Believe it or not, before there were air handpieces, there were electric handpieces. Unfortunately, the early electric handpieces just weren't very good, with a standard speed of around 6,500 rpm during the 1950s. So when the Borden Airotor was patented in 1957 by John Borden, a Washington DC dentist, it transformed dentistry. The Airotor launched the era of high-speed dentistry.
The original Borden Airotor from 1957
But while the Borden handpiece delivered high rpm, it didn't have much torque. And when you look at the original Borden pictured above, it's amazing how little air handpieces have changed since 1957.
Don't get me wrong, air handpieces get better every year. But they still don't have a lot of torque, and they never will, because air simply doesn't have enough density. It's just physics. The good news is the lack of torque doesn't matter much if you're doing simple dentistry like pedodontics.
Electric dental handpieces are becoming a necessity
But as much of dentistry becomes more precise, for example, placing implants and performing rotary endodontics, electric handpieces have become imperative. Quite honestly, the purchase of specialty endodontic and surgical electric handpiece controllers has been a significant reason that our sister company, Ergonomic Products, has become the country’s leading manufacturer of something now commonly known as RapidCarts.
With RapidCarts you don't need expensive dental equipment dedicated to every operatory. Park your RapidCarts in a bay and deploy as needed to your operatories.
These narrow, tough, durable carts are made to roll quickly from room to room with the single version of your chosen specialty device. It's a great way to start using any specialty product such as a surgical handpiece unit. There are a whole bunch of dentists that haven't even begun their electric journey. They probably should start with one specialty unit of some sort today.
Ergonomic Products Stratus Workstation with full electric dental handpiece integration into channel that easily pivots for right and left-handed use
Going with all electric dental handpieces makes high-skill work easier
But what about those offices that perform implants and rotary endodontics on a daily or even an hourly basis? For those offices, let me try to convince you to broaden your thinking a bit. If you're using air handpieces in your general operatories, how much do you hate sectioning a Zirconia crown? And if you're still hand filing root canals at this point ... that's pretty much crazy ... and bad for your wrists. So what if every delivery unit cut the smoothest crown possible? What if every unit could do Wave One® endodontics? What if every unit could torque an implant? The answer is that you'd do a lot more of that sort of work if it we're that simple to do. This is what we see in practices that have adopted universal electric handpiece use.
So here's my opinion, unless your practice specializes in simple stuff (is that an oxymoron?), it's time to consider going all electric. And I mean all in. Not patched on. If you do high-skill work, it’s time to consider 100% integrated electric instrumentation in your dental office.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:
Automation And Robotics In The Dental Industry And At Design Ergonomics
“Why should people have to do jobs that machines can do?” asks Dr. David Ahearn, DDS, founder and President of Design Ergonomics and Ergonomic Products. “Many people haven’t been given enough chance to think creatively, but that is what humans excel at. We have a choice to either teach people to do jobs which are replaceable or to become better thinkers, which has tremendous potential value in increasing the quality of their lives. When given the choice I’ll always pursue the latter!” Read more
Topics:
