Method of and apparatus for dental anesthesia

Claim 1

A method of dental anesthesia comprising the steps of: applying to the region to be anesthetized a primary train of like equispaced direct-current primary voltage pulses of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals; and applying to said region in each of the intervals between said primary pulses a direct-current secondary voltage pulse of a polarity opposite to that of said primary pulses and a duration and current strength equal to a fraction of the duration and current strength of said primary pulses, said primary pulses having a duration and current strength equal to between three and 20 times the duration and current strength of said secondary pulses.

Claim 2

A method of dental anesthesia comprising the steps of: applying to the region to be anesthetized a primary train of like equispaced direct-current primary voltage pulses of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals; and applying to said region in each of the intervals between said primary pulses a direct-current secondary voltage pulse of a polarity opposite to that of said primary pulses and a duration and current strength equal to a fraction of the duration and current strength of said primary pulses, said primary pulses having a duration and current strength equal to between three and 20 times the duration and current strength of said secondary pulses.

Claim 4

A method of dental anesthesia comprising the steps of: applying to the region to be anesthetized a primary train of like equispaced direct-current primary voltage pulses of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals; and applying to said region in each of the intervals between said primary pulses a direct-current secondary voltage pulse of a polarity opposite to that of said primary pulses and a duration and current strength equal to a fraction of the duration and current strength of said primary pulses, the duration of the primary pulses being between 25 and 35 seconds and the duration of said secondary pulses being between 1.5 and 2.5 seconds.

Claim 5

A method of dental anesthesia comprising the steps of: applying to the region to be anesthetized a primary train of like equispaced direct-current primary voltage pulses of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals; and applying to said region in each of the intervals between said primary pulses a direct-current secondary voltage pulse of a polarity opposite to that of said primary pulses and a duration and current strength equal to a fraction of the duration and current strength of said primary pulses, the duration of the primary pulses being between 25 and 35 seconds and the duration of said secondary pulses being between 1.5 and 2.5 seconds.

Claim 7

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source; and a voltage source connected in common to both of said current sources.

Claim 8

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source; and a voltage source connected in common to both of said current sources.

Claim 9

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; and clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source, said clock means including a transistor switch and said switch means including a relay connected to said transistor switch.

Claim 10

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; and clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source, said clock means including a transistor switch and said switch means including a relay connected to said transistor switch.

Claim 11

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; and clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source, said current sources each including a regulating transistor connected in series with said switch means, an operating transistor connected to said regulating transistor, and a reference-voltage source connected to said regulating transistor and across said switch means.

Claim 12

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; and clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source, said current sources each including a regulating transistor connected in series with said switch means, an operating transistor connected to said regulating transistor, and a reference-voltage source connected to said regulating transistor and across said switch means.

Claim 13

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source; and flow means for indicating current flow across said region and direction means for indicating direction of current flow across said region.

Claim 14

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source; and flow means for indicating current flow across said region and direction means for indicating direction of current flow across said region.

Claim 16

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source; and a voltage source having a plurality of different voltage outputs, selector means for alternately connecting each voltage output to said current sources, and sensor means connected to said one side of said switch means for detecting current flow through said region and correspondingly operating said selector means for uniform current flow.

Claim 17

An apparatus for dental anesthesia comprising: a primary constant current source having a primary output with a primary current strength; a secondary constant current source having a secondary output with a secondary current strength equal to a fraction of said primary current strength; switch means having one side connectable to a region to be anesthetized and another side alternately connectable to said primary and secondary outputs for alternately applying to said region a primary voltage pulse of a polarity tending to counter nerve-generated pain signals from said primary current source and a secondary voltage pulse of opposite polarity from said secondary current source; clock means connected to said switch means for alternately connecting said another side thereof for a predetermined primary time period to said primary current source and for a predetermined secondary time period equal to a fraction of said primary time period to said secondary current source; and a voltage source having a plurality of different voltage outputs, selector means for alternately connecting each voltage output to said current sources, and sensor means connected to said one side of said switch means for detecting current flow through said region and correspondingly operating said selector means for uniform current flow.