The dental explorer is used frequently as a diagnostic aid in evaluating the condition of the teeth, especially the pits and fissures. A sharp dental explorer usually is suggested as being appropriate; however, with use, the initial sharpness of the explorer tip can be lost.
Some authors have questioned the use of a sharp dental explorer as the final diagnostic tool in the evaluation of dental caries, especially in the evaluation of fissure caries.1–3 As an alternative, a noninvasive diagnostic device that measures a laser-induced fluorescence present with caries has been made available to the dental profession. However, I propose that simply sharpening the explorer properly would offer much of the advantage of such a device. A uniformly sharpened explorer, used with other diagnostic aids (such as transillumination and the laser caries detection device), can improve the clinician’s ability to make a good diagnosis.
An article about a study of early incipient lesions concluded that "the degree of explorer retention at baseline [start of study] was significantly associated with caries being diagnosed later in control teeth."4(p1651) The dental explorer, used with other diagnostic tools, still can aid in finding and diagnosing dental defects. I believe that a uniformly sharpened explorer allows for a more consistent feel of a tooth’s fissures and pits.
OVERVIEW
The proper sharpening of dental instruments is considered a high priority. Various aids are available to enable the proper sharpening of dental instruments, as are companies that will resharpen instruments for a reasonable fee. My research did not yield any specific "explorer sharpening" tool to be commercially available. Many years ago, I bought a Getz Explorer Sharpener, a device that had been specifically designed for explorer sharpening (and that now is no longer being made). The device held a stone in a mandrel that fit into a straight handpiece containing a small tapered hole. The tip of the explorer was sharpened in a manner somewhat like that of sharpening a pencil.
When the device ceased to be available, I decided to use a different approach and began to search for a suitably shaped stone that could be used around the explorer tip in a rotary fashion. I eventually found a commercially available stone that was shaped for my needs. The 300 HP Composition Stone (Hu-Friedy Manufacturing, Chicago) is a flame-shaped sharpening stone mounted on a straight handpiece mandrel that, with some shaping to make it more parallel (Figure 1
), can allow the clinician to resharpen the explorer tip quickly and to a uniformly shaped point. I use a dressing stone to reduce the flare of the original stone. I use a truing stone (Chayes Truestone) that also is no longer available, but Brasseler USA (Savannah, Ga.) has a dressing diamond (16A) stone shaper that can serve the same purpose.
