Parkell TurboSensor Ultrasonic Scaler is a Winner!

One of the best things about my job(s) is getting to test and tinker.  I love getting my hands on and testing (sometimes breaking) the latest and greatest things on the market.  I've been lucky enough to be able to do this for years and over the last couple of years, I've been combining my work with Dental Products Report with product testing.  We call them "Test Drives" and they let me combine testing with a written piece and a video that go along with that testing.

I've just completed a Test Drive and I'd like to make today's post about that experience.  The team and I have been putting the TurboSensor ultrasonic scaler through some rigorous paces lately. 

If you've been in dentistry, even for a little while, you're probably familiar with the name Parkell.  The company started in 1948 and you don't survive in dentistry that long unless you make some pretty good products

Ultrasonic scalers are pretty much the heart and soul of a modern dental hygiene department.  It is a piece of equipment that you really cannot do without.  However, the market today has a couple of drawbacks.  Number one is price.  Ultrasonic units tend to be expensive.  Number two is size.  Many of the units on the market today are pretty large.

Parkell has done a great job of dealing with both of these issues.  As far as price, Parkell has carved a very nice place in the market with quality products at reasonable prices.  The company makes good products that they stand behind.  If you are looking to make a purchase and not dip into your retirement account to do so, Parkell should be someone you are familiar with.  They sell direct to the dentist to try and keep prices as low as possible and they stand behind what the sell.

As far as the size of the unit, it is 1.5 inches high, 5.5 inches wide, and 7.5 inches in depth.  Suffice it to say the unit is pretty small.  I find this a tremendous advantage as we keep adding hardware to our clinical armamentarium, but we don't keep adding counter space along with it.  We are running out of p laces to put things and Parkell did a good job of designing a unit that is small but still powerful.

The unit automatically senses which ultrasonic insert is placed into the handpiece and adjusts itself accordingly.  It also has a "turbo" feature which I like.  If the clinician happens to come across a tenacious area of calculus, a hard press on the foot control causes the unit to automatically increase in power.  Once the debris is removed, stepping back off the controller reverts back to the power it was set to originally.  It's a nice feature that means the user does not have to turn away to dial the power up and then turn away again to dial the power back down.

It also has autoclavable handpieces to help decrease cross-contamination.  The handpiece itself has a nice ergonomic design that feels good in all the hands I had use it... including mine.  

My hygiene team has been very happy with the TurboSensor unit.  If you are in the market for an ultrasonic scaler that will fit your budget, give this unit a look see.  I think you'll like it.

Here is a link to the device page on the Parkell site.