Ortho Supplies
- Thread starter SeaBass
- Start date
- Joined
- May 19, 2008
- Messages
- 66
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- Resident [Any Field]
Ask current residents in your program. Most programs will give you a list and tell you what you need, but the residents know what you actually need.
I think Orthopli treat the residents really good and will take anything back and swap you if you don't use it much. Their prices are fair and they have great customer service. They also give you a free instrument each year.
I really like Hu-Friedy for their universal distal end cutter, which is your workhorse cutter. Their flush cut and hold sucks though (even with the new redesign).
I bought as much as I could from orthoclub. I had a lot of problems with the orders though, since they had just been sold, so hopefully now everything is fixed. They waive the membership fee for residents. I just looked and their whole website has been re-designed (it used to be pretty ghetto, but in a cool way). I got a really cheap handpiece from them and it rocks!
We didn't have a choice since my ortho program bought all the ortho instruments for us. A lot of them I think were a waste of money. In private practice, I only use these instruments:
-Mathieu: $7-10 each
-Explorers: $1-2 each
-Cotton pliers: $1-2 each
-Bird beak plier: $10 each. I bend everything with this plier (loop, step, torque etc).
-3-prong plier: $10-20 each
I bought all of the above items (except the 3 prong) on ebay and they still work great after 5-6 years.
- Medium sized Scandee cheek retractor ($17 each): I use this both for bonding amd taking photos.
- Bracket tweezers: $5 each
- Occlusal mirrors: $50 each.
I buy all of these from osecomapny.com, ortho-direct.com, and orthotechnology.com.
-Mixing spatulas: $2-3
-Bite stick: $7-10
-Band pusher/scaler (pusher at one end and scaler at the other end): $5-10
-Band remover: $30
You don't need to buy the above items if you bond the 6s and 7s. I still band them to avoid breakages and emergency calls.
-Straight and distal-end cutters: I buy Hu-Friedy cutters from Pearsondental.com for $150/each. Hu-Friedy pliers are the best. They usually last 3-5 years
-High/low speed handpieces: I buy cheap highspeed handpieces on Ebay for $25/each and I throw them away when they stop working.
With less than $8000, I can buy 30 sets of basic setup (Mathieu, explorers, cotton pliers), 15 birdbeaks, 10 3-prongs, 10 sets of banding setup (band remover, spatulas, pusher, bite stick), 20 pairs of distal-end and and 20 pairs of straight cutters and 10 high speed handpieces.
-Mathieu: $7-10 each
-Explorers: $1-2 each
-Cotton pliers: $1-2 each
-Bird beak plier: $10 each. I bend everything with this plier (loop, step, torque etc).
-3-prong plier: $10-20 each
I bought all of the above items (except the 3 prong) on ebay and they still work great after 5-6 years.
- Medium sized Scandee cheek retractor ($17 each): I use this both for bonding amd taking photos.
- Bracket tweezers: $5 each
- Occlusal mirrors: $50 each.
I buy all of these from osecomapny.com, ortho-direct.com, and orthotechnology.com.
-Mixing spatulas: $2-3
-Bite stick: $7-10
-Band pusher/scaler (pusher at one end and scaler at the other end): $5-10
-Band remover: $30
You don't need to buy the above items if you bond the 6s and 7s. I still band them to avoid breakages and emergency calls.
-Straight and distal-end cutters: I buy Hu-Friedy cutters from Pearsondental.com for $150/each. Hu-Friedy pliers are the best. They usually last 3-5 years
-High/low speed handpieces: I buy cheap highspeed handpieces on Ebay for $25/each and I throw them away when they stop working.
With less than $8000, I can buy 30 sets of basic setup (Mathieu, explorers, cotton pliers), 15 birdbeaks, 10 3-prongs, 10 sets of banding setup (band remover, spatulas, pusher, bite stick), 20 pairs of distal-end and and 20 pairs of straight cutters and 10 high speed handpieces.
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