Dental instruments are tools that are used by dentists--and also often by their assistants--to examine, remove teeth and restore teeth as well as maintain the gums and the rest of the mouth. Doctors need a comprehensive knowledge of all the instruments used in dentistry, but assistants should familiarize themselves with the basic dental instruments, too.
Some of the most significant instruments used for standard oral health procedures, such as examination, include the sickle probe, periodontal probe, and the mirror. Sickle probes are used to observe presence of tooth decay on the teeth, and periodontal probes are used to measure pocket depth around the teeth.
Probes have long handles and one or two working ends with pointed metal tips. The doctor uses probes to scrape and prod surfaces for signs of decay and defects.
Probes come with tips at different angles and with different levels of sharpness. Blunter ends protect tissue from damage.
The mirror allows the doctor to be able to observe hard to see parts of the mouth. The mirror tool has a long, thin metal handle and an angled mirror at the top, which dentists refer to as the "working end."
The part of the metal connecting the mirror to the handle is called the shank. These terms apply to every dental hand instrument.
The mirror magnifies, reflects light and allows the doctor to see hard-to-reach parts of the mouth. It can also move and manipulate parts of the mouth temporarily during an examination.
Another common instrument is the mouth prop, which is usually used on children to make sure that they keep their mouths open during oral procedures. Drills are also used in dental processes, and there are various kinds of drills, including the slow speed, high speed air driven, surgical hand piece and friction grip.
A hand-piece is a motorized tool with a wide handle. The rotating working end has several attachments, each for a different use.
One of the attachments is a bur, which drills into teeth, hence the common nontechnical term "dentist's drill." Burs vary in angle, shape and surface texture, depending on the nature of the work.
Dentists use a hand-piece in procedures such as fillings and root canals. Standard dental tools for tooth restoration procedures include excavators, half hollenbachs, and periodontal scalers.
Excavators are cutting instruments used to remove tooth decay. This has shape of a spoon to allow the doctor to remove debris from the tooth.
The chisel chips away at the enamel, and hatchets cut and scrape with the small blades at the end, and forcepts clasp and pull out the teeth. Half hollenbacks are devices used for flash or overhang tests.
Periodontal scalers are usually used for the periodontal care of teeth and include tools like curettes. There are two different types of curettes--universal and gracey.
Universal curettes are adjustable to areas of dental dentition, and gracey curettes combine a unique blade with nine different shank styles. In dental operations and surgeries, instruments such as syringes and burs are commonly used.
Syringes assist anesthesia injection, and burs are the part of the drills that contain that cutting blades. There are also several different types of instruments used in orthodontic procedures in dentistry for teeth alignments, among others.
Ligatures are used to attach braces wires to brackets, and orthodontic pliers are used for crown crimping purposes. Dentists use tweezers and pliers to insert and remove objects into and from the mouth.
A doctor can use pliers to hold a cotton swab to stem bleeding, for example. Some tweezers and pliers may even have a lock to keep them in place.
Forceps provide a stronger grip than tweezers and pliers, and dentists use them to break and extract teeth. Both the handles and the beaks may have irregular angles to give the dental surgeon access to different parts of the mouth or different types of teeth, such as molars.
Author Resource:-
Jack Landry has worked in Dentistry for 10 years. He has many recommendations of where to look for adentist in Fort Lauderdale.
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