Dental Tool Guidance Template

U.S. Patent No: 5,641,287
6/24/1997

An apparatus and method for the steady and accurate placement of a narrow smooth-walled slot in a bone structure by means of a hand held guidance template with a transparent slide to perpendicularly restrain a rotating cutting bit of a hand held tool while the transparent slide is a drawn along a slot in the guidance template. The template is held in place with a light force through the guidance template handle and accurately positioned by means of serrated depth stops and perforated extensions bonded to a quick-setting resilient polymer conforming to the contour of the bone structure. Prevented from non-axial motion, the rotating cutting bit is plunged deeper to route a narrow smooth-walled slot in the bone structure. The primary use envisioned for the guidance template is in the accurate placement of an endosteal inline plate in the structural bone of the mouth for the attachment of permanent dental prosthetics. Fiber optic illumination and tubes for the delivery of sterile saline wash and suctioned removal of debris are mounted on the guidance template. A snap-in drilling guide fits the guidance slot for subsequent accurate placement of multiple holes to accommodate permucosal extensions of the inline plate.

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