Dental burs are used for cutting hard tissues – tooth or bone. They are made from steel, metal, tungsten carbide and diamond grit. There may be a bewildering array of dental burs in a dental catalogue, but also for basic veterinary don’t use anything but a few burs are needed.
All burs possess a shank plus a head. You will find three main types of shank – Long Straight Shank (HP), Latch-type Shank (RA) and Friction Grip Shank (FG)
Long Straight Shank (HP)
These shanks go with the nose cone in the slow speed handpiece once the prophy angle or contra angle is removed. They are utilised for diamond cutting discs or long 40mm burs. The main utilization of HP burs is in the trimming of small herbivore cheek teeth.
Latch-type Shank (RA)
These shanks go with the latch of the contra-angle on slow speed handpieces. They are often 20mm long and accessible in exactly the same shapes as FG burs.
Friction Grip Shank (FG)
These shanks squeeze into the turbine of the high-speed handpiece. The common length is 20mm long, but longer surgical lengths are available and the are commonly essential for veterinary work.
Round Head
These heads can be used for cavity preparation, creating access points, undercuts and channels for luxator blades in extraction. Sizes vary from 1/4 to 9. Small the amount, small the head. The most effective sizes to make use of initially are 1, 2, and 4.
Pear Head
These heads bring cavity preparation, access points and splitting roots of small teeth. Essentially the most useful sizes are 330 and 330L
Crosscut Tapered Fissure Head
These heads bring sectioning multi-rooted teeth and reducing crown height when disarming dogs. Essentially the most useful sizes are 700/700L and 701/701L.
Finishing Burs
These heads can be used for finishing restorations, soft tissue recontouring, alveolaplasty, enameloplasty and odontoplasty. They can be obtained as 12 or 30 bladed burs in carbide steel or as diamond heads of various shapes. They’re also like white stone, for composite, or green stone, for amalgam.
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