Elevators are undoubtedly necessary for any extraction operation. These are the dental extraction tools used to remove teeth. In addition to elevators, other instruments are needed for safe extraction.
When it comes to removing teeth, elevators and forceps are essential. Elevators can also be used to help with exodontia procedures.
In short, dental elevators are tools that loosen and remove teeth from their sockets. Apart from that, they assist in preparing the broken tooth roots that cannot be held with the forceps.
Table of Contents
- Dental Elevator Instrument Parts
- Triangular blade/Cryer Elevator
- Straight Blade/Couplant Elevators
- Pick Up Blade
- What Are the Uses of Elevators
- How to Use Dental Elevator Instruments
Summing Up
Dental Elevator Instrument Parts
Blade end and hand shank make up the dental elevators. Moreover, the tool’s handle is made of robust material to ensure a firm grip. A long or a short shank is a perfect choice for this, based on the operator’s choice. There are also a variety of designs for the blades so that they can easily hold the roots and teeth in difficult-to-reach areas.
Some blades are as below:
Triangular blade/Cryer Elevator
If the adjacent joints are hollow, these pennate-shaped elevator blades can help remove the maintained roots.
Straight Blade/Couplant Elevators
Such instruments are used to loosen teeth. There are concave-sided blades, as well as an angled side. Unlike the shank, this surface has an angled shape. Potts elevators, Miller’s elevators, etc., are few examples.
Pick Up Blade
A pick-up elevator can remove root tips that are difficult to grasp with other tools. When the elevator inserts into the hole dug in the small maintained tooth tip, the root tip can easily extract the tooth.
What Are the Uses of Elevators
The elevators are an excellent choice for revealing the mucoperiosteal membrane. It is also possible to remove decayed teeth and their roots using these tools.
As a bonus, elevators can luxate teeth before applying forceps. When combined with forceps, they make the tooth flexible enough to be grasped.
Dental elevators are an excellent option for breaking multirooted teeth and the ones with the cuts. Also, dentists use them to remove intra articular bones.
How to Use Dental Elevator Instruments
There are 3 different ways to use elevators. These can be used with:
- Lever Principle
- Wedge Principle
- Axle and Wheel Principle
In most cases, dental elevators also operate as levers. There comes the effort arm, followed by resistance. This gives the effort arm a mechanical advantage by making it longer than the resistance arm. When removing root tips, a wedging motion is helpful. By placing the elevator between the tooth and bone, it performs teeth luxation out of the socket.
When using dental elevators, tissue damage is always a possibility. During the entire procedure, it keeps the patient’s jaws supported. With the thumb and index finger, the Alveolus keeps in place while extracting the tooth. Tactile sensation is provided by placing the fingers labially, buccally, or lingually. Thus, preventing any force exertion on adjacent teeth. In addition, the adjacent teeth never use as props unless they are to be extracted as well, which is rare.
To conclude, elevators must use with a lot of practice. Overuse of force can result in permanent damage to the teeth’ surroundings and tissues. Elevators can also be helpful in the extraction process. However, forceps are excellent options for removing teeth. Overall, stay away from heavy force.
Summing Up
The dental instrument kit includes a set of elevators and other tools, and they are sharp and efficient. But it can become stale and ineffective over time. Therefore, in addition to proper use, make sure you’re maintaining them properly with optimum functioning. Routine cleaning and examinations are essential. Check the blades as well before performing any procedure because they can become dull from overuse.
Hope this write-up helps you in gathering knowledge about dental elevators. Thanks for reading!!