Sharpening & Retipping

As a dentist or dental hygienist, you want to ensure that your instruments are sterilized, sharpened, and retipped. Over time, instruments wear out, and they need more attention than just cleaning and sterilizing. Regularly used instruments like scalers, curettes, and probes require maintenance and sharpening to perform well during dental procedures.

The effects of dull instruments

Often times, dental practices may not even realize how much they’re suffering due to dull instruments. The wear and tear on instruments can prevent dentists and dental hygienists from performing thoroughly and efficiently. When not sharpened properly, dull curettes and scalers are not able to remove the dental calculus thoroughly and dull luxating elevators are not able to penetrate through the periodontal ligaments properly. As a result, the dentist may begin to use excess force, which causes discomfort to the patient and fatigue to the dentist. There is also a serious risk of hand, wrist, and shoulder pain for the dentist.

Therefore, it is imperative that dental practices use sharpened instruments to improve performance, save time, reduce fatigue and provide a comfortable experience to patients. Sharpening dental instruments is very important to keep your work effective and safe at the dental office.

How to know your instruments are dull

There are two easy tests you can perform to determine if your dental instruments are dull and in need of sharpening.

1. APPEARANCE TEST: Under a light source, take your instrument and rotate it until the edge is facing the light. A sharp edge does not reflect light and will have a matte appearance. However, a dull instrument will reflect light and have a shiny appearance.
2. BITE TEST: Check the “bite” of the instrument. Take a plastic test stick and apply the cutting edge to the plastic stick. If the instrument seems to glide along the stick, it is dull. On the other hand, a sharp cutting edge will “bite” and produce a clicking sound.