Läs artikeln om detta revolutionerande instrument som är helt slipfritt och ändå behåller sin skärpa.

by Stephen Pohlman - American Eagle Instruments

Look around your dental office, and you will find very few items that are old - or that were conceived more than 20-30 years ago. You make a conscious effort to keep up with research and technology.

Yet look at your hand instruments, the scalers and curettes. The basic material has not changed for over 100 years. The biggest name in curettes, Gracey, was born in the late 1930s, over 70 years ago.

Scalers and curettes - let’s call them curettes - need to be sharp, and therefore they have to be sharpened. And as soon as they are sharpened, they start to change shape. The Gracey 11-12 never looks like new when it is discarded.

Now, how about a little questionnaire:
- Who likes sharpening?
- Who thinks they are good at sharpening?
- Who has time for sharpening?
- Who gets paid for sharpening?
And finally,
- How often do you sharpen your instruments?

I think that 98% of the answers to the first 4 questions will be the same. (The other 2% usually are from those who teach sharpening). The answer to the last question is always interesting. EVERY instrument manufacturer and every academic will advise that instruments really do need sharpening between every use.

[Important reminder

: the more often instruments that are sharpened, the less they need to be sharpened each time. A once-used instruments often only need fine-sharpening - stropping - like the hairdresser’s razor blade on leather. Such regular sharpening is easiest to remember to do; it becomes automatic. Instruments always are sharp, and the fine-sharpening will increase the life of the instrument. Manufacturers don’t like to admit this, of course. But it’s the truth.]

5 years ago, American Eagle Instruments launched their XP range of instruments. The surface engineering, using nano-technology, creates a dense and extremely smooth surface that increases the wear resistance by well over 100 times. Instruments now stay sharp so long that the user can afford to discard the instruments before needing to sharpen them.

- The sharpening of instruments has now been ELIMINATED. No more sharpening! - For the first time ever, after proper use, the instrument that is discarded has the same shape as the instrument purchased. Efficiency at last.

The same is the case for the ultrasonic piezo tips. Currently, all manufactures sell a wide range of specially-designed tips. And these are rather expensive. The manufacturer is forced to advise that instruments can be used until they have worn away up to 2mm of length, at which time the tip has lost 50% efficiency. What a sad confession.

American Eagle is the only company that produces quality tips that last so long, the operator can afford to discard the tips when they START to lose efficiency, when the sound, vibration or length is changing, and not wait until 50% efficiency has been lost.

LM is a leading manufacturer of dental instruments from Finland. A few years ago, they collaborated with a clever Swedish dentist who had designed a double Gracey instrument: a combination of 11-12 and 13-14, but without the safe side. The Syntette was born, and has been a great success.

One problem: sharpening. The regular Gracey is difficult enough to sharpen. A double-sided version is almost impossible to get right. So American Eagle gave birth to the Scandette: a Syntette-like instrument that does not need sharpening. It is not officially Universal. It does have 2 cutting edges on each blade, but it also has 2 faces, which is unique. This means that the instrument enters the pocket at a ‘Gracey’ angle, and not at a ‘Universal’ angle.

Now you have the ideal instrument....And the mini version is now going into production. Half the number of instruments in the tray, faster choice of the instrument, easier and more efficient handling - and NO SHARPENING! This is the change that the hygienist and the periodontist have been waiting for. At last, an instrument, whether or ultrasonic, that works predictably and efficiently. And no more sharpening...Now the lunch-breaks can be used for...lunch.