
Restorative Dental Instruments
Excavators
- Spoon excavator: Used to remove soft carious decay
- Half hollenbach: Used to test for overhangs or flash
- Dental hatchers: Used to widen the entrance of the tooth cavity and slice away the thin carious enamel
- Chisels:
- Straight - bevels the cavosurface margin and used in 3, 4, and 5 classifications of cavities on the maxillary
- Wedelstaedt - only used in the anterior for classes 3, 4, and 5
- Bin Angle - this is held in a pen grasp and used for class 2 maxillary only
Burnishers
Burnishers are used for polishing and contouring amalgam fillings and to polish composite fillings. They include:
- Ball burnisher
- Beavertail burnisher
- Cone burnisher
- Flat plastic
- Pear shaped burnisher
Pluggers
Pluggers are also known as amalgam condensers. They are used to achieve a well-condensed filling by compressing the filling material into the cavity and applying pressure.
- Amalgam plugger
- 49 plugger