Dental burs can be used for cutting hard tissues – tooth or bone. These are made from steel, stainless, tungsten carbide and diamond grit. There may be a bewildering range of dental burs in different dental catalogue, however for basic veterinary only use a few burs are required.


All burs have a very shank and a head. You can find three main types of shank – Long Straight Shank (HP), Latch-type Shank (RA) Grip Shank (FG)

Long Straight Shank (HP)
These shanks fit into the nose cone of the slow speed handpiece as soon as the prophy angle or contra angle is taken away. They are used for diamond cutting discs or long 40mm burs. The primary usage of HP burs is in the trimming of small herbivore cheek teeth.

Latch-type Shank (RA)
These shanks fit into the latch of the contra-angle on slow speed handpieces. They can be 20mm long and available in the identical shapes as FG burs.

Friction Grip Shank (FG)
These shanks match the turbine of an high-speed handpiece. The common length is 20mm long, but longer surgical lengths can be obtained and these can be needed for veterinary work.

Round Head
These heads can be used cavity preparation, creating access points, undercuts and channels for luxator blades in extraction. Sizes vary from 1/4 to 9. The lesser the amount, the smaller the top. The most effective sizes to work with initially are 1, 2, and 4.

Pear Head
These heads can be used for cavity preparation, access points and splitting roots of small teeth. One of the most useful sizes are 330 and 330L

Crosscut Tapered Fissure Head
These heads can be used for sectioning multi-rooted teeth and reducing crown height when disarming dogs. One of the most useful sizes are 700/700L and 701/701L.

Finishing Burs
These heads can be used finishing restorations, soft tissue recontouring, alveolaplasty, enameloplasty and odontoplasty. They are often obtained as 12 or 30 bladed burs in carbide steel or as diamond heads of varied shapes. Also, they are like white stone, for composite, or green stone, for amalgam.
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