positioned near the valve receiving end.

An apparatus for cooling tissues which are treated with an energy-based device, such as a laser, is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a spray nozzle which generates an atomized liquid spray for the treatment area, wherein the atomized liquid spray is based on a mixture of liquid and gas. Further, the spray nozzle comprises at least one liquid outlet which ejects a liquid, and at least one gas outlet which ejects a gas stream. Besides, the apparatus for cooling comprises at least one delivery means for delivering pressurized gas to the spray nozzle; and a pumping means for the liquid, wherein the pumping means is configured to operate in pulses.

An oral care appliance comprises: a fluid pump assembly (46); a source of liquid (50); and a source of gas (12), wherein the pump is in operative communication with the sources of liquid and gas to produce a series of gas-injected fluid pulses, directed to a nozzle assembly (80) from which the resulting pulses are directed to the teeth. The individual pulses have a pulse width in the range of 0.001-0.5 seconds, a pulse height from 0.1-10 Newtons, and a rise/fall time range of 0.5-250 ms, a repetition rate in the range of 2 Hz to 20 Hz. The gas/liquid mixture range from 40-95% volume to volume, gas to liquid.

Methods comprised to clean and/or lubricate fluid encompassing systems and systems' components comprising of a sequence of procedural steps. These systems' and components are susceptible to buildup of contamination and remnants from a chemical agent in this system, which can cause equipment failure if not properly maintained by using an effective method comprised to clean and/or lubricate this system.

This method ensures a chemical agent's physical and chemical and properties are not altered when applied to this system. This method directs a flow of a chemical agent onto the surfaces of this system's components.

After this system is cleaned and/or lubricated using this invention's method, this method's final step removes a chemical agent and/or contamination from this system to prevent consumer(s) from ingesting this chemical agent and/or contamination. This method also ensures no residue and no remnants from a chemical agent and/or contamination remains in this system, which helps prevent equipment failure, corrosion, and buildup within said system.

This method helps maintain and/or improve the functionality of this system, which helps prolong the life span of this system and said system's components.

A dental laser system for treatment of hard and/or soft tissue includes a main chamber housing optical and primary fluid supply subsystems, for directing a laser beam and fluid to a treatment area. A hand piece affixable to the main chamber, includes mating optical and secondary fluid supply subsystems. The hand piece can be rotatable or re-orientable about an optical axis within the hand piece. A lock can maintain a selectable angular orientation of the hand piece relative to the main chamber. A coupling can maintain a fluidic communication between the primary and secondary fluid supply subsystems even when the hand piece is rotated or re-oriented. A sensor and controller can sense a selected angular orientation of the hand piece and adjust the main optical subsystem according to the sensed angular orientation, to align the two optical subsystems. The laser may be controlled using a variable speed foot pedal.

According to various implementations, a dental cleaning device includes a steam conduit and a cooling fluid conduit. The steam conduit has a distal tip with an opening defined therein that allows steam to be applied intraorally close to a dental implant to flush away bacteria that has colonized on or adjacent the dental implant. The cooling fluid conduit has a distal tip with an opening defined therein that allows a cooling fluid to be applied intraorally close to the dental implant following the application of the steam to cool the tissue and prevent overheating of the tissue and bone adjacent the dental implant. For example, the cooling fluid may be applied intermittently with the steam, or the cooling fluid may be applied continuously while the steam is applied intermittently, according to various implementations.

An intraoral shape acquisition device 1 capable of accurately acquiring an intraoral shape of a saliva, blood or other adherent area or a subgingival margin area includes a scanner 111 for acquiring an intraoral shape by imaging the inside of the mouth and an air blower 113 for blowing compressed air, the air blower 113 being capable of The air blower 113 blows the compressed air against the object to be imaged when the scanner 111 performs the imaging.

A showerhead adapter is disclosed which can be used with presently available commercial showerheads which allows multiple activities while showering. These activities include being able to cleanse the face, clean one's fingernails, clean one's feet, shave, clean one's teeth, and clean the shower area.