Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Yasuo Hino

Masaharu Mogi

Kazuhiro Okamoto

Naotaka Kagawa

An apparatus and method for sterilizing a root canal in which the apparatus contains an light source for generating bactericidal ultraviolet rays and an optical fiber coupled to the light source for transmitting the ultraviolet rays to and emitting the rays from an emitting end of the optical fiber placed in the root canal. Also included in a fiber protecting pipe that both protects the fiber and allows the fiber to be easily guided into the root canal. A flexible tube disposed over the emitting end of the root canal protects the exposed end of the optical fiber. Also, an arrangement of two optical fibers allows various shaped fiber protecting pipes to be used and a hand held coupling device couples two optical fibers.

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Osaka, Japan

Yasuo Hino