Extracting Forceps for Roots and Third Molars

Description

Extracting forceps for roots and third molars

Four figures, and none of them is a general-purpose pattern. Two take retained roots on narrow tips, one upper and one lower. The other two are third molar forceps, again one for each arch. These are the beaks a practice reaches for when the straightforward patterns have already failed.

The two root patterns

Fig. 33A works the lower arch and Fig. 51A the upper. Both close to tips fine enough to enter a socket after the crown has gone, which is the whole reason they exist. A general beak is simply wider than the space left behind a fractured crown.

Narrow tips go in alongside the fragment, take hold of what remains of the root surface, and deliver it without further bone removal. Consequently these two patterns regularly keep a case from turning surgical, and they belong on the tray beside the elevators rather than with the routine forceps.

The two third molar patterns

Fig. 67A is the upper and Fig. 79 the lower. A third molar sits at an angle that no anterior or premolar beak can meet, so the blades on these are set to approach from behind the arch rather than along it.

The lower pattern in particular carries the load that makes people nervous about eights. Its beaks are shaped to grip a broad crown and its handles are built for the force that follows, because a lower third molar rarely comes out politely.

The four figures

All four cost the same. Practices doing regular surgical extraction tend to own all four, since between them they cover both ends of both arches.

Getting the grip right

Seat the beaks as far apically as the socket allows before the handles close. Grip high on a broken root and the fragment shears off in your hand; grip low and the whole remaining root surface is working for you.

Then apply force steadily rather than suddenly. A slow, deliberate movement lets bone flex and the socket widen, whereas a sharp pull transfers everything into the root and finds whatever weakness is already there.

Care

Before every list, close each forceps and look at where the beaks meet. They should contact cleanly along their full length. A joint that has spread lets a root slip at exactly the moment you are applying most force, and that is how a two-minute retrieval becomes a long appointment.

Autoclave as normal, then dry the box joint properly. Moisture sitting in that joint is what stiffens a forceps over a year and eventually stains it.

Intrace USA covers every figure on this page for three years against defects in manufacture.