Dental Elevators and their uses

Dental Elevators are used to loosen and ‘elevate’ the teeth in their sockets prior to extraction. Care should be taken to avoid causing  damage/trauma to nearby teeth while using elevators.

PARTS OF AN DENTAL ELEVATOR

Working end

• The working end is functional, elevating and retracting end of the elevator
• Single-ended
• The working end is adapted to the function of the instrument

Shank

• The area between the working end and the handle
• The shank may be straight or angled for easy access to some areas in the mouth
• The shank may also have a finger rest to enable the operator to get a better grip and apply more force

Handle

• The part of the instrument that the operator
• Designed for stability and leverage
• The handle can be of many different varieties (i.e. serrated, smooth, hollow, solid, octagonal, round, large, small)
• The function dictates the type of handle

3 TYPES OF DENTAL ELEVATOR

1. Warwick James elevator – straight, Warwick James elevators – left and right
2. Couplands chisel
3. Cryers elevators – left and right.

1. Warwick James elevator – straight and Warwick James elevators – left and right

Uses and features

• Used to elevate and loosen the tooth from the periodontal ligament
• The elevation is done to create space and prevent trauma to adjacent teeth and tissues
• Available as left and right elevators, designed to adapt to the mesial and distal aspects of the tooth, respectively. Always used as a pair

False friends

Couplands chisel, Mershon band pusher

2. Couplands chisel

Uses and types

• Used to elevate and loosen the tooth from the periodontal ligament
• The elevation is done to create space and prevent trauma to adjacent teeth and tissues
• Available in sizes 1, 2 and 3 – working end gets larger with an increase in size number

False friends

Warwick James straight elevator, Warwick James left and right elevators,  Mershon band pusher.

3. Cryers elevators – left and right (Enlarged working end)

Uses

• Used to remove interseptal bone
• Used to loosen root tips

Dental Elevators are always used in conjunction with other dental instruments

Please see dental tray set-ups here.

RELATED READING

• dental instruments and their uses
• 5 Ways To Clean and Sterilize Dental Instruments
• Dental tools and their uses
• Moisture Control in Dentistry
• Dental Explorer: Periodontal Instrument, Dental Excavator,and their
• Dental Amalgam tray set-up (Silver-Colored Dental Fillings)
• Dental tray setup for composite fillings
• CROWN PREP TRAY SET-UP INSTRUMENTS