A Look Into The World Of Dental Burs
Dental burs are essentially cutters that are used in conjunction with a dentist drill to remove material in the mouth of a patient. The attachments are made of a couple different types of metals and alloys including tungsten carbide and diamond. Each part is made up of three different sections: the head, the shank and the neck.
At the top of the bur is the head which consists of blades that are used to remove material. Depending on the type of bur the blades may be angled differently in order to offer solutions for different applications. The two common angles involved are the obtuse angle which creates a negative rake angle that increases the strength and life of instrument.
The acute angle is designed to create a positive rake angle which makes it sharper and thus dulls out faster. Along with the angles and materials used to create these instruments, there are a few different models available as well. The models include round, crosscut tapered fissure, pear shaped and finishing bur.
A pear shaped design is used to split roots in small teeth and it is also used for cavity preparation. Another cavity prevention model is the round head which creates channels and access points during the prevention procedure. Even though they are shaped differently the two heads work as a team to prepare teeth for cavity removal.
Another example of head pieces is the ever popular crosscut tapered model which is designed to help section multiple rooted teeth. The finishing bur is the one oddball amongst its counterparts because it is used to buff and polish rather than remove materials. Dentists generally have a few of each model in the event a procedure calls for it and so they are prepared.
Along with the head, the shank is also an important part of these attachments and they are available in three distinct models. A latch-type shank fits slow speed drills like its counterpart, a long straight shank which is designed to trip small teeth in the cheek area of the mouth. The friction grip model is built to be used in a high speed drill and is used primarily in veterinary procedures.
The dental burs that are available have made a solid contribution to the world of dentistry and continue to do so. Modern technology is moving toward other methods such as lasers which will slowly phase out the bur. Until then the bur is used in a large number of offices all over the world and continues to go strong.
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