Self-reported habits regarding dental bur use and conditioning among academic and non-academic argentinian dentists

The removal of tissues affected by caries lesions is one of the most frequent procedures in daily dental practice. The aim of this study was to collect information about the habits of members of the academic and non-academic dental community in Argentina regarding the use and conditioning of burs employed in the removal of dentin during the treatment of carious lesions. A 14- item questionnaire was prepared, and once validated in small groups, it was sent to three lists of dental subscribers through the computer services area of the School of Dentistry, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina (FOUBA). By the deadline for receiving responses, which was set as four weeks after the sending date, 294 replies were received. Results: percentage (95%CI): 47.93% (42.18-53.68%) of the respondents were faculty members, of whom 37.24% (31.68-42.81%) claimed to belong to FOUBA. Of the respondents, 26.90% (21.79-32.00%) reported being under 35 years old, 37.59% (32.01-43.16%) 36 to 45 years old, 22.07% (17.30-26.84%) 46 to 55 years and 11.38% (7.72-15.03%) over 55 years. Regarding bur type, 68.07% (62.31%-73.44%) claimed to use round burs to remove carious dentin and 27.72% (22.60%-23.31%) round + others. Regarding rotary speed, 22.07% (17.30-26.84%) use medium speed, 32.76% (27.36-38.16%) use high speed, and 32.76% (27.36-38.16%) use medium + super high. Only 17.93% (13.52- 22.35%) indicated that they know how to quantify the number of times they use their burs, while 50.34% (44.59-56.10%) of the respondents said that they use burs "until they no longer cut", 23.79% (18.89-28.69%) use them 1 to 5 times. 98.27% (96.77-99.77%) said they clean their burs once used. When the answers regarding the use of rubber dam were compared with area of specialization (Chi-square), it was found that faculty members mention the use of burs under rubber dam always or almost always 74.82% (67.60-82.04%) while outside the academic field, 51.01% (42.98-59.03%) of dentists say that they never or almost never do so (p <0.001). Conclusion: Most respondents state that they sterilize their rotary instruments in some way after use. About half of them do not keep track of the number of uses and use burs "until they no longer cut".