What They Didn’t Teach You in Dental School!

The Best Way to Save on Your Handpiece Repair Costs

Educate yourself!  Just as a rudimentary understanding of how a car operates is required to get the most life out of your car, the same is true for the tools you use daily in your practice.  The posts on this page will offer some basic knowledge about how handpieces work, simple repairs you can perform for yourself, tips for the operatory to minimize repairs, advice on sound maintenance practice, links to additional resources, and other information .  I hope you find it helpful and I trust it will save you some headaches and money.

How Pneumatic (Air Driven) Handpieces Work

The heart of any pneumatic highspeed handpiece is the turbine.  The turbine is composed of a spindle/chuck on which is installed an impeller and a set of bearings. O-rings and possibly washers are used to seat the turbine in the head of a handpiece. The chuck holds the bur firmly in place; the impeller catches the air to spin the entire assembly; the bearings reduce friction and keep the entire assembly aligned in the head of the handpiece and the o-rings provide further stabilization.  The handle is just that, a handle, through which run the air and water lines and possibly fiber optics. 

How Electric Handpieces Work

As you can see in the images above, electric handpieces have a series of shafts and gears which are coupled with numerous sets of bearings. Electric handpieces generally have 8 bearings in them, and when a bearing fails, unlike a pneumatic, an electric will continue to run. The failed bearing will cause increased friction and, consequently, increased heat.  Additionally, the failure will “travel” up and down the line, throwing shafts and gears out of whack and their failure in turn.  An exploded bearing can cause bits of debris to go flying around internally as well.  Any change in sound, feel, vibration, or heat can indicate a bearing failure.  If any of these conditions occur you need to STOP using the handpiece immediately and send it in for repair.  Replacing bearings alone is many hundreds of dollars less expensive than replacing gears and shafts.  Also, when running an electric, remember that the drive air and water serve to cool the handpiece – run electrics with as much air and water as you can stand, within the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Side Cutting

Side cutting is necessary, but requires additional pressure. Applying too much pressure, or “leaning into the cut” puts perpendicular pressure (side load) on the rear bearing. Turbines are not designed for this and, if done routinely, will result in premature failure. Solution: Use fresh, sharp burs for side cutting and let them do their work.

Are You Guilty of Cheating the Bur?

So many dentists are guilty of this, but most don’t even know what the phrase means, nor do they know that it costs them money. “Cheating the bur” means not fully seating the bur into the chuck in an effort to gain added length. It may make your job a little easier, but it wreaks havoc on your turbines. Chucks are designed to balance the load between both bearings and to maintain the concentricity of the rotating bur. Failure to fully seat the bur puts side load on the front bearing, which it is not designed for, and will cause premature failure over time. The chuck will also oscillate when the bur is not fully seated, and again, they are not designed for this, so premature chuck failure can result as well. Dentists who cheat the bur routinely will have more frequent repairs and are more likely to not have their repair warranty honored due to misuse. Solution: Buy longer burs!

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