TOP TEN Ways to know when you need a new Ultrasonic Scaler!

1 You actually would rather hand scale than use that thing!

And now...the serious side

10. You do a little bit of hand scaling before you use the ultrasonic just to loosen things up.
When you're faced with heavy, tenacious calculus, you know you can use a heavy, sharp hand instrument. Because you are actively removing chunks of calculus, or sheets of stain, you're working hard, but at least you're seeing results. The cost is fatigue, possible personal injury or trauma for the patient, and surely time. If you use an ultrasonic scaler, you expect power and speed, but often find that you are going over and over a spot without results: it's frustrating, and feels like a waste of time. Perhaps you are wasting time with inefficient equipment or instruments. Old technology needs to be upgraded to take advantage of great improvements in equipment design, and instruments must be replaced when they are worn.

9. Patients have to be physically restrained in the chair when you pick up the scaler handpiece.
Have you recently resurrected forgotten machines so you could "keep up with the times"? Since most of us received little or no instruction in operating and maintaining ultrasonic equipment, we learned by "trial and error". Unfortunately, there were patients involved, who remember how it feels to have ultrasonic tips turned up and pressed hard into their teeth. Now that we know about the "light touch" necessary to get results and protect our patients, we will have to convince many patients to give it another try. You should know the tip motion (tip movement pattern and range of motion at different power settings) of your technology, and understand how to avoid instrument adaptation, which might be painful.

8. Patients show up wearing shower caps, robes and swim goggles.
Do you remember covering the patient with towels and wanting some for yourself? You should be able to adjust today's equipment so that the water is manageable, the tips are appropriate for the work you are doing, and aerosol is evacuated immediately. If these options are not functioning on your unit, repair it, or replace it.

7. It takes you longer to use the ultrasonic than it does to hand scale.
Ultrasonics offer great advances in efficiency, but you must know how to take advantage of the opportunity. If you can not accomplish more in less time with ultrasonics (most studies show that ultrasonics are from 25-66% faster) than hand instrumentation, look at your equipment, and consider clinical training with experts who can teach you to maximize the specific tip motion, frequency, amplitude, and tip selection and sequencing.

6. From time to time little bits of black and green "stuff" come out of your ultrasonic handpiece while you are flushing it.
We've all heard about biofilm in the waterlines. This slimy plaque regularly sloughs sending microbial contamination out of the dental unit. You might have seen colored pieces of "muck" exit your tubing. When you think of using grossly contaminated irrigant to flush out open periodontal pockets, it doesn't seem like "therapy".

If you want to eliminate the problem of biofilm once and for all, look for one of the new ultrasonic scalers that has a completely autoclavable or disposable fluid pathway.

5. Your ultrasonic is too big and heavy to lift out of the closet.
If your ultrasonic is in the closet most of the time, it either doesn't have the features that you feel you need, or you haven't yet embraced the use of ultrasonics for definitive debridement. There are a number of excellent continuing education courses on making the transition from hand instruments to ultrasonics. Some of the new features to look for in an ultrasonic scaler include antimicrobial delivery, higher frequencies and availability of thin instruments for fine debridement.

4. You have had offers for your ultrasonic from dental museums.
If your ultrasonic is older than your children it may be time to look at what's changed in the last few years. The use of thin instruments at low power for fine debridement has been one of the major shifts in the delivery of care in the last 5-6 years. If your scaler is older than that it may not have all the features necessary.

3. Your foot is still reaching for the foot pedal at the dinner table.
Having to use a foot pedal all day, every day puts extra strain on your back. There is at least one ultrasonic scaler available today which has the on / off switch on the handpiece (the Odontoson).

2. Every time you go to get the ultrasonic, that OTHER hygienist has it positioned in HER operatory so you can't get it!
With research now showing that the use of ultrasonics can reduce scaling time as much as 66% (high frequency, 42,000 CPS scaler), it is easy to justify having an ultrasonic in every operatory.

And the Number 1 way to know that you need a new ultrasonic scaler…
1. You actually would rather hand scale than use that thing!