Technologies

Invention Summary

A new tool for removing dental cement has been developed. Cement is used to secure a dental crown to a human tooth. When cement is left on the outside of the crown it creates periodontitis which will lead to tooth or implant loss. Removing this cement can be difficult using current tools. This technology is a rubber spatula made from a series of polymers fashioned into a device that optimizes surface area for easy and effective removal of dental cement. The tool has the ability to bend as needed or remain straight. The resilient polymer is designed to maximize surface area in between teeth and smear cement from the restoring tooth.

Value Proposition

• Increased surface area allows it to remove more cement from around the tooth
• Compresses the cement into the area between the tooth and crown to decrease cavities

Market Opportunity

According to BCC Research, there were 45 million crown and bridge procedures performed in 2013. An additional 4 million implant procedures would benefit from use of the rubber spatula. Given this, roughly 49 million procedures per use could use a rubber spatula. Assuming one rubber spatula would be used per procedure, the demand for rubber spatulas in the United States would be 49 million spatulas per year. Microbrushes come in packages of 100 that generally run between $5 and $15. Pricing the rubber spatula similarly would result in revenue of between $24.5 million and $73.5 million per year. If this technology were to experience 10% market adoption for the first three years, which would result in a market of $2.45 million to $7.35 million.