title: Handpiece coolant flow rates and dental cutting.
abstract: High-speed handpieces incorporate water coolant sprays to remove cutting debris and minimize thermal insult to the pulp. Little data exists on optimal coolant flow rates during clinical procedures. This study compared the effect of different coolant flow rates on diamond stone cutting efficiency. Cutting studies were performed on Macor machinable ceramic using a previously developed test regimen--a KaVo high-speed handpiece at a cutting force of 91.5 g (0.9 N). Cutting was performed with round end tapered medium grit diamond stones under cooling water flow rates of 15, 20, 25, 30 and 44 ml/min, with cutting rates determined as the time to transect the 13 mm square cross-section of the Macor bar. Each bur was used for five cuts, with six burs used for each flow rate, for a total of 150 measurements. The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with a post hoc Scheffé test. The cutting studies indicated that diamond stone cutting rates increased with higher coolant flow rates over the range of 15-44 ml/min. The data suggest that higher coolant flow rates promote cutting efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dentistry, Dental School, University of Maryland, 666 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: von Fraunhofer
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002516:Ceramics; D003737:Dental Cavity Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003754:Dental High-Speed Equipment; D003764:Dental Materials; D018130:Diamond; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D012212:Rheology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D003764:Dental Materials; D014867:Water; D018130:Diamond; C023506:Glass ceramics