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Different Dental Instruments

Dental instruments serve various purposes in procedures performed to keep teeth healthy. Most hand instruments are fabricated from stainless steel, plastic, carbon steel or a specialized metal. The dental assistant organizes these instruments on a tray and transfers them to the dentist. Each instrument consists of a handle, a working end (instrument portion with a specific function) and a shank (attaches to the working end), according to "Torres and Ehrlich Modern Dental Assisting."

  1. Basic Setup

    • A mouth mirror, double-ended explorer and cotton pliers are three dental instruments that always are set out for every procedure. The mirror allows the dentist to see areas of the mouth that are not directly visible, directs light into dark areas of the mouth and keeps the tongue or cheek out of the way during treatment. Explorers have sharp points that can help locate decay and calculus--stonelike material that attaches to teeth, also called tartar. Cotton pliers pick up, carry and place small items such as cotton pellets.

    Examination Instruments

    • The mouth mirror, explorer and cotton pliers also are examination instruments, along with the periodontal probe. The periodontal probe measures the pocket depth of the structures surrounding each tooth in millimeters to show the overall health of the gum. Examination instruments---the most often used instruments on the tray---can be used to check a particular dental problem, provide a thorough mouth examination or evaluate a restored tooth.

    Hand Cutting Instruments

    • The excavator, hoe, chisel, hatchet and gingival marginal trimmer all are hand cutting instruments. A spoon excavator removes debris and decay from the tooth. The hoe prepares the cavity walls and floors of a tooth preparation. The chisel places retention grooves in a tooth preparation to hold the restorative dental material in place. Hatchets cut enamel--the material that covers the tooth--and smooth the walls and floors of the tooth preparation. The gingival marginal trimmer is another type of chisel with a curved blade.

    Restorative Instruments

    • Most dentists use an amalgam carrier, condenser, burnisher and carver to place, condense and carve restorative dental materials. The amalgam carrier has wells on both ends that pack freshly mixed amalgam (silver filling material) and carry it to the prepared tooth. A condenser packs the amalgam down into the preparation. The burnisher smooths the surface of a freshly packed amalgam restoration. The carver removes excess material and carves the normal anatomy of the tooth back into the amalgam or temporary intermediate restoration (used if a tooth has lost a filling) before it hardens.

    Accessory Instruments

    • Common accessory instruments include spatulas, scissors and articulating paper. Cement spatulas mix dental materials used in a filling procedure (such as liners and bases) or cements that hold restorations, such as crowns, to teeth. Crown and bridge scissors cut stainless steel crowns and dental rubber dam material--a thin material used to isolate a tooth for a dental procedure. Articulating paper is a carbon paper that checks a patient's "bite" with a new restoration, crown, bridge or denture.

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