In part 3 of our 7 part dentistry guide we will begin to look at Dental Handpieces. These include the tissue shaping carvers. We will also delve in to a brief history of the Dental Drill.
Dental Drills or Dental Handpieces
The often feared dentist drill is a small, high speed, dental handpiece. It is used to remove decayed tooth material ahead of a dental filling being inserted. Dental drills use rotary burs made from hard metal alloys. These burs are rotated at high speeds to make decisive cuts in the tooth material.
It is thought that their high-pitched shrill sound is one of the main reasons why many people fear going to the dentist. There are many different types of drills and burs employing a variety of shapes specifically designed for the dentists many specialist requirements. The burs are usually made from a steel alloy with tungsten carbide coatings. Some burs are made entirely from tungsten carbide, some have a bur comprising of diamond segments used in their coating to increase their cutting efficiency. Common bur classifications are round or inverted.
History of the Dental Drill
From cavities containing 3.5 mm concentric grooves uncovered during archaeological excavations, it is thought that as far back as 7000 BC the civilisations of the Indus Valley used foot-powered dental drills to cut teeth. These early machines may have been operated by skilled craftsmen using stings and bows. Reconstructions of these machines have proved these methods would have successfully operated.
More recently man developed mechanical hand drills operation at speeds up of to 15 revolutions per minute. By the late 1800s clockwork drills were invented, these were much faster, however they were also very noisy. Both pedal powered drills and pneumatic powered drills soon followed, all to be out-shadowed by the invention of the revolutionary electric drill in 1875. These electric drills developed further through the first half of the 20th century, increasing in speed and power.
Then followed the air turbine drill handpiece which was driven by compressed air. Also developed was the contra angled air turbine handpiece which became the first commercially manufactured dental drill. Modern high speed precision drills operate at several hundred thousand revolutions per minute. However some lower speed units are used to provide higher torque for certain applications.
More recently still, other technologies using laser ablation or air abrasion have been used as tools in dentistry. Air abrasion is a technique that uses high speed compressed air to wear away at the surface of the decayed tooth.
Important factors to be considered when buying a dental handpiece include; motor life and checking the number of holes for the attachment to the unit in the high speed units and in the low speed units, checking that the type of attachment to the motor is suitable.
Dental Retractors
Dental retractors are dental tools used to manoeuvre soft tissues in order to allow inspection or to make room to work on areas of the mouth. Examples of dental retracting equipment are; Dental Mirrors, Lip Retractors, Mouth Props, Cheek and Tongue Retractors.
Carvers
Carvers are a stainless steel tool that is used by the dentist to finish or ’shape’ the amalgam filling when performing dental restoration work. They feature a rod with different sized, strong points on both ends.
Cleoids
A Cleoid is a type of Carver tool used to carve anatomy on silver fillings. They are made from stainless steel and resemble a rod with a point on one end and small hook on the other.
