29115 407 412 - REALITY Publishing Company · enamel is more likely to occur with diamonds since they are more frequently used wet, which generally obscures your view of the margin

1. Esthetic Trimming (ET) BursBrasseler

2. Finishing BursSS White

3. Safe End Finishing BursSS White

4a. BluWhitesds/Kerr

4b. Midwest Finishing BursDentsply/Professional

REALITY’S CHOICESFinishing Burs

©2005 REALITY Publishing Co. Vol. 19 The Ratings 407

Available in 8-fluted, 10-fluted, 12-fluted, 16-fluted, 20-fluted,and 30-fluted designs. (Note: Some manufacturers use bladedinstead of fluted, but they mean exactly the same.)They are pri-marily used for finishing composites, although they can alsosmooth preparations, especially margins, if your goal is to have thesmoothest possible preparations. The 30-fluted burs can be usedas the last step in smoothing the ground surface of porcelain (afterit has been adjusted intraorally), but they must be very sharp orthe porcelain will be scarred. The use of 30-fluted burs on porce-lain, however, has declined due to the refinement of the intraoralrubber polishing kits for ceramic materials.

On composite, these burs are typically used dry to better visu-alize your margins and the anatomy you are developing. Be sure touse light pressure to avoid overheating and possibly damaging thecomposite. Wet finishing overcomes that problem, but tends toobscure the surface detail. You also need to be careful when fin-ishing the gingival margin of your restoration with a pointed bur,which can scar and ditch the cementum very quickly. However,30-fluted burs, because of their tendency to clog when used dry,definitely produce a higher gloss if water spray is used.

As far as microleakage is concerned, we found very little differ-ence when Class V hybrid and microfill restorations were finishedwith both types of instruments. However, damage to adjacent

Finishing Burs

©2005 REALITY Publishing Co. Vol. 19408 The Ratings

Product Cost/Bur Flutes Preferred Shapes

Esthetic Trimming (ET) BursBrasseler

Midwest Finishing Burs

Dentsply/Professional

$10.05

$6.38

5:8, 12, 16,

20, 30

2:12, 30

ET3 Very shortET4 Slightly longer than ET3ET6 Medium lengthET9 LongOS1 Large footballOS2 Small, thin, rounded endOS3 Small, very thin, rounded end

7103 Concave interproximal7104, 7106 and 7108 Flame7204, 7205, and 7206 Cone, flat end7303 and 7304 Inverted tapered7404, 7406 and 7408 Egg7572 Straight7642 and 7664 Extra long tapered — round end7702 and 7713 Tapered7801, 7802, and 7803 Bullet7901, 7902, and 7903 Needle7114 (T-1), 7214 (T-2), and 7714 (T-3) Thin,

tapered, flat end

Finishing BursSS White

$5.90–$9.802:

12, 30

7002 Small round7004 Medium round7379 Large football7404 Small football7406 Medium football

Safe End FinishingBurs

SS White

$7.752:

10, 20

SE3 Very shortSE4 Slightly longer than SE3SE6 Medium lengthSE8 Medium longSE9 Long

BluWhitesds/Kerr $3.50–$5.15

2:12, 30

7004 Small round7006 Medium round7104 Small flame7114 Very short taper, similar to ET37214 Medium taper, similar to ET67642 Medium taper with blunt end7204 Long taper with blunt end7345 End-cutting for beveled or chamfer margins7406 Medium football7408 Large football7611 Slightly longer than 7114, similar to ET47801 Small, thin bullet7714 Long taper, similar to ET97903 Medium, thin bullet

enamel is more likely to occur with diamonds since they are morefrequently used wet, which generally obscures your view of themargin.

Each manufacturer sells these burs either as pre-assembled kitsor individually. We have listed the names of the kits and individ-ual burs we have found to be most valuable.

EffectivenessTo test their effectiveness, we finished occlusal and/or Class Vrestorations in Ivorine teeth with either the football or egg shapes(for occlusal) or medium length pointed (for Class V) of eachmanufacturer and rated them for gloss visually and smoothness byusing an explorer. While smoothness (or actually roughness) istypically scored using a profilometer, the surface must be flat touse this instrument. Therefore, we attempted to rate the smooth-

ness digitally as if you were checking a restoration in the mouthbefore dismissing a patient.

The results revealed that there were minimal differences amongthe five brands of burs. However, the three grit approach byBrasseler was slightly better than the other products. Nevertheless,if you follow our advice and use a rubber polishing instrument orbrush after contouring with one of these burs, then the differencesbetween them become even more muted.

Finishing Burs


All five brands produced a smoother surfacecompared to finishing diamonds.

Flutes 8,12, 16, 20, and 30.

Preferred ShapesET (Esthetic Trimming) kit. ET burs are available in 8, 16, and30-fluted, while the OS burs come in 12, 20, and 30 flutes. Theyare slightly rounded at the tip to help minimize scarring root sur-faces when you are finishing the gingival margins of a restoration.Unfortunately, they tend to become dull rather quickly.

ET3 Very short, primarily for gingival margins. ET4 Slightly longer than ET3, good for gingival margins and

small Class V. ET6 Medium length, can trim most Class V by itself. ET9 Long, indispensable for veneers. OS1 Large football, good for concave linguals of anterior

teeth, somewhat large for occlusals of posteriors exceptfor very large restorations.

OS2 Small, thin, rounded end, good for carving secondaryanatomy in occlusals.

OS3 Small, very thin, rounded end, good for tertiary anatomyin occlusals.

H50A-010, H50AF-010, and H50AUF-010. Available in 12, 20,and 30 flutes, designed for interproximal and gingival margins.They have a rounded “safe” end, but you still need to be carefulnot to ditch the root surface when trimming gingival margins.

48LF-012 and 48LUF-012 (010). Available in 20 and 30 flutes,developed primarily to remove resin cement after removing ortho-dontic brackets. They can also be used for general compositecontouring. Especially helpful at the gingival margin. However,you still need to be very careful using these or any other highspeedbur when removing resin cement after debonding brackets or youcan severely scar the enamel.

H379, H379F Small football for occlusals.

EffectivenessSlightly higher gloss and smoothness compared to other brands.

PackagingAluminum burblock with numbers and drawings of instrumentsfor easy reordering and reassembly.

Esthetic Trimming (ET) BursBrasseler(4.4)

ET Carbide Combo KitCost: $210.99 ($10.05 ea)Includes:• 21 burs• Aluminum burblock

Quality and shapes tough to beatBurblocks make life easier

Do we need 5 flute designs?Can we say disposable?

1

Flutes 12 and 30.

Preferred Shapes7002 Small round.7004 Medium round.7379 Large football.7404 Small football.7406 Medium football.

EffectivenessSlightly lower gloss and smoothness compared to ET.

PackagingClear plastic tray glued to foil backing with product identification.Individual domes secure each bur.

Finishing Burs


Finishing BursSS White (3.9)

12-bladedCost: $29.50/5 pack ($5.90 ea)

30-bladedCost: $48.99/5 pack ($9.80 ea)

Good qualityUnderdog always tries harder

Do not have Brasseler’s cutting precisionOnly two blades

2ENCORE

Flutes 10 and 20.

Preferred Shapes: SE3 Very short, primarily for gingival margins. SE4 Slightly longer than SE3, good for gingival margins and

small Class V. SE6 Medium length, can trim most Class V by itself. SE8 Medium-long, good for medium veneers. SE9 Long, indispensable for long veneers.


PackagingBlack aluminum burblock with numbers and drawings of instru-ments for easy reordering and reassembly. However, the hinge axison the lid allows it to swing back past the horizontal, which couldcause it to tip over.

Safe End Finishing BursSS White (3.8)

KitCost: $77.50/10 burs ($7.75 ea)

Includes: • 5 burs (10 bladed) • 5 burs (20 bladed) • 1 aluminum burblock Great for veneers

Medium-long unique size

Burblock top too easy to openNot quite the cutting efficiency of Brasseler

3NEW


Flutes 12 and 30.

Preferred Shapes7004 Small round.7006 Medium round.7104 Small flame.7114 Very short taper, similar to ET3.7214 Medium taper, similar to ET6.7642 Medium taper with blunt end.7204 Long taper with blunt end.7345 End-cutting for beveled or chamfer margins.7406 Medium football.7408 Large football.7611 Slightly longer than 7114, similar to ET4.7801 Small, thin bullet.7714 Long taper, similar to ET9.7903 Medium, thin bullet.


PackagingPlastic bag with one side opaque that has the bur identificationinformation. Inside is yet another, albeit much smaller plastic bagthat also has an opaque side for identification.

12-flutedCost: $3.50 ea

30-flutedCost: $5.15 ea

BluWhitesds/Kerr(3.7)

Cut cleanlyLeast expensive

Only available in two flutesNo aluminum burblock

4a

Flutes 12 and 30.

Preferred Shapes7103 Concave interproximal.7104, 7106 and 7108 Flame. 7204, 7205, and 7206 Cone, flat end.7303 and 7304 Long inverted tapered.7404, 7406 and 7408 Egg.7572 Straight, blunt-end.7642 and 7664 Extra long tapered — round end.7702 and 7713 Tapered, blunt-end. 7801, 7802, and 7803 Bullet.7901, 7902, and 7903 Needle.7114, 7214, and 7714 Thin tapered, flat end.


PackagingMylar envelope with printing on one side. However, you cannotsee the burs inside to validate that you received the shape youneeded. Inside is another, albeit much smaller plastic envelopethat also has an opaque side for identification.

Cost: $63.15/10 ($6.32 ea)

Midwest Finishing BursDentsply/Professional(3.7)

Circular flutesIndividual packaging

Need aluminum burblockNot quite the cutting efficiency of Brasseler

4b

Finishing Burs

Finishing Burs


Esthetic Trimming (ET) finishing burs are the stan-dard against which all others are compared. They seemto cut more evenly and have the best shapes. In theCombo kit, you get all seven shapes in the three dif-ferent fluted versions, all in an aluminum burblock.Other than a small football (H379), this Combo kit hasit all. In our Effectiveness comparison, they produced aslightly higher gloss and smoothness compared toother brands. But having five different flute selectionsmay be excessive and they are the most expensive.

Finishing Burs (SS White) are high quality and havea good cutting “feel”, but their shapes and effective-ness are not as good as ET.

Safe End burs are basically the SS White version of theETs with one additional medium bur that would be agood choice for veneers on shorter teeth such asmandibular incisors and all premolars. Their claim tofame, however, is their ”safe end”, which is supposed

to prevent scratching root surfaces with the sharp endsof conventional burs. However, when we comparedthese ends to those of the ETs under the stereomi-crosope, we found both products’ ends to be smoothlyrounded. In our Effectiveness test, they produced aslightly lower gloss and smoothness compared to ET.

BluWhite burs cut cleanly and are the least expensivein this category, but they are only available in twoflutes and do not offer an aluminum burblock. In ourEffectiveness comparison, they produced a slightlylower gloss and smoothness compared to ET.

Midwest burs are also very good quality; they certain-ly have their strong advocates among the EditorialTeam. Their circular flutes on a few shapes give a dif-ferent ”feel“ when cutting. In our Effectivenesscomparison, they produced a slightly lower gloss andsmoothness compared to ET.

REALITY

Finishing Burs Diatech

Finishing Burs Ultradent

Prisma Finishing BursDentsply/Caulk

Robot Carbide Finisher CTSShofu

OTHER PRODUCTS IN THIS CATEGORY

Documents

29115 407 412 - REALITY Publishing Company · enamel is more likely to occur with diamonds since they are more frequently used wet, which generally obscures your view of the margin