Evaluation of wear degree of rotational instruments with diamond coat

Monika Gwoździk, Zbigniew Bałaga, Dariusz Wróbel, Zygmunt Nitkiewicz

Quarterly No. 4, 2017 pages 216-220

DOI:

keywords: dental burs, diamond coat, LM, SEM, EDS

abstract The paper presents the results of studies on the degree of wear of commercial dental burs with a diamond coat of the same diamond grain size. The assessment comprised burs designed for palatal development and also burs intended to prepare tooth tissues by grinding. Observations of worn bur surfaces were performed after long-term use in a dental surgery. An Olympus SZ61 stereoscopic microscope and also a JEOL JSM-6610LV scanning electron microscope working with an Oxford EDS electron microprobe X-ray analyser were used for metallographic examinations. It was found that the studied dental instruments become damaged both during their use and during sterilization. The obtained results of the examinations showed that mainly the palatal bur, used to treat teeth on the palate side, was corroded. The working parts of the palatal burs were degraded through abrasion (edge rounding) and crumbling away of the diamond phase as well as by the occurrence of microcracks in the composite matrix, whereas the flame bur designed to prepare tooth tissues (flame-shaped bur with a safe end - the tip without a diamond coat), were degraded through bits of the diamond phase crumbling away, through microcrack formation between this phase and the matrix, and also by crumbling away of the matrix, as well as the flame bur designed to prepare tooth tissues (flame-shaped diamond bur) through the diamond phase breaking off.