The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 17, 1995
Filed:
Jul. 20, 1992
Applicant:
Inventor:
David L Putnam, Redmond, WA (US);
Assignee:
Other;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61C / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
433215 ; 433 29 ; 128665 ;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting dental plaque or calculus deposits on a tooth site using a pulse of broad band light to illuminate a tooth site thereby exciting the deposit to luminescence. A time-related characteristic of the luminescence, such as its decay rate, is then analyzed to detect the presence of plaque or calculus at the tooth site. The excitation radiation preferably encompasses a range of wavelengths between about 375 nm to 575 nm, and the time-related characteristic of the luminescence that is analyzed preferably has a wavelength above about 600 nm.