Effect of cooling techniques on temperature control and cutting rate for high-speed dental drills

This paper describes a series of tests conducted to determine the effectiveness of various cooling techniques used while preparing teeth for restoration. Comparisons are presented for four cooling techniques: air stream, air-water spray, water stream from a separate hand-held syringe, and water applied through a hollow bur. The comparisons were made in two ways, temperature control and influence on cutting rate. It was demonstrated that wet cooling techniques provided better temperature control than cooling with air and also improved the rate of material removal.