Preliminary study of a novel dental hand instrument for restorative procedures

Abstract

Introduction he consensus on operative dentistry hand in-strumentation for restorative procedures re-mains unclear and subjective with only general guidelines. 1 Generally, one instrument will provide one function. The clinician determines which in-strument to use for the specific task, 2,3 and this in-formation is typically acquired from their dental education. 4 Consequently, numerous instruments are required for the predictable and successful place-ment, shaping and carving of dental restorations. The multi-instrumentation approach can impact clinical efficiency, causing increased procedural time. 5 Addi-tionally, the set-up, take-down and sterilization times may be negatively impacted. These factors may tend to reduce production and increase frustration for the clinician. Within an academic setting, the aspect of multi-instrumentation may lead to confusion, affect-ing the confidence and learning process of the dental student. 6 The objective of this investigation was to develop a novel multi-use, cost-effective dental hand instru-ment that had the functionality of several hand in-struments. The intent was to provide an alternative instrument to several other single task instruments. The prototype instrument, termed GTI, would hypo-thetically provide a higher quality and more efficient restoration, and could be rapidly translated to indus-try and market. Abstract Background. There is no clear consensus on operative hand instrumentation. In general, there is one hand instrument that