Handpiece
A dental handpiece is a highly specialized dental instrument to which burs are attached to remove parts of the tooth structure in an operative process or tooth preparation.
What are the types of dental handpieces?
There are three main types of dental handpieces:
Straight handpieces are similar to low-speed handpieces but are designed to be straight rather than contra-angled.
What is a low-speed dental handpiece?
A low-speed dental handpiece is used to clean teeth, remove cavities, or remove resin without damaging the tooth. These dental handpieces are either air or electric powered and rotate at speeds between 600 to 25,000 RMP.
What is high-speed dental handpiece RPM?
A high-speed dental handpiece rotates at speeds over 200,000 RPM. High-speed handpieces are used for quickly and efficiently removing tooth tissue without heat, pressure, or vibration. These handpieces must be used with extreme caution.
How do I sterilize dental handpieces?
Internal and external surfaces of dental handpieces can become infected during use. To protect your patients from infectious materials, dental handpieces should be steam-sterilized before using on a new patient. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions on cleaning, lubrication, and sterilization to ensure you clean your dental handpiece safely and effectively.
Use steam sterilization for motors, handpieces, and related attachments.
Detach nose cones, latch heads, and contra-angles, from the motor and bag them separately before sterilization.
Remove scaling tips and burs before sterilization because they could damage the metallic surfaces.
Place devices into proper sterilization pouches.
Steam sterilized wrapped motors and attachments at 269.6°F for at least 10 minutes or 249.8°F for at least 50 minutes.
After you complete the sterilization cycle, lubricate the motors, handpieces, and attachments.
Store the sterilized devices in a clean, dry area.
Major manufacturers of handpieces include A-dec, Beyes Dental, Bien-Air, Dentsply, Flight Dental, Johnson-Promident, Morita, TPC, and Vector.