Dental burs can be used cutting hard tissues – tooth or bone. These are made from steel, stainless steel, tungsten carbide and diamond grit. There may be a bewildering variety of dental burs in almost any dental catalogue, but for basic veterinary just use several burs are expected.
All burs use a shank plus a head. You’ll find three main kinds of shank – Long Straight Shank (HP), Latch-type Shank (RA) Grip Shank (FG)
Long Straight Shank (HP)
These shanks squeeze into the nose cone in the slow speed handpiece as soon as the prophy angle or contra angle is taken away. You can use them for diamond cutting discs or long 40mm burs. The principle usage of HP burs is incorporated in the trimming of small herbivore cheek teeth.
Latch-type Shank (RA)
These shanks fit into the latch of the contra-angle on slow speed handpieces. They can be 20mm long and for sale in the identical shapes as FG burs.
Friction Grip Shank (FG)
These shanks squeeze into the turbine of your high-speed handpiece. The common length is 20mm long, but longer surgical lengths are available and these can be essential for veterinary work.
Round Head
These heads can be used cavity preparation, creating access points, undercuts and channels for luxator blades in extraction. Sizes range between 1/4 to 9. Small the amount, small your head. The most effective sizes to use initially are 1, 2, and 4.
Pear Head
These heads are used for cavity preparation, access points and splitting roots of small teeth. Probably the most useful sizes are 330 and 330L
Crosscut Tapered Fissure Head
These heads can be used for sectioning multi-rooted teeth and reducing crown height when disarming dogs. The most useful sizes are 700/700L and 701/701L.
Finishing Burs
These heads can be used finishing restorations, soft tissue recontouring, alveolaplasty, enameloplasty and odontoplasty. They are often obtained as 12 or 30 bladed burs in carbide steel or as diamond heads of varied shapes. Fortunately they are available as white stone, for composite, or green stone, for amalgam.
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