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 burs.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.

Best Dental drills,which have a distinctive,shrill sound,are often a prominent factor in many people's fear of dentistry.

Dental bur
A dental bur is a type of burr (cutter) used in a handpiece.The burs are usually made of tungsten carbide or diamond.The three parts to a bur are the head,the neck,and the shank.

The heads of some burs (such as tungsten carbide burs) contain the blades[citation needed] which remove material.These blades may be positioned at different angles in order to change the property of the bur.More obtuse angles will produce a negative rake angle which increases the strength and longevity of the bur.More acute angles will produce a positive rake angle which has a sharper blade,but which dulls more quickly.The heads of other commonly used burs are covered in a fine grit which has a similar cutting function to blades (e.g.high speed diamond burs).

There are various shapes of burs that include round,inverted cone,straight fissure,tapered fissure,and pear-shaped burs.Additional cuts across the blades of burs were added to increase cutting efficiency,but their benefit has been minimized with the advent of high-speed handpieces.These extra cuts are called crosscuts.

Due to the wide array of different burs,numbering systems to categorize burs are used and include a US numbering system and a numbering system used by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).



Maintenance
The instrument needs to be disinfected after every usage to prevent infection during succeeding incisions.Due to the mechanical structure of the device,this must not be done with alcoholic disinfectant,as that would destroy the lubricants.Instead it has to be done in an autoclave after removing the drill,washing the instrument with water and lubricating it.

Alternatives
Starting in the 1990s,a number of alternatives to conventional rotary dental drills have been developed.These include laser ablation systems and air abrasion devices (essentially miniature sand blasters) or dental treatments with ozone.

Other uses
Dental drills and burrs are commonly used by jewellers and hobbyists for high-precision drilling work.

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