JPH0771565B2 - Handpiece sterilizer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sterilizer for a dental handpiece.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, generally used sterilizers for medical instruments are those that boil water, those that use chemicals, those that use gas, those that heat flames, those that use high-pressure steam (autoclave). ), Etc., and is used when disinfecting and sterilizing bacteria and viruses adhering to medical instruments, and thus, medical instruments that have been disinfected and sterilized are used for each patient.

[0003] The general dental treatment disinfection guideline recommends that the contaminated site of the instrument is limited and appropriate sterilization is performed as a measure for preventing cross-infection. The disinfection manual for the handpiece for dental treatment is based on an autoclave. Disinfection or disinfection by chemicals (glutar, sodium hypochlorite or ethanol cleaning, soaking, and spraying) is specified, and when using the handpiece, it spins outside the oral cavity for about 10 seconds before and after use. Therefore, it is desirable to discharge the reverse flow of pollutants into the turbine tube, which is a concern, and when using it in the oral cavity, it is desirable to switch off while taking it out of the oral cavity without turning off the switch in the oral cavity. There is a description. (Journal of the Japanese Dental Association Vol. 45 No. 7 1992-1
0) However, the sterilization that is actually performed on the dental treatment handpiece is that only the removable cutting instruments, the bar and the diamond point, are sterilized by the conventional sterilizer and sterilized for each patient. Contrary to this, the handpiece body that is used by attaching and rotating those instruments in the oral cavity is used with almost no sterilization for each patient, and the outer surface of the handpiece body is slightly Since it is only wiped with alcohol etc., the blood and saliva of the patient remaining inside the turbine head of the handpiece, the cap mounting gap on the surface or the shaft rotation gap,
Effective sterilization has not been carried out against various bacteria, fungi, various viruses, etc. contained in cutting chips.

Therefore, it is conceivable that cross-infection between patients in a hospital may occur by using such a handpiece that has not been completely sterilized.

[0005]

In order to sterilize a handpiece using the above-mentioned conventional sterilizer, since the sterilizer is provided at a position apart from the dental treatment chair, the handpiece is not used. It takes time to remove it from the dental chair and carry it to the sterilizer, and it takes time to sterilize. For example, in the method of disinfecting AIDS virus (HIV) contaminants, 70% ethanol treatment according to WHO standards. 10 to 30 minutes, 12 in autoclave
It takes 20 minutes to process at 1 ℃ (Journal of the Japanese Dental Association), so it is necessary to prepare a handpiece for replacement, but it is expensive because it is expensive. There is a difficulty in arranging. Therefore, an inexpensive handpiece for disposable use has been studied, but it has not been realized yet because it is difficult to manufacture a complicated handpiece at low cost.

Even if the handpiece is removed and sterilization is performed by using a conventional sterilizer, some viruses are not killed by the sterilizer by boiling water, and an autoclave using high-pressure steam cannot be killed. Corrosion and damage of the turbine head mechanism due to steam occur, and similarly, in a sterilizer using a chemical solution, the turbine head mechanism is also likely to corrode and damage, and it is difficult and time-consuming to operate with a gas sterilizer such as ethylene oxide gas. In many cases, a flame sterilizer is not suitable for an instrument having a weak portion to high temperature because the instrument is exposed to high temperature.

An object of the present invention is to sterilize a handpiece effectively and in a short time on the chair side of a dental treatment chair, and to treat nosocomial infection, it is possible to treat each patient with a sterilized handpiece. It is to provide a new handpiece sterilizer.

[0008]

A handheld sterilizing apparatus of the present invention is provided with a sterilizing fluid accommodating heating container and a cooling fluid accommodating and cooling apparatus, each of which has an opening at one end for inserting and withdrawing the handpiece. In addition, one or more handpiece holding cylinders and a handpiece bag in the heating container.
A holding cylinder for the heating unit is provided, a heating device capable of adjusting the heating temperature is provided in the heating container, and a heating temperature display device is provided outside the handpiece sterilization device.

Desirably, the sterilizing fluid of the handpiece sterilizer is silicone oil and the cooling fluid is a 0.05 to 0.10% aqueous solution of chlorhexidine gluconate.

Further, the present handpiece sterilizer is provided with a handpiece display device for displaying the presence / absence of the handpiece in the holding cylinder and an ultrasonic cleaning means in the cooling container. Desirably, it is detachably held on the bracket table.

[0011]

[Function] A container containing silicone oil heated to the required temperature is provided on the chair side of the treatment chair, and it is immersed in silicone oil in the container without removing the handpiece and heat sterilized for the time required for sterilization. After that, since the handpiece is put into the cooling liquid and used after cooling, the sterilized handpiece can be always used for each patient. In addition, because the sterilization temperature display and the display of "during sterilization" and "completion of sterilization" are provided on the sterilizer that is visible to the patient,
It can give the patient a sense of security.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a handpiece sterilizer of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the handpiece sterilizing apparatus of the present invention, and is a schematic perspective view of an apparatus having two holding cylinders.
(A) is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (B) is a schematic front view.

Silicone oil 3 is contained in a heating container 2 having an open upper end. The holding tube 4 is an elongated tube for holding the handpiece 5 in silicone oil, and the upper end portion is fixed to the lid 6 of the container 2, and the lid 6 is easily fitted to the upper edge of the heating container 2 in a removable manner. . For handpieces
A holding cylinder for the bar is attached to the lid 6 so as to be easily attached and detached. The cover 7 is a plate-shaped heat-resistant rubber that covers the upper end portion of the holding cylinder 4 with ease, and has an opening for inserting and removing the handpiece in the central portion. A vertically movable handpiece detection plate 8 is provided at the bottom of the holding cylinder 4, and the detection plate 8 operates a microswitch 10 fixed to the lid 6 via a link 9 depending on the weight of the handpiece. You can

The electric heater 11 is a heat source for heating the silicone oil via the bottom plate of the heating container 2. A temperature sensor 12 is provided in the heating container and detects the temperature of the silicone oil. The heating temperature adjusting device 13 has a thermostat (not shown) for keeping the temperature of the silicone oil detected by the temperature sensor 12 at a desired temperature, and a dial 14 with a scale, and the heating temperature can be set by the dial scale. . The electric heater 11 and the heating temperature adjusting device 13 constitute a heating device.

A heating temperature display device 15 having a display portion 15a for displaying the temperature of the silicone oil detected by the temperature sensor 12 is provided outside the handpiece sterilization device 1. In addition, the handpiece display device 16 includes a display unit 16a and a buzzer (not shown). When the micro switch 10 is activated, a display "in sterilization" appears on the display unit 16a, and a timer (not shown) is activated by the micro switch. When both are turned on at the same time and the set time has passed,
At the same time when the display of the display unit 16a is switched to the display of "sterilization completed", a buzzer sound is emitted, and when the handpiece is pulled out from the holding cylinder and the microswitch 10 returns to the original position, "sterilization completed" Is a device for notifying the doctor and the patient of the process of sterilizing the handpiece. The cooling container 17 is provided adjacent to the heating container 2,
A container containing a fluid for cooling a heated handpiece to room temperature, which is a cooling solution used in this embodiment.
Is a 0.05% to 0.10% aqueous solution of chlorhexidine gluconate, so the solution itself is always sterilized. An ultrasonic cleaner 19 is provided in the cooling container and cleans the outer surface of the cooling handpiece by the action of ultrasonic waves. The outside of the heating container 2 is covered with a heat insulating material 20 to keep the heating container 2 warm. The power switch 21 is a switch for supplying normal 100V power to the device. Oil gauge 22
Is a liquid level gauge that has an oil inlet 22a at the upper end and indicates the level of oil in the heating container 2.

FIG. 3 shows a handpiece sterilizer 1 of the present invention.
Is a sketch drawing provided on the front side of the bracket table 30a of the medical treatment chair 30, but the device can be installed on the side of the bracket table 30a.

Next, a method of using the handpiece sterilizer 1 of this embodiment will be described. Silicone oil is injected into the heating container 2 through the oil injection port 22a, and it is confirmed that the liquid level has reached the scale F above the oil gauge 22.
The scale of the dial 14 of the heating temperature control device 13 is adjusted to a predetermined sterilization temperature, and the timer scale (not shown) is adjusted to the required handpiece sterilization time corresponding to the sterilization temperature. As an example, a sterilization temperature of 140 for HIV contamination
Set the temperature to ℃ and disinfection time to 3 minutes. The cooling solution 18 is poured into the cooling container 17.

The power switch 21 is turned on to heat the silicone oil in the heating container by the electric heater 11, and it is confirmed that the digital temperature display portion 15a of the heating temperature display device 15 shows a predetermined sterilization temperature.

The cutting tool is removed from the handpiece used for treatment, the turbine head is turned downward, the handpiece is inserted into the holding tube 4 through the opening of the cover 7, and the turbine head is placed on the handpiece detection plate 8. Then, the detection plate 8 descends due to the weight of the handpiece 5, the microswitch 10 is activated via the link 9, and the display "sterilizing" appears on the display portion 16a of the handpiece display device 16.
When the preset sterilization time elapses, the display on the display unit 16a is changed to the display "Sterilization completed" and a buzzer sounds at the same time, so that it is possible to know that the sterilization of the handpiece is completed. When the handpiece is taken out from the holding cylinder 4, the display of "sterilization completed" disappears. The cooling solution 18 in the cooling container 17 is then cooled to cool the handpiece.
It is thrown in and it hold | maintains for about 10 seconds until the handpiece reaches normal temperature. During this time, ultrasonic cleaning is performed to clean the outer surface. The handpiece that has reached room temperature is taken out of the cooling container, and the external adhered liquid is wiped off, removed by suction, etc. before use.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the container for holding the silicone oil is provided with the holding cylinder for holding the handpiece, and the silicone oil of the holding cylinder is kept at a predetermined temperature by the heating device. By sterilizing by immersing the handpiece therein for a required time, the handpiece can be sterilized on the chair side without removing it from the medical treatment chair. Furthermore, the heating temperature can be reduced to 1 by using silicone oil.
Since the temperature can be raised to a sufficiently high temperature necessary for sterilization at 40 ° C or higher, the time required for sterilization can be shortened, and even if the cooling time of the handpiece after sterilization is included, it is time to sterilize the handpiece for each patient. Therefore, it is possible to treat by using a sterilized handpiece for each patient to prevent nosocomial infection. Silicone oil is harmless to the human body, has good circulation performance, and is chemically stable even at high temperatures, so there is no risk of damaging the internal mechanism of the turbine head. What has been infused has the same effect as infusing oil for each patient treatment, which gives a favorable result to the life of the mechanism.

Further, the handpiece detection device provided on the holding cylinder displays the indication "during sterilization" while the handpiece is held in the holding cylinder and sterilized, and a buzzer sounds when the sterilization is completed. Since the display device for displaying the indication of “sterilization completed” is provided, the patient can confirm the display to obtain the psychological effect of producing confidence in the treatment.

Further, the outside can be cleaned by an ultrasonic cleaner during cooling of the handpiece, and the cooling itself is always sterilized by using an aqueous solution of chlorhexidine gluconate as a cooling solution. There is an effect that a handpiece that has been cut can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a handpiece sterilizer of the present invention.

2 (A) is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.
(B) is a front view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a medical treatment chair equipped with the handpiece sterilizer of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 handpiece sterilizer 2 heating container 3 silicone oil 4 holding cylinder 5 handpiece 6 lid 7 cover 8 handpiece detection plate 9 link 10 micro switch 11 electric heater 12 temperature sensor 13 heating temperature controller 14 dial 15 Heating temperature display device 15a Display unit 16 Handpiece display device 16a Display unit 17 Cooling container 18 Cooling solution 19 Ultrasonic cleaner 20 Heat insulating material 21 Power switch 22 Oil gauge 22a Oil inlet 30 Medical chair 30a Bracket table

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A handpiece sterilizer for dentistry, wherein a sterilizing fluid-containing heating container and a cooling fluid-containing cooling device, each of which has an opening at one end for allowing the handpiece to be inserted and extracted, and a cooling fluid-containing cooling device. A container is attached, and one or more handpiece holding cylinders are provided in the heating container, a heating device whose heating temperature is adjustable is provided in the heating container, and the outside of the handpiece sterilizer is A handpiece sterilizer equipped with a heating temperature display device. 2. The heating container for the handpiece
The handpiece according to claim 1, wherein a holding cylinder for the bar is provided.
Bacteria device. 3. The handpiece sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the sterilizing fluid is silicone oil. Wherein said cooling fluid handpiece sterilization apparatus according to claim 1, wherein from 0.05 to 0.10% aqueous solution of chlorhexidine gluconate. 5. A coupled to the handpiece detecting means provided in the handpiece holding cylinder, and displays the presence or absence in the holding cylinder of the handpiece, the handpiece sterilization according to claim 1 having a handpiece display device apparatus. Wherein said cooling vessel, handpiece sterilization apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an ultrasonic cleaning device. Wherein said handpiece sterilization device, the handpiece sterilization apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is detachably held on the bracket table medical chairs.