Beak and bumper - Physics forceps: Evaluation of new technique in extraction

The history of dentistry is not short; it started from ancient Egypt to ancient Romans and ancient Greeks. When it comes to extraction, all of them have made their own discoveries and progress. The progress they made also helped dentistry to move ahead in evolution of new extraction technique - the Physics Forceps. We have assessed the viability in using the Physics Forceps for routine dental extraction in our study for a period of 1 year.

The study was conducted on 241 patients indicated for extraction based on our inclusion criteria using Physics Forceps after obtaining informed consent and University Ethics Committee approval. Tooth fracture, buccal alveolar bone fracture, and soft tissue injury around the tooth to be extracted were studied.

In our present study of 241 patients, 57.67% were females and 42.32% were males, out of which 93.77% had no tooth fracture, 3.32% had crown fracture, 1.65% had root fracture, and 1.24% had apex fracture. Further, 85.47% had no buccal alveolar bone fracture and 14.53% had buccal alveolar bone fracture. Using proper technique, 96.26% of patients had no soft tissue damage, and minimal damage was seen in 3.73% of patients.

Extraction by Physics Forceps is a very good technique of extraction. No or very minimal tooth fracture and soft tissue injury were noted. Though the forceps is costly, it represents a valuable addition to regular armamentarium for a general dentist for routine extraction. Physics Forceps is a dental extractor rather than a forceps.