Dental curettes: useful tools for obtaining nail material for mycologic examination

Obtaining material, especially subungually, from suspected onychomycotic nails can be difficult and/or traumatic with instrumentation frequently utilized by dermatologists. Use of scalpel blades and standard dermal curettes is often awkward and/or traumatic to the nail bed. Large clippings require micronization with a nail mill or tedious processing with less specialized instruments prior to microscopic examination (potassium hydroxide preparation) and fungal culture. A mycologist at our institution has efficaciously utilized dental curettes to obtain powdery subungual material suitable for immediate mycological assessment. This nontraumatic technique is becoming increasingly popular among clinicians.