Today, a dentist, having opened the catalog of any company that produces a dental handpiece, can easily get lost in a huge assortment of tools. After all, each manufacturer will have about 80% of items in the price list that are either not in great demand or are not supplied. But how to choose reliable dental instruments in this sea of offers? Of course, it is worth trusting, first of all, well-known and positively established manufacturers in the market. But even under this condition, the choice will still remain impressive. We still offer to deal with the types of tips.
Dental handpiece: types
There are only two main groups: turbine and mechanical. The rotation of the first occurs due to the presence of compressed air pressure of the system on the rotor part of the dental handpiece, and in the second, an electric or pneumatic micromotor is responsible for rotation.
Mechanical dental instruments are divided into straight/angle, surgical and Endo series handpieces used in endodontics. But it should be taken into accountthat endo-tips do not have a controlled amount of torsion, there is also no reverse at the moment of jamming during operation of the tip.
Dental turbine handpiece
Deciphering in more detail, you should consider all the parameters in which each type of tip differs. For example, in a turbine handpiece, the main parameters are: connector, head size, lighting, clamps, cooling system and bearing. Let's consider each of the characteristics in detail.
Connector
First, it will be advisable to decide on the tip connector. The most famous is four-channel (RitterMidwest). Instruments with two channels (Borden) are already obsolete and almost never used by doctors, but still function on older devices.
Dental handpiece can be screwed directly onto the hose or connected via a quick-release adapter that requires less cleaning and sterilization. An impressive part of the tools of the middle and higher level is used only for the mentioned adapter.
Working head size
Then you should choose the size of the working head. Small - for pediatric patients, medium - for adults and children, large - for orthopedics. The wider the size, the more powerful the tip, and the smaller it is, the easier it is to use the tool.
Lighting
Third point: light. Naturally, the size of the price for a dental turbine handpiece with illumination will be much higher, but the advantages of this function cannot be listed.have to. For the operation of such a tool, you need the presence of fiber optics. It is already installed on modern devices, but it will not be difficult to install it on other systems. In addition to this, tips with built-in lighting have recently appeared on the market. Such a system is autonomous, because the built-in generator feeds the LED with electricity, and it is much easier and faster to install than a fiber optic system.
Clamp
The bur clamping system is now only push-button. Latching is rare and mostly found on systems older than the 1990s.
Cooling system
Spray is a cooling system installed in all turbines due to high rotational speeds. There is a single, three-point, in turbines with light - a spray with 5 points, which helps to cool the drill more productively and clean the place of work.
Bearing
The main type of bearing is metal, but recently ceramic bearings have been announced. According to manufacturers, they are more durable, but we must remember that whatever it is, the bearing is destroyed quite quickly with improper care. If you treat the tool with care, then both bearings will serve you for a long time.
Mechanical Dental Handpieces
If you choose a straight and contra-angle dental handpiece, you do not need to suffer with the connector, because all the micromotor seats are made according to ISO 9001. Therefore, you need to decide on it first.
Micromotors
They are divided into electric and pneumatic. For successful operation, the main characteristics of the handpiece and micromotor must be identical.
The cooling system is presented in three positions: without cooling (only pneumatic, the drill and the preparation area are not cooled here), with external cooling (it must be said, it is very rare) and with universal internal (used on all electric motors). But always this function on motor and handpiece should be similar.
Gear ratio
Dental handpiece is always produced in 1:1 balance, the motor speed is equal to the speed of the bur. The angular tip can be decreasing (torsion speed is higher, and the speed of rotation of the drill is lower than the speed of rotation of the motor; green stripe), it can be one to one (blue stripe) and it can be increasing (the speed of rotation of the drill is greater than the same quality of rotation of the motor; red mark). Step-ups are made only with the function of internal cooling. This dental contra-angle can only be used with burs with a diameter of 1.6 mm, produced for turbine handpieces.
A final note: handpieces and motors are some of the most essential tools for a dentist and, like any other piece of equipment, they require careful handling and proper care. Tools are set to different oil viscosities, so use the oil recommendedmanufacturer. Remember to periodize lubrication and cleaning. Always read the instruction manual so that the tool will serve you for many years.
