Vintage Dental Tooth Nerve Tester & Teardown

[edy]

I have an old Dentaphor Model 6110B by Life-Tech, Inc.. It is an electric pulp tester and Iontophoretic applicator used by dentists to check tooth nerves. It was made around 1986-1987. The device appears to generate a constant current while varying voltage through varying resistances (see video below). A probe is used (presumably to touch the tooth) and also a reference (return path through some other part of the body), which seems to complete the circuit. It may also be used to deliver therapeutic "electronic stimulation" although I am not familiar with this type of therapy. I believe it is simply an electric pulp tester which allows one to check whether the nerve of a tooth is vital and functioning normally, otherwise the tooth would need to be endodontically treated (root-canal).

I have no technical information or user manual for the device, but playing around with it I was able to figure out how it is used. There is a manual and auto button. The auto button allows the user to set a current level, time level, and/or dosing level (dose is current x time). Adjusting these 3 values influences the remaining ones in such a way that it seems to be trying to keep the overall dose as a constant. However, if you change the time or current in such a way that it exceeds the maximum, it will start to affect the dose value as well. In manual mode, you dial up the current and the other buttons simply show you time elapsed and cumulative dose.

The unit comes with many attachments, probes, handles and electrodes. I do not know when and how these are supposed to be used. The 2 probes with handles seem to have remote controls on them... otherwise they only have one electrode lead on the end. There is 1 probe with a "double connector" red/black which is different. The reference always has to be connected in circuit somehow (up to some maximum resistance) otherwise the device sees an "open circuit" and gives an error.

Opening up the device reveals quite a complex system of microprocessors. There are at least a dozen and an EPROM with one of those little erasable windows. There is a transformer and huge row of what appear to be diodes. It seems to be quite sophisticated given the task at hand. There has to be at least an LCD display driver, probably some timers and ADC/DAC converters to read and set currents. I will try to get some of the chip numbers and see what they are.

If anyone has more information about this device, please feel free to leave a comment. Thanks. Here is the review and teardown video below:

[SeanB]

White balance would be nice.......

[nidlaX]

Very interesting! I recently needed a root canal performed, so I did a bit of research on the current state of pulp vitality tests. Various methods are available, including thermal, electric, and optical methods.

I've read on survey papers from within the last 5 years that conclude a cold test is still the most reliable method. In reality, the best course is probably to use a variety of tests together since the varying conditions of the enamel, dentin, and nerve can create different mis-test scenarios for each method. The electric pulp test is considered to be somewhat unreliable.

[edy]

White balance would be nice.......

Thanks, I am going to try fixing that.

[joeqsmith]

 

Cracked a tooth and went to the dentist for repairs. 

I tell them where I think the problem is.  They do the freeze Q-tip test.  After a few minutes of hunting, (using the cameras and such) we can't find the problem.   So they send me off to the oral surgeon who uses a tool that similar to this.  Once again, probes all the teeth, nothing sensitive.   They say whatever the problem is, they should do a root canal to fix it or I would lose the tooth.  I'm not comfortable because they can't find the sensitive tooth so I return home with my bad tooth. 

Frustrated with the medical community, I start pushing on all of the teeth in that area with my finger.  Nothing.  So I take a ballpoint pen for leverage and start using it to press around each tooth.  Nothing.  So then I started pressing on the teeth on the opposite side, BANG!!!   

So all the pain that I was feeling in the lower jaw was actually in the upper one??!!   Back to the dentist.  In with the camera and in a few seconds, there's the fracture on the big screen.  Quick cap to hold the tooth together and done.   That was September the 11th, 2001.  I still have that tooth and the one below it. 

[vodka]

edy,If you want info for playing with the machine, you have to search some medical book or ebook about Electromyography ,where you will teach  as polarizes the muscles and the used frequencies .

When  i was operated of the my broken elbow, before to entered to operation room , in the preoperation room  the anesthetists used with me a  nerves tester , they stabbed between 3 or 4 hypodermic needles
on my neck(near the cervical nerve neck) with the goal to find the nerves elbow(cubital,radial and median).

When they powered on the machine, my arm seemed a rodeo's horse, it didn't stop to bounce. After i entered at operation room and the medics put me 2 nails and an obenque.

6 month later I developed a strange stuff on my operated arm. i began to have muscle spasms. The Biceps and Triceps muscles were continuously contractions,the muscles forearm sometimes went up until 4 cm and i couldn't move in circles my forearm without doing strange movement with my body.

Then the medics began to do me proves, they did me an other kind nerve tester, this tester measurement the time response , the overshoot signal and the settlement time on the nerve. This was OK

Frustrated with the medical community, I start pushing on all of the teeth in that area with my finger.

I had two solution for controlling the spasm: The first i found casually, it was caught the forearm muscles package and pulled go to up and the spasms dissapered and i could rotate the forearm
                                                                       The second solution was given for Electromyography medic, i had to concentrate in some stuff, and this method work a 80%

Since this moment , i began to suspect of the nails elbow and i told to the medic that operated me , but she told me that never had seen case as mine .

At March ago,i was reoperated and she took off me the nails, and the same day at the home when i recovered the sensibility of the arm, the spasms disappeared 

I was with the trouble almost 2 years and today i only have spasms when i touch in the down zone of humerus