Common Dental Tools and What They Do

You’ve probably been to a dentist office Fairfield CT or elsewhere at least once in your life, so you’ve probably seen some of the different tools that your dentist uses. However, have you ever wondered what they are called or what exactly your dentist is doing with them in your mouth?

Wonder no more! Here are the names of some of the most common tools used in the dentist office and what exactly they are used for.

1. Air Water Syringe

This is the tool that looks a little bit like a narrow squirt gun. The dentist uses it to send a stream of water into your mouth to rinse it. It can also send a stream of air into your mouth. The squirting action is called an injection in scientific parlance, so that’s why the instrument is called a syringe.

2. Saliva Ejector

The saliva ejector is a plastic tube attached to a vacuum engine. When inserted into your mouth with your lips closed around it, it sucks up saliva as well as the water that your dentist has been squirting into your mouth with the air water syringe.

3. Mouth Mirror

This is the tiny reflective surface on a stick that the dentist uses to look at your back teeth. It can also be used to hold back your cheeks, tongue, and lips so that they are out of the way while the dentist examines a specific area.

4. Explorers

Explorers are the curved, hook-like instruments that dentists use to probe around the teeth and gums to check for cavities and other signs of oral disease.

5. Forceps

Forceps are gripping tools. Cotton forceps look like a pair of tweezers and are used to insert objects into your mouth. Extracting forceps look like pliers and are used to pull teeth out of your mouth.

Dentists prefer to use extracting forceps as little as possible. It is healthier for your mouth to retain your natural teeth whenever extraction is not necessary.