Your dental handpiece is the center of your dental practice. Speed and precision are two things that you should look for in a handpiece. The better your handpiece, the smoother the day-to-day operation of your dental practice will be. There’s many different types of tools that you need at your dental practice, but there’s non more important than your dental handpiece. Understanding the different types of handpieces and the parts that are involved in maintaining them.

High speed handpieces are also known as drills in the dental world. This tool is a power-driven tool that has speeds of 400,000 rpm and up. The drill is of course used to drill holes for fillings and assist in other types of dental work like polishing dental trays for dentures.

Many manufacturers use the same types of models, making dental handpiece repairs across brands and manufacturers an easier task.

Low speed handpieces rotate at reduced speeds somewhere between 0 and 80,000 rpm, depending upon the make and model. These handpieces are equipped with a speed control ring, allowing you as the user to control the speed of the ring manually.

The type of repair that you need will depend on the type of handpiece that you have. Most dental offices use high speed handpieces more often than low speed, yet both are useful. You should expect to need your high speed handpiece maintained more often due to the wear and tear on the bearings. The type of maintenance that you perform on your handpiece will also depend on the intricate parts involved on each type of dental equipment.

There’s two main types of handpieces: turbine and electric. Both give dentists and their patients exceptional results. The choice really has to do with your own team’s training, work style, and needs.

Traditional handpieces use an air-driven turbine to facilitate the rotators. These have a lighter weight and a skinny design, making them easy to work with. While turbine handpieces have many advantages, they can also cause higher levels of “noise” as the handpiece ages and the bearings wear down.

Electric handpiece repair doesn’t require a complete rebuilding of the tool each and every time. Most times, the parts that are causing the issues are inspected and replaced if needed.

Sometimes, factory parts are required for a repair, other times, bearings of higher ratings can be used, depending on the state of the tool itself. Each brand and variation of handpiece has a different number of bearings and gears. That’s why you need to send your most important tool to the right repair company to ensure a safe and effective repair.