Individuals have used dental instruments for centuries to care for teeth. Specifically, individuals primarily use toothbrushes and dental floss for brushing plaque from teeth and removing food debris from between teeth that otherwise may cause tooth decay and cavities. Indeed, humans have used some form of tooth care since the dawn of recorded history in the form of twigs or tooth picks. Bristly toothbrushes have been traced back to the Tang dynasty in early Chinese history.
Dentists are health practitioners that specialize in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. Specifically, dentists primarily take care of patients' teeth using a variety of instruments, including, for example, brushes, scalers, curettes, drills and other like instruments for cleaning and repairing teeth. In use, these instruments are typically placed inside the oral cavity of a patient and manipulated for their purpose to clean, restore and/or repair teeth and tissue.
However, it is often difficult for a user of a dental instrument, whether an individual in his or her own mouth, or a dentist in a patient's mouth, to both utilize the particular instrument within the oral cavity and see what he or she is doing with the instrument. Specifically, it is often difficult to open one's mouth wide enough for an individual or dental practitioner to place the instrument or instruments therein and to see. In many cases, work done on teeth or tissue within an oral cavity must be viewed at awkward angles depending on where the work is being performed, and it is often difficult to allow sufficient light to shine within the oral cavity.
One solution involves utilizing directed light and/or mirrors to direct the light and allow a user to view teeth or tissue that may otherwise be difficult to view. Specifically, a dental mirror or mouth mirror is a relatively small mirror surface attached to an instrument, typically at an angle so that both light can be directed into an oral cavity and an individual or dental practitioner may see therein. Moreover, focused light sources, such as via strategically placed lamps or the like may be utilized to shine light into an oral cavity for more easily viewing teeth and tissue therein.
Other solutions may include dental props or retractors that may help to widen the oral cavity and prevent certain oral cavity features from blocking views, such as tongues, lips, cheeks or the like. These props or retractors may be utilized alone or together with light sources and mouth mirrors to gain better views within oral cavities.
Another solution involves utilizing cameras to see within oral cavities and aid an individual or a dental practitioner. An intraoral wand camera, for example, may be utilized to view within an oral cavity. Cameras have the advantage of providing clearer images, and may be magnified to show important features within an oral cavity. Thus, the intraoral cameras may be utilized not only to aid a dental practitioner in viewing the internal oral cavity, but to also show another individual, such as the patient, features the dental practitioner wishes to show the patient.
However, typical intraoral cameras are often separate from instruments that may be utilized to clean and/or treat teeth and tissue within an oral cavity. Thus, a user must manipulate both the camera and the instrument. It is often difficult for a user to align the camera as needed to view the region of the oral cavity that is being worked on by the instrument.
In some cases, cameras may be utilized in conjunction with instruments. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,823 mounts a camera to an instrument at the location of the instrument's tool to help a dental practitioner view the region of the oral cavity worked on by the instrument. However, this involves the placement of a relatively bulky camera lens and housing precisely at the position on the instrument that must be slender and able to fit within tight locations within the oral cavity. Thus, the usage of the camera is limited, and the usage of the tool attached thereto is also limited.
Moreover, placement of the camera at the location of the tool does not provide an effective perspective for an individual or a dental practitioner to both utilize and view the oral cavity with the camera at the same time. Specifically, when utilizing the tool, the camera is necessarily placed in close proximity to the region of the oral cavity worked on by the tool. Indeed, the perspective is much too close to be able to adequately view the work being performed by the tool. In practice, one must utilize the tool without the benefit of the view from the camera, and then lift the tool away from the region worked on to view the results thereof.
A need, therefore, exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that allows easy viewing of an oral cavity. Specifically, a need exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that provides an individual a view of his or her oral cavity and/or for use by dental practitioners.
Moreover, a need exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that may be utilized in conjunction with a tool on the dental instrument. More specifically, a need exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that may be utilized at the same time as the dental tool to provide effective perspective by the user thereof at the time of using the tool.
In addition, a need exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that may be combined with a light source for illumination of an oral cavity when viewed via the camera apparatus and the tool on the dental instrument. A need further exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that allows simultaneous use of each of the light source, the camera and the tool.
Further, a need exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that may be further utilized with known techniques for viewing within oral cavities, such as via utilizing external light sources and/or mirrored surfaces for directing light and/or directing views in hard to see regions of the oral cavity. Still further a need exists for a dental instrument camera apparatus that may allow a user, such as an individual or a dental practitioner, to view video wirelessly on a viewing device, such as a computer, tablet, smart phone, or other like viewing device.