Nothing piques a patient’s curiosity more than a tray full of dental instruments. The picks, scalers and polishers are both intriguing and frightening if you don’t know their purpose. However, for dental assistants, they’re the tools of the trade. They are the everyday instruments used to examine, clean and repair teeth. Let’s examine the most common tools you’ll use on the job and how you’ll care for them.
What Tools Does a Dental Assistant Use?
Dental assistants prepare, use and care for hundreds of different tools from instruments to electronic equipment. The most common are:
Dental Trays
Dental trays hold different tool sets for specific procedures. You’ll prepare one for cleanings, for example, and another for fillings. Treatments can be unpredictable until the dentist examines the patient, so being prepared improves efficiency.
Mouth Mirrors
A mouth mirror is a flat, round reflector on a slim metal handle. The broad head retracts the cheek while reflecting light into areas of the mouth the dentist couldn’t otherwise see.
Probes
Probes are used to identify tooth decay. By pushing on enamel with a sharp, angled probe, dentists can map soft spots and cavities in need of repair. Hygienists use gentler periodontal probes to measure the depth of spaces under the gum line where bacteria can hide. Dental assistants prepare an assortment of probes for most exams.
Scalers
Dental scalers are sharp instruments used to scrape tartar off teeth. Available in dozens of shapes for access to the smallest spaces, they’re essential for cleanings. Periodontal scalers have a narrow tip that reaches between teeth.
Spatulas
Spatulas are used to mix filling materials. Lightweight, they’re made of plastic or metal in a variety of shapes and sizes for compounds with different textures.
Carvers
Dental carvers consist of a handle, shank, and blade. Double or single-ended, they’re used to broadly sculpt fillings so that they resemble a natural tooth. More than a cosmetic procedure, it preserves the contour so that the filling occludes properly when the patient chews.
Burnishers
Burnishers are similar to carvers but more refined. They put the final touches on an amalgam or ceramic filling, fine-tuning the shape and smoothing the surface.
Retractors and Gags
Retractors and gags are used to expose teeth by pulling back the cheeks and tongue or positioning tissue that has been displaced by injury.
Howe Pliers
How pliers are thin, serrated pliers used for grasping packing and bending wire. The ends are curved and slightly tapered for easy access to teeth in tight spaces.
ElevatorsSet featured image
Elevators are wedged into the periodontal space between the tooth and jawbone, applying upward pressure on an extraction. Demists use it to separate the tooth from its ligament.
Excavators
Excavators are used to scrape decay from a tooth before a filling. With experience, you’ll learn which shape and size the dentist will ask for based on the depth and location of the cavity.
Extraction Forceps
Forceps are used to extract teeth. There are dozens of different types, each with a unique head designed for the shape of a specific tooth.
Retraction Cords
Dental retraction cords resemble floss. Placed in the gingival sulcus, they provide separation between the gum and a tooth for repairs or impressions.
Impression Trays
Impression trays are made of stainless steel or plastic. They hold the material used to make oral impressions for crowns and other restorations.
Matrix Bands
A matrix band creates a mold for fillings. When placed around the tooth by a dental assistant, it permits the dentist to restore a three-dimensional surface.
Condensers
Dental condensers, or pluggers, are flat instruments used to pack cavities with amalgam or composite compounds. The metal is coated to prevent sticking.
Osteotomes
Osteotomes are wedge-shaped metal instruments used to cut or plane bone. They’re used to pave the way for dental implants.
College Tweezers
College tweezers, or cotton pliers, are used to place cotton packing between the cheek and gum. The angle head improves the angle of operation, the serrated tip offers a firm grasp.
Dental Elastics
Dental elastics are rubber bands used for orthodontic treatments. Applied to braces, they provide the pressure needed to move teeth into the correct position. As a dental assistant, you’ll help place elastics and teach patients how to change them at home.
Dental Dams
Dental dams are sheets or flexible nitrile used to protect an operative site from the rest of the mouth. A common tool in oral surgery practices, it’s the dental equivalent of a surgeon’s drape.
Biopsy Containers
Oral surgeons may take biopsies of suspicious lesions to check for infections or cancer. As a dental assistant, you’ll collect the samples in special jars filled with a preservative solution that keeps samples fresh for examination.
Saliva Ejectors
A saliva ejector is a narrow suction tube through which dental assistants remove water, debris, and saliva from the mouth. The teeth stay drier, and the patient is more comfortable.
Air-Water Syringes
Air-water syringes inject streams of air or water into the patient’s mouth. Bursts of compressed air help dry teeth, improving the adhesion of filling materials. Water rinses away blood, saliva, and bits of debris. Dental assistants manage water and suction simultaneously to keep the patient’s mouth clear.
Ultrasonic Polishers
Ultrasonic polishers put a shine on teeth using vibrations. Electrically powered, a soft rubber cup mounted to a wand is filled with a polishing compound and applied to the teeth to remove stains and smooth out the enamel. Dental assistants use polishers to eliminate the minor surface imperfections that attract cavity-causing bacteria.
Bitewing Blocks
Bitewing blocks are used to take x-rays of teeth. The position sensors are behind the teeth and in front of the x-ray tube. A rigid frame keeps the block in place while the radiograph is taken. Dental assistants are responsible for positioning the block for patient comfort and image clarity.
X-Ray Drapes
Dental x-rays expose patients to radiation. The dose is minimal, a set of bitewings produces 0.005 millisieverts or less. However, over time, the dosage is cumulative. So dental assistants protect patients with lead aprons and drapes.
Lead is among the few materials through which x-rays cannot pass. You’ll shield pregnant patients with a full-frontal apron and everyone with a thyroid neck drape.
Sharps Containers
Dentists administer injections using syringes and needles. Sharps containers are red, puncture-proof biohazard receptacles into which used supplies go to prevent injury.
Dental assistants are typically responsible for swapping out boxes and arranging for incineration when they’re full. You’ll check treatment rooms each shift to ensure one is always available.
Autoclaves
Autoclaves are sterilizers. They use a combination of pressure and steam or gas to kill dangerous microorganism and their spores. Dental assistants use autoclaves to sterilize instruments and heat-resistant supplies.
How Does a Dental Assistant Prepare Tools for the Dentist?
Dental assistants select and arrange tools on instrument trays. And they use and pass instruments during procedures. However, among their most important responsibilities is to keep tools pathogen-free using one of these three methods:
Sanitation
Sanitation is a general term describing cleaning practices in public health settings. Where people gather, there are more germs. In a dental practice, chemical solutions can reduce the number of pathogens on hard surfaces, taming the spread of diseases.
Dental assistants sanitize sinks, floors, and countertops at least daily and if there’s a spill. Stronger measures are required in work areas where pathogens are more prevalent.
Disinfection
Disinfection is a step up on the pathogen-kill ladder. The chemicals are significantly stronger than the average floor cleaner, containing harsh ingredients, such as chlorine, that inactivate stubborn microorganisms on work surfaces.
Time is also a factor. Disinfecting solutions are tested to see how long they take to kill bacteria. Some can take up to 10 minutes, during which time the surface must remain wet. Dental assistants use disinfectants to clean exam rooms and equipment surfaces. Common touch points are treated between each visit.
Sterilization
Sterilization is a more complete disinfection process that kills all pathogens and their spores. Wrapped in a hard, waxy coating, spores are difficult to eradicate, yet they can still cause disease. It takes nothing less than cold sterilization solutions or an autoclave to eliminate them all. Any tool that goes into a patient’s mouth must be sterile.
Autoclaving is preferred for dental instruments, but plastic tools are not heat-resistant. And because it takes time, up to several hours per batch of instruments, it’s performed daily or weekly. Cold sterilization solutions are a good alternative for immediate needs.
Sterilization is a painstaking process. Tools must be scrubbed free of debris and then soaked in a concentrated solution or wrapped for pressure treatment. And because autoclaves can fail like any device, quality control measures are imperative. Packs are sealed with reactive tape that changes color only when the proper level of heat and pressure is achieved. Dental assistants manage the sterilization process from start to finish.
How Do You Become a Dental Assistant?
Becoming a dental assistant is as easy as enrolling in a vocational school program. Programs are short but the curriculum is comprehensive, and schedules are lifestyle friendly.
You’ll graduate with a diploma in less than a year, ready to take your place in a growing industry.
Final Thoughts
You’ll do much more as a dental assistant than care for instruments. Still, tools are an integral part of everything you’ll do, so you’ll need to identify, use, and care for them properly. It’s a tall order, but you’re not alone. If you bring the enthusiasm, a vocational school program will teach you the rest.
Want to Learn More?
The Dental Assistant training program at Meridian College provides extensive hands-on training including a school externship at a dental office where you will assist the dentist in treating actual patients.
Meridian College also has dedicated school instructors, which offer you training in dental assisting that you can use to get an entry-level position at a dentist office or dental clinic. You get to work in real world situations and use your training from classroom lectures to further your skill during lab work in dental assisting.
Contact Meridian College today to learn more about becoming a dental assistant.