Drilling tips

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r2thekesh

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Hi Guys,

On class 1 preps where a dovetail is called for (I'm a D1 starting on dentoforms this week), any tips on getting the dovetails? Any drilling tips in general? I've spent some time with a both high speed and low speed. When I'm slowing down the speed, the handpiece seems to jump? Anyway to correct that?

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if it's jumping, you probably have an old bur and need to replace it.
you also might be slowing down the high speed bur too much...that handpiece is built to spin fast...if you want to go slower, switch to the slow speed for now.
i suggest getting the general form with the high speed handpiece at high speed and then refining it with the slow speed handpiece. You can knock out the unsupported enamel with a hand instrument.

right now, you're learning fine motor technique and that just takes practice...trial and error...

make sure you have the mannequin's body adjusted to your height and its neck angled appropriately for either direct or indirect vision...get some good loupes (>3.5x) and become comfortable with your mirror. Don't hold your handpiece too tightly or else you'll lose all fine motor capability. I found it best to have index, thumb and lateral portion of middle finger pads on the handpiece so that I can feel the vibrations and fine touch as much as possible. i rest the handpiece on my middle finger and "pinch" the handpiece with my index and thumb at opposite ends...my fingers form a three pronged pincer. my grip is relatively close to the handpiece's head similar to how you would hold a pencil grip.

the speed at which you move your bur is going to determine whether your outline will be jagged or smooth. If you go too slow, it'll be jagged but if you go too fast, it'll be harder to control. I think the speed at which you should move the bur is close to the speed at which you would put contacts on your eye. lol
 
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Draw the outline with a pencil early on (on any prep you want). Keep a mechanical #7 around. Basically right down the central groove in this case. That almost covers your measurements. Water won't rinse away the lead.
 
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use a 330 bur when you start. the prep should ideally be 1.7-2mm. the cutting end of a standard 330 bur is 2mm. but keep in mind that you may want to go in with a slow speed afterwards due to the pear shaped drill bit of the bur so you can flatten out your pulpal floor. i started off using a 330 just to get an idea of the depth, and then i'd go in with a 56 slow speed. i personally just use a 1556 fissured bur now, and seldom use a slow speed.. once you get the hang of drilling, you'll get to the point where you can prep in like 5 minutes or so without having to go back to smoothen everything out. remember, keep the bur perpendicular to the long axis of the tooth (assuming that you're dealing with posterior teeth)
 
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wow - all of your responses are incredibly detailed ... amazing.
 
Dig in and let 'er rip! It's just a plastic tooth. tell the teacher that the decay extended more than you thought.
 
Yup, tell them you are preparing yourself for private practice and think the tooth needs a root canal$
 
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