A look at Dentist Tools
Dentist use many different tool in their practice. This article will cover some of the basic tools that dentist's use every day. It will help you to gain an understanding of what the tools are used for and how they are cleaned from one patient to the next.
The one instrument that most patients hate is "the drill," this instrument is referred to in dental terms as a hand piece. It comes in two different speeds. A high speed hand piece is used to remove a cavity from your teeth. A slow speed or low speed hand piece is used to define and reshape the tooth after a cavity has been filled. These hand pieces have small holes in the end, almost like your drill at home. The dentist has many different burs he might choose to put in this hole and use on your teeth. Comparing this to your drill at home, we would be referring to a bit.
Many general dentists are also doing orthodontic procedures in their offices now days. Orthodontics is the type of dentistry that is practiced on patients with braces. This is what is included in a basic orthodontic set up.
A Mirror and Explorer- The mirror and explorer are used to examine the teeth and to scrape of excess decay from any places the patient might be missing with their toothbrush. The explorer is also used to "explorer" for cavities. If it is pressed into a tooth and there is a soft spot that means there is a cavity there. In orthodontic the explorer is also used to remove the rubber ligature ties that hold the wire in place.
A Hemostat- A hemostat is an instrument that is used to hold on to a wire as well as a stainless steel or rubber ligature tie. The ends of this instrument clamp together and allow the dentist or his assistant to place the ties around the braces without having to struggle to keep the ties on their instrument.
A Weingart- A weingart is an instrument that is shaped like a pair of pliers. The end is pointed on the outside, but flushes on the inside. It also has a rough surface on the inside to allow it to grip onto orthodontic wires without slipping. This tool is used to guide the wire into place. It is especially good for reaching very far back into the mouth.
A Distal end cutter- A distal end cutter is a flat headed tool that can reach to the distal end of the molars. This is helpful in orthodontics, because this is where the end of the wire comes out. The end of the wire is easily trimmed flush against the band with this tool.
A ligature cutter - A ligature cutter is like a very strong and sharp pair of scissors. It is used to clip an orthodontic wire to size while it is out of the mouth.
There are many other tools that dentist's use in their practices. These included extractors, spoons, spatulas, impression trays, syringes and composite instruments.
Dentists have a special way of cleaning their instruments from one patient to the next. All of the instruments are placed into an ultrasonic machine for 15 minutes after they are used. This machine vibrates slightly to remove and loosen and small particles that are in the dental tools. After that all the metal instruments are individually packaged and placed in an autoclave machine. The autoclave gets hot enough to kill any germ or bacteria that are on the instruments. Once they come out of the autoclave they are ready to use on the next patient.
There are some instruments that cannot go into an autoclave. These are plastic instruments like the bitewings the dentist uses when he taxes an x-ray. Any glass or plastic instruments must go into a cold sterile solution where they will sit over night. This solution will kill any bacteria that are on these instruments and they will be ready for use again the next day.
Please feel free to leave a comment about this page
Was this page useful? Do you have something to add? Do you disagree?
If your comments meet our
guidelines then we will publish them (you do not need to register!)
Or why not tell a friend and email
this
page to someone