Periodontal Instruments

Types of periodontal instruments

Assessment

• Periodontal Probes — Williams, Michigan O, Merritt and Goldman-Fox probes for pocket depth and charting. Start here for the periodontal exam.

Scaling and root planing

• Dental Scalers — sickle scalers for supragingival calculus and universal scalers; not for use inside the pocket (sickles).
• Universal Dental Curettes — Columbia and Barnhart universal curettes that work every surface with two edges.
• Gracey Curettes — area-specific curettes with one cutting edge; extended-shank and mini versions.
• Titanium-Coated Scalers and Curettes — the same patterns with a titanium coating.

Periodontal surgery

• Periodontal Bone Chisels — Ochsenbein, Kirkland, Rhodes, Buser and Solt chisels for ostectomy and osteoplasty.

How to choose periodontal instruments

• By step. Assessment → probe; supragingival calculus → sickle scaler; subgingival calculus and root planing → curette; bone recontouring → chisel.
• Universal or area-specific. One universal curette works the whole mouth with two edges; Gracey curettes each cover their own surfaces.
• Pocket depth. Extended shanks (Gracey long, Barnhart) for deep pockets; mini blades for narrow pockets and furcations.
• Plain or titanium-coated. Many periodontal tools come both ways: the same blade patterns are offered in plain stainless steel and with a titanium coating.

What are periodontal instruments used for?

Periodontal charting, routine scaling and periodontal maintenance, scaling and root planing in periodontal therapy, and ostectomy and osteoplasty during periodontal flap surgery. Periodontal instrumentation in this sense — probing, scaling, root planing — is done with these perio instruments.

How BusinessMed periodontal instruments are made

German stainless steel with a satin, non-reflective finish, or with a titanium coating on the titanium patterns. Reusable, autoclavable and covered by a 5-year warranty; each periodontal tool page lists its own pattern, ends and handle.