Dental Diagnostic Tools
BusinessMed® Dental Diagnostic Tools are the basic dental instruments of the oral examination: mouth mirrors and handles to see, light and retract; explorers and expros to feel caries, calculus and defective margins and to read pocket depth; cotton pliers to carry small items in and out of the mouth; and photography mirrors to record the teeth.
Types of basic dental instruments for examination
Mirrors and handles
Mouth mirror heads and the handles that carry them, in two thread systems that do not interchange. Start here when the tray needs indirect vision, light on the tooth or a cheek held aside. → Dental Mirrors and Mirror Handles
Explorers and expros
Numbered explorer patterns for detecting caries, calculus and defective restoration margins, and expros with a periodontal probe on the second end. Choose these when the exam has to feel the tooth surface or chart pockets in the same pass. → Dental Explorers and Expros
Cotton and dressing pliers
College, Meriam and Perry pliers that place cotton rolls and carry pellets, wedges and small items. These are for handling, not for examining a surface. → Dental Cotton Pliers
Intraoral photography mirrors
Occlusal, buccal and lingual mirrors for clinical photographs, for adults and children. Only needed where the practice keeps photo records. → Intraoral Photography Mirrors
How to choose dental diagnostic tools
- By task. To see and retract → mirror; to feel a surface or margin → explorer; to measure pocket depth → expro or a single periodontal probe; to carry cotton and small items → cotton pliers; to record → photography mirrors.
- Build the tray in pairs that match. Mirror heads must match the handle system already in the practice, and expro probe scales should match the charting the practice uses.
- Examination or root canal work. These are examination tools; slim endodontic explorers for canal orifices sit under Endodontic Instruments.
What are dental diagnostic tools used for?
These basic dental instruments are used in every oral examination and in restorative and hygiene appointments: indirect vision and retraction, caries and calculus detection, margin checks on fillings and crowns, periodontal charting, isolation with cotton rolls, and orthodontic, pediatric and restorative photo records. Diagnostic instruments and exam instruments of this kind make up the basic dental equipment of the examination tray.
How BusinessMed dental diagnostic tools are made
German stainless steel; explorers and pliers have a satin, non-reflective finish and photography mirrors a polished face. All are reusable, autoclavable and covered by a 5-year warranty — examination tools built for repeated sterilization cycles.