A dental drill or dentist's drill) is a small, high-speed drill used during dental procedures, usually to remove decay and shape tooth structure prior to the insertion of a filling or crown. A dental drill may also be used in the cleaning and shaping of root canals during endodontic treatment, or to remove old or temporary fillings or crowns prior to the insertion of new or permanent restorations. The term "dental drill" is considered the more colloquial form of the term "dental handpiece," although it can also be construed as to include the power source for one or more handpieces, a "dental engine." "Handpiece" and "engine" are more generic and euphemistic terms for generic dental tools.
Modern dental drills can rotate at up to 400,000 rpm, and generally use hard metal alloy bits known as burrs. Dental burs come in a great variety of shapes designed for specific applications. They are often made of steel with a tungsten carbide coating, or of tungsten carbide entirely. The bur may also have a diamond coating.
Dental drills, which have a distinctive, shrill sound, are often a prominent factor in many people's fear of dentistry.
Read more about Dental Drill: History, Dental Bur, Alternatives, Other Uses
Famous quotes containing the words dental and/or drill:
“[T]hose wholemeal breads ... look hand-thrown, like studio pottery, and are fine if you have all your teeth. But if not, then not. Perhaps the rise ... of the ... factory-made loaf, which may easily be mumbled to a pap betweeen gums, reflects the sorry state of the nation’s dental health.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
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And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)