“How long will my instruments last?”
While it may seem like a complicated question, it doesn’t have to be.
Every patient and every tooth is different. When you can feel a blade is getting dull, you may catch yourself just gradually applying a little more pressure, or find yourself using more strokes to remove tough calculus.
When an instrument is dull, you have to apply more pressure to effectively remove calculus. This increase in necessary pressure is harder on your body and harder on your patients. An instrument without a sharp edge can also burnish calculus instead of removing it.
The question we should be asking is, “When is my blade beginning to dull?”
How about a quick check on a PDT PingRing?
PDT’s PingRing works like any other test stick but, because it rests on your finger, it’s easier to hold and less likely to slip during testing.
To use it, just hold your instrument blade on the ring at the same angle you would when adapting to a tooth. If it slides or scrapes across the surface of the ring, your instrument will likely do the same on a tooth, burnishing calculus. This means it’s time to resharpen your instrument — or, if the instrument you’re using can’t be resharpened, recycle and replace it.
When the instrument cuts into the ring, and you hear the ping sound, you know you have a healthy cutting edge that’s ready for you and your patient.
By regularly using the PingRing to test your instruments, especially at the first sign of dullness, you will be able to hone the edge of an instrument in only a few strokes with the PDT Gleason Guide™. Because you don’t need to radically reshape the edges on your instruments, you spend less time on sharpening and give your instruments a much longer effective life. Plus, because you’re always using a sharp edge, your hands will feel better, procedures will be faster, and you’ll rest easy knowing you got all that calculus.
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InfoT060 PingRing — Sharpness Tester
$5.26 MSRP
Why is a sharp instrument so important?
- Sharp instruments protect your hands by reducing the amount of pressure you need to apply to remove calculus.
- Sharp instruments keep your patients more comfortable by reducing the necessary number of strokes to remove calculus.
- Sharp instruments shorten the amount of time you need to spend removing calculus and give you more time to focus on patient education and care.
- Sharp instruments prevent accidentally burnishing calculus during cleaning.
Keep Your Edge Longer
PDT’s Gleason Guide™ is the perfect, easy-to-use solution for keeping your scalers, curettes, and graceys sharp in-office. Just Stop, Rest, and Glide your way to a sharp, perfect edge without worrying about the clock!
Designed in the USA and handcrafted in Montana