Dental Burs Shank - FG HP RA Shank of the Carbide Dental Burs

Dental Burs Shank

Dental burs are used for cutting hard tissues - tooth or bone. They are made of steel, stainless steel, tungsten carbide and diamond grit. There can be a bewildering range of dental burs in any dental catalogue, but for basic veterinary use only a few burs are needed.

All burs have a shank and a head. There are three main types of shank - Long Straight Shank (HP), Latch-type Shank (RA) and Friction Grip Shank (FG).

3 burs - from left HP, RA and FG

Long Straight Shank (HP)

These shanks fit into the nose cone of the slow speed handpiece once the prophy angle or contra angle is removed. They are used for diamond cutting discs or long 40mm burs. The main use of HP burs is in the trimming of small herbivore cheek teeth.

Latch-type Shank (RA)

These shanks fit into the latch of the contra-angle on slow speed handpieces. They are generally 20mm long and available in the same shapes as FG burs.

Friction Grip Shank (FG)

These shanks fit into the turbine of a high-speed handpiece. The standard length is 20mm long, but longer surgical lengths are available and these are commonly needed for veterinary work.

Round Head

These heads are used for cavity preparation, creating access points, undercuts and channels for luxator blades in extraction. Sizes range from 1/4 to 9. The smaller the number, the smaller the head. The best sizes to use initially are 1, 2, and 4.

FG round burs sizes 1,2 and 4

Pear Head

These heads are used for cavity preparation, access points and splitting roots of small teeth. The most useful sizes are 330 and 330L

Crosscut Tapered Fissure Head

These heads are used for sectioning multi-rooted teeth and reducing crown height when disarming dogs. The most useful sizes are 700/700L and 701/701L.

Taper fissure burs (fr L) 700L, 701L, 701, 558

Finishing Burs

These heads are used for finishing restorations, soft tissue recontouring, alveolaplasty, enameloplasty and odontoplasty. They can be obtained as 12 or 30 bladed burs in carbide steel or as diamond heads of various shapes. They are also available as white stone, for composite, or green stone, for amalgam.

FG finishing burs - diamond, 2 carbides and white stone