JPH0376143B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a dental water supply unit capable of supplying sterile water free of bacteria, pyrogene, etc. [Prior art] In water supply units used in dental clinics and the like for dental treatment, water supplied to the water supply unit from the water supply (hereinafter referred to as water supply) is used as is, or the water supply is After passing it through a filter that removes iron rust and impurities,
I was using it. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in recent years, contamination of the water supply system of such dental units with bacteria and pyrogen has become a problem. In other words, the air turbine handpiece and water syringe attached to the dental unit are instruments that easily become contaminated during use, and bacteria that adhere to the area around the water discharge hole can spread when not in use when the water flow has stopped, and can reach deep parts of the water supply pipe. It invades and contaminates the whole area. Furthermore, such ultrafine particles such as bacteria and pyrodiene cannot be removed at all by the above-mentioned filter. When water containing such bacteria and pyrodiene is used for dental treatment, the bacteria may invade through wounds caused by tooth extractions, implants, etc., cause suppuration in the tooth cavity, or circulate within the body and cause disease. In addition, the patient is more susceptible to pulpitis when cutting the tooth for filling. Antibiotics are commonly administered to suppress this. However, administration of large amounts of antibiotics is not favorable for the patient's body and is also unfavorable from the economical point of view of dental care, so it is required to use sterile water free of bacteria and pyrogen. [Means for Solving the Problems] Accordingly, the present invention does not use the water supply as it is, but purifies the water supply by placing a specific water purification cartridge at a predetermined location of the dental water supply unit to remove bacteria and pyrogens. An object of the present invention is to provide a dental water supply unit that can introduce filtered water to a supply port. According to the present invention, in a dental water supply unit that branches the water supply and leads it through a conduit to each supply port attached to various treatment instruments, a hollow fiber membrane type water purifier is installed in the conduit portion near the supply port. This can be achieved by a dental water supply unit in which the cartridge is placed, a conduit that branches and supplies water to each supply port attached to the various treatment instruments, and the hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge is accommodated in a housing. The water purification cartridge used in the present invention needs to be of the hollow fiber membrane type. That is, a flat membrane (called a pleated type) shown in FIG. 6 is generally used as a filter, but the flat membrane has the following drawbacks. Flat membrane microfilters have a limited filtration area per unit volume. That is, the flat membrane (porous membrane) 17 filled in the cartridge 12 has "folds 1".
Even if you increase the membrane area by adding 8", there is a limit, and therefore there is a limit to the amount of filtration. Because there is a demand for a porous membrane filter that blocks smaller bacteria, pyrogens, etc. The smaller the pore size is, the lower the amount of filtration will be.Thus, the inventors of the present invention have conducted various studies and found that a hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge filled with hollow fiber membranes can reduce bacteria, pyrodiene, etc. It was found that it was possible to filter out ultrafine particles and increase the amount of filtration.In addition, this hollow fiber membrane water purification cartridge should be placed as close to the supply port of the dental water supply unit as possible. For example, it is placed in a treatment instrument such as a handpiece, in a conduit in a water supply unit, or in a conduit from the water supply unit to the treatment instrument.As mentioned above, the air supply attached to the dental unit Turbine・
Since the handpiece etc. are easily contaminated during use, the water purification cartridge is provided near the supply port to prevent the spread of contamination. [Operation] Water is supplied to the inlet of the dental water supply unit and guided to the hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge via a conduit within the water supply unit. This water purification cartridge is of the hollow fiber membrane type and separates and filters microscopic particles such as bacteria and pyrogen contained in the water supply through the pores of the hollow fiber membrane to produce so-called sterile water. Then, this sterile water is led to the supply port of the water supply unit, and is supplied to the air turbine handpiece or water syringe attached to the supply port, and is used for dental treatment or the like. [Examples] Next, the present invention will be described in more detail based on Examples. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the construction of a dental water supply unit of the present invention. Water supply is at entrance 2
into the water supply unit (housing) 1 through which it branches off and via conduits 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, an air turbine handpiece 3 for dental treatment, a water syringe 4 and other treatment uses. The water is guided to hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridges 11 placed in the vicinity of the instruments 5, where bacteria, pyrogen, etc. contained in the water supply are removed, and the water is supplied to the air turbine handpiece 3 and the like. FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of a hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge used in the water supply unit of the present invention, in which a is a schematic configuration diagram thereof, b is a sectional view taken along line A-A in a, and c is a B-- It is a sectional view of B. The water supply X enters the cartridge 12 from the inlet 14, is supplied to the outside of the hollow fiber membrane 13, passes inside through the holes of the hollow fiber membrane 13, is filtered, and is taken out from the outlet 15 as sterile water. Incidentally, reference numeral 16 indicates a potting material part, and in the part shown in FIG. 2b, the hollow fiber membrane 13 is closed, while in the part shown in FIG. 2c, the hollow fiber membrane 13 is open. 3 and 4 are schematic configuration diagrams showing other embodiments of the hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge, respectively,
In FIG. 3, the module is shaped like a donut to provide a support for fixing, and in FIG. 4, it is a round module to be fixed by fitting. As shown in FIG. 5, water X enters the cartridge 12 from the inlet 14, passes from the outside of the hollow fiber membrane 13 into the inside of the hollow fiber membrane 13, and is taken out from the outlet 15. In addition, in FIGS. 3 and 4, it is also possible to close either one of the upper and lower outlets 15. Next, the dental water supply cartridge of the present invention will be explained in more detail. Example 1 Using the water supply unit shown in FIG. 1, tap water was supplied to the water supply unit from the inlet 2, and the number of bacteria in the water downstream of the inlet 2 was investigated. To measure the number of bacteria, culture was performed on Brain Heart Infusion (Nitsui Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as BHI) agar plate medium at 32°C under aerobic conditions for 72 hours. Afterwards, the number of colonies on the plate was counted and the number of CFU (colony forming) per ml of sample was calculated.
unit) was calculated. In Fig. 1, the water sampling sites are C, D, E, and F on the upstream side, which is immediately before the hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge 11, and S (5 m from the inlet 2) on the downstream side. The following table shows the number of bacteria in the water at the following locations:

[Table] [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the dental water supply unit of the present invention, the hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge is disposed close to a treatment instrument such as an air turbine handpiece. Therefore, ultrafine particles such as bacteria and pyrogen in the water are filtered out, and therefore it can be safely used for dental treatment.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the dental water supply unit of the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge used in the water supply unit of the present invention. A schematic explanatory diagram thereof, b is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of a, c is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of a, and the third
4 and 4 are schematic configuration diagrams showing other embodiments of the hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge used in the water supply unit of the present invention, respectively, and FIG. 5 shows the inflow and outflow of water in the cartridge shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a pleated type cartridge. 1...Water supply unit, 2...Inlet, 3...Air turbine handpiece, 4...Water syringe, 5
...Other therapeutic instruments, 11...Hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge, 12...Cartridge, 13...Hollow fiber membrane,
14... Inlet part, 15... Outlet part, 16... Potting material part, 17... Flat membrane, 18... Crease.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a dental water supply unit that branches the water supply and leads it through a conduit to each supply port attached to various treatment instruments, a hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge is placed in the conduit location near the supply port, and a 1. A dental water supply unit, characterized in that a conduit for branching and supplying water to each supply port attached to a dental instrument and a hollow fiber membrane type water purification cartridge are accommodated in a housing.