DENTAL INSTRUMENT

Abstract

A dental instrument comprising a shaft and a working part adjoined thereto, with the working part having a coating in which abrasive bodies are embedded, is proposed. Firstly, the average proportion of the surface of the abrasive bodies which is covered by the coating can be at least 60%, preferably at least 65%, most preferably at least 70%. Secondly, the coating can, moreover, also consist of a nickel alloy which additionally contains at least one element selected from the group consisting of titanium, vanadium, niobium, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, iron and cobalt. In addition, a process for coating a working part, in particular for producing a dental instrument of this type, and also the use of such a dental instrument for cutting machining of solid bodies are proposed.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A dental instrument comprising: a shaft, a working part adjoined thereto, and the working part having a coating in which abrasive bodies are embedded, wherein an average proportion of a surface of the abrasive bodies, which is covered by the coating, is at least 60%.

15. A dental instrument comprising: a shaft, a working part adjoined thereto, and the working part having a coating in which abrasive bodies are embedded, wherein the coating comprises a nickel alloy which additionally contains at least one element selected from the group consisting of vanadium, niobium, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, iron and cobalt.

16. The dental instrument according to claim 15, wherein the nickel alloy contains tungsten and a proportion of tungsten in the alloy is from 0.1 to 10% by weight.

17. The dental instrument according to claim 16, wherein the proportion of tungsten in the alloy is from 1 to 5% by weight.

18. The dental instrument according to claim 17, wherein the proportion of tungsten in the alloy is from 2 to 3% by weight.

19. The dental instrument according to claim 14, wherein the shaft and the working part consists of one of a hard metal, a metal or a metal alloy.

20. The dental instrument according to claim 19, wherein the shaft and the working part consists of a stainless steel alloy.

21. The dental instrument according to claim 14, wherein the abrasive bodies consist of a material selected from the group consisting of diamond, tungsten carbide, boron nitride, corundum and corundum varieties.

22. The dental instrument according to claim 21, wherein the abrasive bodies consist of at least one of natural and synthetic diamond.

23. The dental instrument according to claim 21, wherein the abrasive bodies consist of at least one of monocrystalline and polycrystalline diamond.

24. The dental instrument according to claim 14, wherein the abrasive bodies have a sieved grain size, in accordance with ISO 6106-2006, of D251 (60/70), D213 (70/80), D181 (80/100), D151 (100/120), D126 (120/140), D107 (140/170), D91 (170/200), D76 (200/230), D64 (230/270), D54 (270/325), D46 (325/400) or D252 (60/80).

25. The dental instrument according to claim 14, for rotational cutting machining of solid bodies.

26. A process of coating a working part which comprising: providing a working part; providing an electrolyte solution in which abrasive bodies are suspended; dipping of the working part into the electrolyte solution; electrochemical deposition of a coating on the working part in such a way that the abrasive bodies are embedded in the coating, wherein a nickel salt and a salt of an element selected from the group consisting of vanadium, niobium, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, iron and cobalt are dissolved in the electrolyte solution.

27. The process according to claim 26, further comprising dissolving a nickel salt and sodium polytungstate in the electrolyte solution.

28. The process according to claim 27, further comprising nickel sulphamate, nickel sulphate or nickel chloride in the electrolyte solution.

29. The process according to claim 26, further comprising forming the electrolyte solution to have a pH of less than 7.

Description

[0030] The figures show:

[0031] FIGS. 1 and 2: micrograph of the working part of a dental instrument from the prior art;

[0032] FIGS. 3 and 4: micrograph of the working part of a dental instrument according to the invention.

[0033] In the following table, a process according to the invention for coating the working part for producing a dental instrument as described above is compared with a process from the prior art. While the electrolyte in the prior art is based on nickel sulphamate, sodium polytungstate has been additionally added to it in the process of the invention. This leads to the electrochemically deposited layer containing about 2-3% by weight of tungsten in addition to nickel. Furthermore, natural diamond grains were suspended in the electrolyte in the process of the prior art. In the process of the invention, on the other hand, a synthetic diamond mixture comprising monocrystalline (resistant) diamond grain and polycrystalline diamond grain (which display very effective cutting) were used. Apart from the improved properties of the dental instrument produced using the process of the invention, the tungsten-containing electrolyte has the additional advantage that it is suitable for multiple use, as a result of which the production costs for a dental instrument according to the invention can be reduced.

TABLE-US-00001 Parameter Prior Art Invention pH 3.5-4.3 opt. 4.0 3.5-4.3 opt. 4.0 Density 26-29 Bè 26-29 Bè Temperature 50 ± 5° C. 50 ± 5° C. Nickel* 60-100 g/l 40-60 g/l Tungsten** 0 1-10 g/l Boric Acid 40-45 g/l 40-45 g/l Sodium Citrate 0 60-80 g/l Nickel Chloride 3.5-4.0 g/l 3.5-4.0 g/l Diamond Natural Synthetic diamond mixture comprising monocrystalline and polycrystalline diamond grains Grain Size 100/120, 120/140, 100/120, 120/140, 140/170 140/170 Wetting Agent 20 ml 20 ml Brightener 40 ml 40 ml Bath Volume 27 1 27 1 *calculated as metal; used as nickel sulphamate **calculated as metal; used as sodium polytungstate monohydrate

[0034] FIGS. 1 and 2 show micrographs in an enlargement of 250× and 500× of a dental instrument from the prior art. It can be seen that the embedding of the abrasive bodies composed of diamond in the electrochemical nickel coating is rather unsatisfactory. Accordingly, the diamond grains can break out during use, leading to rapid wear of the instrument.

[0035] FIGS. 3 and 4 show micrographs in an enlargement of 250× and 500× of a dental instrument according to the invention. It can be seen that the embedding of the diamond grains in the metal matrix is significantly better. Thus, the average proportion of the surface of the abrasive bodies which is covered by the coating is above 60%. The diamond grains are held significantly better in the metal matrix as a result. They break out to a significantly lesser extent during use of the dental instrument, as a result of which this displays slower wear and constant characteristics over its life. Furthermore, an advantageous abrasive behaviour can be achieved using the mixture of two synthetic diamond grains. A diamond grain is a monocrystalline diamond particle which has a high durability. The other is a multicrystalline diamond particle which displays significantly more aggressive cutting behaviour and self-sharpening properties.