WO2011123738A1

WO2011123738A1 - Dental curing light having long pulse mode for more extensive curing

Info

Publication number: WO2011123738A1
Application number: PCT/US2011/030859
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dee Jessop
Original assignee: Ultradent Products, Inc.
Priority date: 2010-04-01
Filing date: 2011-04-01
Publication date: 2011-10-06

Abstract

A dental curing light (100) has a control panel (114) so that one or more programmed pulsed light modes in which the light emits a series of light pulses of predetermined duration may be selected. The result is more extensive and harder curing of a curable dental composition compared to continuous exposure to light over the same time period as the pulsed light. The light pulses may have a predetermined duration in a range of about 1 to 4 seconds (e.g., 2 seconds), separated by pauses where no light is emitted with a duration in a range about 1 to about 4 seconds (e.g., 2 seconds). The end result is more complete and harder curing of the dental composition even though the dental composition is exposed to less total light.

Description

DENTAL CURING LIGHT HAVING LONG PULSE

MODE FOR MORE EXTENSIVE CURING

BACKGROUND

1. The Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field of dental curing lights.

More particularly, the invention relates to dental curing lights configured to emit light pulses to increase the extent of curing of light curable dental compositions.

2. The Relevant Technology

In the field of dentistry, dental cavities or preparations are often filled and/or sealed with photosensitive dental compositions that are cured by exposure to radiant energy, such as visible light. These compositions, commonly referred to as light- curable compositions, are placed within dental cavity preparations or onto dental surfaces where they are subsequently irradiated by light. The radiated light causes photosensitive components within the compositions to initiate polymerization of polymerizable components, thereby hardening the light-curable composition within the dental cavity preparation or other dental surface.

Light-curing devices are typically configured with a light source, such as a quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH) bulb or light emitting diodes (LEDs). QTH bulbs are particularly useful because they generate a broad spectrum of light that can be used to cure a broad range of polymerizable compositions. QTH bulbs generate substantial waste heat and require bulky surrounding structure to draw waste heat away from the bulb and to dissipate the waste heat. LEDs are significantly smaller, require less power, and emit less heat but only radiate light at a specific peak wavelength and a narrow range surrounding the peak wavelength. Multiple LEDs are therefore used in some cases to provide broader spectrum light.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a dental curing light having a long pulse mode in which the curing light intermittently emits pulses of light for a selected duration. According to one embodiment, the light pulses each have a duration of about 1-4 seconds (e.g., about two seconds), separated by no light emission (or "pause") for two seconds. The light pulses are used to initiate curing of a light curable polymerizable dental composition inside a patient's mouth.

It has unexpectedly been found that the use of light pulses over a given time period provides more extensive and complete curing than continuous emission of light for the same duration. For example, providing three light pulses of two seconds each separated by intervals of no light, or pauses, for two seconds each, for a total of ten seconds, provides more complete curing of a light curable dental composition than continuous illumination for ten seconds. This is counterintuitive as it means that emitting less total light in pulses provides more extensive curing than emitting more total light in a continuous manner.

According to one embodiment, the dental curing light includes a body having a gripping portion, a light emitting end and an internal cavity that includes circuitry for operating the dental curing light. The body may be elongate and slender, or it may have a gun-like configuration common in the art. Disposed at the light emitting end are one or more LEDs that emit light at a desired wavelength or combination of wavelengths. The circuitry for operating the dental curing light may include a storage module for storing therein one or more different programs, such as the aforementioned long pulse mode. The dental curing light further includes one or more control buttons disposed within the gripping portion of the body, which may provide any desired functionality. These may include, for example, an on/off switch for selectively turning on and off a selected program and a toggle switch that switches between programs and/or the number and duration of light pulses. Lights or other visual indicators may be provided that indicate which program is currently active and/or a selected time duration and number of light pulses.

These and other benefits, advantages and features of the present invention will become more full apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the manner in which the above recited and other benefits advantages and features of the invention are obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top perspective view of a dental curing light including a body having a gripping portion and a light emitting end;

Figure 2 is a bottom perspective view of the dental curing light of Figure 1 ; and

Figure 3 is a close-up view of an exemplary control panel with control buttons and indicator lights associated with the dental curing light.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to a dental curing light that emits relatively long pulses of light for a selected duration in order obtain more extensive and harder curing of a light curable dental composition. It has unexpectedly been found that illuminating a light curable dental composition using intermittent pulses of light over a given time period provides more extensive and harder curing compared to continuous illumination over the same duration. This is counterintuitive as it means that illuminating a light curable dental composition with less total light in the form of pulses provides more extensive curing than emitting more total light in the form of continuous illumination.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate an exemplary dental curing light 100, which includes an elongate body 102 having a light emitting end 104 and a gripping portion 106. Light emitting end 104 is sized and configured to be inserted into the mouth of a dental patient. As best seen in Figure 2, the light emitting end 104 includes a light source 116 used to illuminate a light curable dental composition located within a patient's mouth. In one embodiment, the light source 1 16 includes one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) selected to emit light of a desired wavelength or range of wavelengths. The one or more wavelengths are typically selected to correspond to one or more photoinitiators contained with a light curable dental composition to be cured in a patient's mouth.

The curing light 100 includes a power cord 108 having a plug 110 that allows the curing light 100 to be coupled to a power source, which may comprise AC or DC power. In an alternative embodiment, the dental curing light 100 can be a self- contained unit having a rechargeable battery (not shown). Body 102 can have a protective sleeve 1 12 attached to a proximal end of the body 102. Protective sleeve 112 can enclose the opening in the body 102 through which cord 108 passes and can also provide support and protection to the power cord 108 and the connection points between cord 108 and internal electronic components within body 102.

The elongate configuration of dental curing light 100 is but one example of a dental curing light within the scope of the invention. It will be appreciated that the dental curing light may have other shapes or configurations suitable for use in curing a dental composition within a patient's mouth. For example, gun style curing lights known in the art can incorporate the long pulse mode features discussed herein. In general, any known curing light configuration may be used in connection with the program features described herein.

Power is provided to activate dental curing light 100 in order to run one or more programs, which are discussed more fully below, in order to illuminate the light source in a predetermined manner to carry out a particular purpose. In order to select from among one or more different programs that may be contained within the dental curing light 100, disposed within the gripping portion 106 is control panel 1 14.

Figure 3 is a close-up view of an exemplary control panel 300 that can be used in connection with dental curing lights according to the invention. Control panel 300 includes an on/off button 302, which is used to activate or deactivate the curing light. Control panel 300 further includes a toggle button 304, which is used to select a specific program from among a plurality of programs stored within a program module of the curing light. It will be appreciated that the dental curing light may include multiple buttons that provide additional functionality as desired.

A program indicator light 306 is provided, which provides a visual indication of the specific program currently selected using the toggle button 304. The light 306 may glow with different colors corresponding to specific programs. In addition, light 306 may flash intermittently to indicate selection of particular program. It will be appreciated that multiple program selection lights may be provided depending on the number of programs stored within the curing light.

Time indicator lights 308 can provide a visual indication of the time duration of the selected program. For example, one light shining might include the shortest time, with each incremental increase in the number of lights indicating the next increased time duration for that program. It will be appreciated that the curing light may include more or less than four lights. In addition, these or other lights can indicate other functional features of the selected program in addition to or instead of time, such as the number of times the curing light will be pulsed or automatically turned on and off in the event the program is for that feature.

For example, providing three light pulses of about two seconds each separated by intervals of no light for about two seconds each, for a total of about ten seconds, may be indicated by the number of indicator lights 308 that are illuminated. Other time durations and numbers of light pulses may be indicated by different numbers of illuminated indicator lights 308.

In general, the curing light can be programmed to emit any desired number of light pulses and for any desired duration. For example, the number of light pulses may range from 2 to 10 light pulses, with three light pulses being exemplary. According to one embodiment, the duration of the light pulses may range from about 1 to about 4 seconds, preferably about 1.5 to about 3 seconds, and more preferably about 2 seconds. The time or pause in between light pulses in which no power is supplied to the one or more LEDs may similarly range from about 1 to about 4 seconds, preferably about 1.5 to about 3 seconds, and more preferably about 2 seconds.

The total duration of light emission equals the total cumulative duration of the light pulses. For example, if the curing light is programmed to emit three light pulses of 2 seconds duration for each pulse, the total duration of light emission is 6 seconds.

The total light emission cycle, on the other hand, includes the durations of both the light pulses and the pauses in between light pulses. For example, if the curing light is programmed to emit three light pulses of 2 second duration for each pulse, separated by pauses of 2 second duration, the total light emission cycle is 10 seconds (i.e., on 2 seconds, off 2 seconds, on 2 seconds, off 2 seconds, on 2 seconds).

Preferably, the total light emission cycle is no more than about 60 seconds, more preferably no more than about 40 seconds, more preferably no more than about 30 seconds, more preferably no more than about 20 seconds. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the total light emission cycle is no more than about 10 seconds. Such short total light emission cycles have been found by the inventors to provide for substantially complete curing, such that longer times are not needed. The relatively short cycle times are a distinct advantage to the patient and practitioner, as it reduces the time required for any given procedure. The coupling of short cycle times with light pulse durations of substantially equal duration and pauses of substantially equal duration (although pulse and pause times may differ from one another) has been found to provide particularly good results (e.g., substantially complete curing in the shortest cycle times). As mentioned above, in a particularly preferred embodiment the duration of each light pulse is also approximately equal to the duration of each pause (e.g., 2 seconds each).

Without being bound to any one theory as to why curing with light pulses provides more extensive curing of a dental composition than continuous illumination, it is noted that photo initiators such as camphor quinone oscillate between different energy states when illuminated and not illuminated with light. During the curing cycle when illuminated by light camphor quinone is excited to the triplet state. When light is removed, a faint background glow is observed, which indicates that photons are being emitted. This, in turn, indicates that camphor quinone is returning to a lower energy state (e.g., the singlet state). Through some mechanism that is not understood, exciting camphor quinone and then allowing it to return to a lower energy state somehow causes more complete and harder curing of curable dental compositions.

The inventive dental curing lights according to the invention may contain one or more programs stored within a program storage module contained within the body. At least one of the programs relates to the pulsed light program. The program storage module (not shown) may be hard encoded with certain features while having programmable memory relating to other features. In general, at least a portion of program storage module will be capable of receiving input and changing stored information relating to the desired number and/or duration of light pulses emitted by the one or more LEDs of the dental curing light.

The program storage module may include memory, flash memory, nonvolatile memory (such as, memory with data that remains intact when the power is removed), volatile memory (such as, memory with data that is lost when the power is removed), random access memory (RAM), RAM cache, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), any other suitable tangible storage medium, any combination thereof, and the like.

In addition to the number and duration of light pulses, the dental curing light may be programmable so as to emit light of varying power. By way of example, in a first light pulse mode the one or more LEDs may emit light at standard power. The term "standard power" may cover a wide range of different power outputs by the LEDs depending on the number and type of LEDs, as well as the intended mode of operation of the curing light. According to one embodiment, "standard power" shall refer to an amount of power in which the one or more LEDs emit a light intensity in a range of about 750 mW/cm² to about 1250 mW/cm², preferably about 1000 mW/cm².

According to another embodiment, in a second light pulse mode the one or more LEDs may emit light at high power for a desired time duration. The term "high power" may cover a wide range of different power outputs by the LEDs depending on the number and type of LEDs, as well as the intended mode of operation of the curing light. According to one embodiment, "high power" shall refer to an amount of power in which the one or more LEDs emit a light intensity in a range of about 1250 mW/cm² to about 1750 mW/cm², preferably about 1500 mW/cm²,

According to yet another embodiment, in a third light pulse mode the one or more LEDs may emit light at extra high power for a desired time duration. The term "extra high power" may cover a wide range of different power outputs by the LEDs depending on the number and type of LEDs, as well as the intended mode of operation of the curing light. According to one embodiment, "extra high power" shall refer to an amount of power in which the one or more LEDs emit a light intensity in a range of about 1750 mW/cm² to about 4000 mW/cm², preferably greater than about 2000 mW/cm² and typically not to exceed about 4000 mW/cm².

It will be appreciated that the present claimed invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:

Claims

1. A dental curing light for use in curing a light curable dental composition, comprising:

a body having a gripping portion, a light emitting end and an internal cavity;

one or more LEDs at the light emitting end;

a storage module disposed within the internal cavity of the body, the storage module having stored thereon one or more programs, at least one of which is a pulsed light program that provides intermittent power to the one or more LEDs in order for the LEDs to emit a plurality of light pulses of a predetermined duration separated by pauses of a predetermined duration, wherein each light pulse is of substantially equal duration and each pause is of substantially equal duration, and wherein a total light emission cycle including all pulses and all pauses is no more than about 60 seconds; and

one or more control buttons disposed within the gripping portion, the one or more control buttons providing user control of the pulsed light program.

2. A dental curing light as defined in claim 1, the one or more control buttons including an on/off switch for selectively turning on and off a selected program and a toggle switch that switches between programs.

3. A dental curing light as defined in claim 1, wherein the pulsed light program, when activated, causes the LEDs to emit light pulses having a predetermined duration between about 1 to about 4 seconds separated by pauses having a predetermined duration between about 1 to about 4 seconds.

4. A dental curing light as defined in claim 1, wherein the pulsed light program, when activated, causes the LEDs to emit light pulses having a predetermined duration between about 1.5 to about 3 seconds separated by pauses having a predetermined duration between about 1.5 to about 3 seconds.

5. A dental curing light as defined in claim 1, wherein the pulsed light program, when activated, causes the LEDs to emit light pulses having a predetermined duration of about 2 seconds separated by pauses having a predetermined duration of about 2 seconds.

6. A dental curing light as defined in claim 1, wherein the duration of each pulse is different from the duration of each pause.

7. A dental curing light as defined in claim 1, wherein the pulsed light program, when activated, causes the LEDs to emit a predetermined number of light pulses.

8. A dental curing light as defined in claim 7, wherein the pulsed light program, when activated, causes the LEDs to emit from 2 to 10 light pulses.

9. A dental curing light as defined in claim 7, wherein the pulsed light program, when activated, causes the LEDs to emit 3 light pulses, each having a duration of about 2 seconds and separated by a pause of about 2 seconds.

10. A dental curing light as defined in claim 1, the pulsed light program being selectively changeable between standard power mode, high power mode, and extra high power mode.

11. A dental curing light as defined in claim 10, wherein the pulsed light program, when selected to operate in standard power mode, causes the one or more LEDs to be illuminated at a light intensity in a range of about 750 mW/cm² to about 1250 mW/cm².

12. A dental curing light as defined in claim 10, wherein the pulsed light program, when selected to operate in high power mode, causes the one or more LEDs to be illuminated at a light intensity in a range of about 1250 mW/cm² to about 1750 mW/cm².

13. A dental curing light as defined in claim 10, wherein the pulsed light program, when selected to operate in extra high power mode, causes the one or more

LEDs to be illuminated at a light intensity in a range of about 2000 mW/cm² to about 4000 mW/cm².

14. A dental curing light for use in curing a light curable dental composition, comprising:

a body having a gripping portion, a light emitting end and an internal cavity;

one or more LEDs at the light emitting end;

a storage module disposed within the internal cavity of the body, the storage module having stored thereon one or more programs, at least one of which is a pulsed light program that provides intermittent power to the one or more LEDs in order for LEDs to emit a plurality of light pulses of a predetermined duration separated by pauses of a predetermined duration. wherein each light pulse is of substantially equal duration, each pause is of substantially equal duration, each light pulse having a duration in a range of about 1 to about 4 seconds and each pause having a duration in a range of about 1 to about 4 seconds, and wherein a total light emission cycle including all pulses and all pauses is no more than about 60 seconds; and

15. A method of operating a dental curing light in curing a light curable dental composition, comprising:

providing a dental curing light that includes:

one or more LEDs at a light emitting end of the curing light; a storage module having stored thereon one or more programs, at least one of which is a pulsed light program that provides intermittent power to the one or more LEDs in order for LEDs to emit a plurality of light pulses of a first predetermined duration separated by pauses of a second predetermined duration, wherein each light pulse is of substantially equal duration, each pause is of substantially equal duration, and a total light emission cycle including all pulses and all pauses is no more than about 60 seconds; and

one or more control buttons disposed within the gripping portion, the one or more control buttons providing user control of the pulsed light program; and

operating the dental curing light by placing the light emitting end into a patient's mouth and causing or allowing light pulses from the curing light to illuminate a light curable dental composition within the patient's mouth, the light pulses having a first predetermined duration controlled by the pulsed light program, the light pulses being separated by pauses having a second predetermined duration controlled by the pulsed light program.

16. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the pulsed light program causes the LEDs to emit light pulses having a predetermined duration between about 1 to about 4 seconds separated by pauses having a predetermined duration between about 1 to about 4 seconds.

17. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the pulsed light program causes the LEDs to emit light pulses having a predetermined duration between about 1.5 to about 3 seconds separated by pauses having a predetermined duration between about 1.5 to about 3 seconds.

18. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the pulsed light program causes the LEDs to emit light pulses having a predetermined duration of about 2 seconds separated by pauses having a predetermined duration of about 2 seconds.

19. A dental curing light as defined in claim 15, wherein the duration of each pulse is different from the duration of each pause.

20. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the pulsed light program causes the LEDs to emit a predetermined number of light pulses.

21. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the pulsed light program causes the LEDs to emit from 2 to 10 light pulses.

22. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the pulsed light program causes the LEDs to emit 3 light pulses, each having a duration of about 2 seconds and separated by a pause of about 2 seconds.