FROM PANTOGRAPH.COM
BLOOMINGTON, Illinois — A risk during dental implant surgery is drilling too deeply.
A Bloomington dentist has received a patent for inventing a device that reduces that risk.
Dr. Emil Verban has received a United States patent for his drill stop. The drill stop fits like a sleeve over drill bits to control the depth of drilling.
“This eliminates the risk of over-drilling,” Verban said at his dental practice, 2103 E. Washington St.,Bloomington.
While drilling too deeply is not as much of a risk for oral surgeons,periodontists or general dentists experienced with implant surgery, more general dentists are performing implant dentistry, Verban said. As more general dentists do implant surgery – and as experienced dentists want assurance in addition to their experience, judgment and observation – the demand for drill stops will increase, Verban said.
“More general dentists are placing implants and using the drill stop will make the surgery more predictable, safer and more precise,” he said. But some specialists also are using the device, he added.
At least 200 dentists in the United States and Puerto Rico already are using the invention.
One dentist who uses Verban’s drill stop is Dr. Philip Debossu, a general dentist in Chicago. He began using it after he took a Verban dental implant seminar in November 2008 and Verban introduced the drill stop.
“I use the drill stop on all my dental implant patients,” Debossu said. “It prevents you from going too far.”
Risks of going too far include damaging nerves on the lower arches and damaging sinuses on the upper arches, Verban said.
Some medical equipment companies have their own drill stops, but Verban’s is more user friendly because it can be used with several sizes of drills, thanks to a set screw that fixes the stop to the drill bit.
“His is very versatile,” Debossu said. “Dr. Verban is highly regarded and he’s brought implant dentistry to the general dentists.”
Verban, 61, graduated from Loyola University School of Dentistry in 1976 and has practiced general dentistry in Bloomington since 1978.
