Have you ever been curious about what items your dentist uses to help keep your teeth healthy? Employees in a dental office work hard and perform special tasks to keep things clean and in working order. When you go visit your dentist and sit in the chair in the exam room, you don’t always see all the interesting items that help dental professionals do their jobs. There are several types of machines that are used daily inside a dentist’s practice.
Electric Hand Tools
Some of the most important items in a dentist’s office are the electric hand tools used to work on peoples’ teeth. When you sit in the exam chair inside the office, these types of machines are usually stationed right next to the chair. These tools need to be in close proximity to both the dentist and the patient. These instruments include drills, suction tools, a precision water tool, and other hand tools that are used to drill and shape teeth. When a dentist has issues with any of these tools, they would want to consult with a company that offers services like dental instrument repair.
Sanitizing Machines
Because most dental hand tools are made out of surgical stainless steel, they can be reused with other patients after they’ve been sanitized. Dentists and dental hygienists require a variety of different shaped hand tools to perform office procedures. Hygienists may use over a dozen different tools just to clean one person’s teeth. Because each tooth inside a person’s mouth has different shapes and placements, dental professionals must use many different sized tools. These instruments are put into a vibrating liquid container after they’ve been used. After they have gone through this procedure, they are then placed into sealed packages and put inside an autoclave. This is an oven-like machine that heats the tools to high enough temperatures to sterilize the equipment.
X-Ray Equipment
Most dentist offices have equipment in place to perform x-rays on people’s teeth. X-rays are helpful to see inside a tooth to determine how much decay is there. The film is placed in a person’s mouth, and an x-ray generator is used to create an image radiographically. The film is then taken to a designated darkroom to be developed.
Dental professionals work with interesting and unique tools every day. The next time you go to the dentist, you can appreciate all the hard work that goes into their valuable craft.
