Quieter Dental Drills may be on the Horizon

 

It's interesting to me how people perceive the dental profession.  I haven't used air turbine driven handpieces in least fifteen years, possibly longer.  What I prefer to use in the handpiece in the image above, which is the Bien Air Nova which is an electric handpiece.  That handpiece has completely changed the way I practice.  I've written about it since its release and I also shot a series of videos for the Bien Air Academy that show me putting it through some of the amazing things it's capable of.

Because of that, I don't even pick up an air driven handpiece anymore.  However, the patient perception of whining high speed handpieces driven by an air turbine persist.  Today's post is to let you know about a recent article in Popular Science that talks about research into making air driven handpieces quieter.  A lot of study is going into changing the turbine blade shape and other things in attempts to make the sound less piercing.

I'm all for research and perhaps for a doctor on a very limited budget, air driven handpieces might be a good choice, to get by until upgrading to electric.  However with the things electric handpieces can do *without* the associated noise, I wonder if this concept will find its way to the market.  I didn't change to electric because of the noise, although it *is* a nice benefit.  No, I made the move to electric because of all of the performance and efficiency benefits electric handpieces provide.

My Bien Air Novas aren't just 'replacements" for my old air driven systems, they are a much, much better alternative.  Since you can change the RPM of the handpiece with the push of a button, it eliminates the need to have a slow speed for practically any restorative procedure.  Slow speed caries removal?  Check!  High speed smooth prepping for crowns?  Check!  Cutting through zirconia?  Double check because the Nova does NOT stall, meaning I can perform zirconia crown removal, faster and easier than is possible with an air turbine.

My advice is that if you haven't ever tried a Bien Air handpiece, you don't know what you're missing.  The moment you do a demo, the benefit is obvious.  I highly recommend giving the 
Bien Air Nova a try in your own hands.  Most likely the only question you'll have is "when can it be delivered?"  The difference is that profound.  Check out their website here.