Dental Surgical Instruments: A Short Guide

There are a number of surgical instruments used in dental practice. This article outlines some of the commonly used instruments, manufactured by leading dental equipment manufacturers.
Dental surgical instruments are used to examine, manipulate and restore damaged teeth. Although there are several branches in dentistry and thousands of instruments, in this article, we are only covering the instruments that are commonly found in a general dental clinic.

Diagnostic instruments – Mouth mirrors and probes are the most common diagnostic instruments used in dental surgery. The mouth mirror is angled to provide an indirect view of oral structures. Straight probes and angled probes are also very common. These probes are used to detect soft areas on the tooth or to measure the depth of gum defects.

Dental drills and burs – Most dentists now use a high-speed dental hand piece known as an air rotor. This hand piece runs on compressed air provided by a compressor. Diamond cutting burs are inserted into the air rotor head and the hand piece is used to cut cavities in teeth, to reshape teeth and during surgeries to reshape bone or teeth. Several different bur varieties available like round, conical, long cylindrical etc. Dentists usually combine two or three burs during a single procedure. Apart from high speed air rotors, dentists also use low-speed air motors that are used to reshape acrylic dental appliances.

Extraction instruments – Removing a tooth is referred to as dental extraction. A dentist will use needles, syringes and local anesthetic solution to first numb the area. They will then use an instrument known as a periosteal elevator to separate the gum from the tooth. This increases the visibility of the tooth for extraction. After using the periosteal elevator, most dentists use tooth elevators which acts as fulcrums. These elevators are applied strategically to loosen the tooth roots from their underlying bony sockets. Several types of elevators are used and they are named differently according to inventor and method of use. After elevating the tooth, dental surgeons use specifically indicated forceps to grasp and remove teeth from their sockets. Please note that each dentist will have their own favourite elevators and forceps that they use during dental extraction procedures.

Restorative instruments – These instruments are generally used to remove decaying tooth structure, clean the cavity and to place restorative material inside the tooth. Large varieties of instruments are available and most dentists prefer to use devices they are comfortable with. However, scoop and spoon excavators are the most commonly used followed by ball burnishes, amalgam carriers, spatulas and cement-carriers.

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