A dentist’s consultation kit consists of a dental mirror, brush and dental probe. These instruments are the tools that every dentist usually uses during routine clinical examinations. They make up the minimum, consultation or hand kit.
Even newer dental care kits for individual home use contain these instruments for self-monitoring. They are a good starting point in the study of a dentist’s instruments.
Dental mirror
It consists of three segments: handle, rod and active part.
The handle can be plastic on disposable ones, or it can be metal, stainless steel, sterilizable.
It has grooves along its length that allow the dentist to have a good grip on the instrument.
The stem is thin, slightly angled and joins the active part to the handle.
The active part is represented by the mirror itself, which is usually round, can be single or double (with both sides reflecting), concave or flat.
The usefulness of this instrument is to reflect light and to ensure a clear reflection at the same size as in reality of the intra-oral image.
There are also dental mirrors with their own light source or with image magnification effect.
In principle, a dentist uses a dental mirror to examine the faces of teeth that are impossible or difficult to see, to remove the tongue or cheek during maneuvers, for safety and visibility.
Dental probe
This is an exploratory instrument, also consisting of a handle, a rod and an active part.
The handle can be made of plastic or metal, the rod is curved so as to allow access to less accessible areas, and the active part can be single or double (single/double-headed), with which the dentist can examine, by probing, the presence of any carious lesions on the enamel surface, possible secondary caries under old, incorrectly fitted fillings, on inlays or on the edges of dental crowns.
The dental probe can be used to assess the degree of sensitivity of the tooth, as part of the control of certain stages of endodontic treatment.
There are also flexible probes with conical needles as the active part, which are used both for endodontic treatment and for evaluation and diagnosis (e.g. to detect cracks in the pulp chamber ceiling).
There are also graduated probes used in implantology to measure the depth of the neo alveolus.
Warning: The dental probe is NOT used in periodontal examination!
Periodontal probe
It is used to measure the depth of the gap between the gum and the tooth. It must be no more than 3mm deep, otherwise periodontal disease is diagnosed.
The WHO probe is a minimally invasive periodontal probe that has a thin, rounded, ball-shaped tip. The material from which it is made is stainless steel, resistant to all types of disinfection and sterilization. It is printed with a dark color grading, starting from 0.5, 3.5, 5.5, 8.5 to 11.5, resistant and easy to interpret, to help the dentist to determine the periodontal status.
Dental Tweezer
It is an instrument consisting of two active arms, with different angles, with flat or serrated tips, made of plastic for disposable instruments or stainless steel, sterilizable, which can have different uses.
Used for handling sterile materials and small instruments, as well as for inserting and removing dressings from the oral cavity.
Each dentist chooses the instruments he or she uses, usually for consultation, adding various instruments to those listed above.
