Aluminum Mouth Mirror Handle

Description

Aluminum mouth mirror handle

Four grips, one handle. Each of these is turned from aluminum rather than stainless steel, which takes roughly a third of the weight out of the instrument you hold all day. The catalogue separates them by grip pattern, and the letters B, C, G and R are its codes for those patterns.

Why aluminum instead of steel

Weight is the whole argument. A mirror spends more time in the hand than almost anything else on the tray, held at an angle, often for several minutes without a break. Consequently the difference between a heavy handle and a light one shows up as fatigue in the web of the thumb long before it shows up anywhere else.

Aluminum also warms to hand temperature faster, which some operators notice and prefer. In exchange it is softer than stainless, so it marks more readily if it is thrown into a tray with heavier instruments.

The four grips

B and C are the same handle in two finishes. G gives the most positive grip of the four, because a diamond knurl bites in both directions and keeps working through a glove that has gone slippery. R is the quieter version of that idea, with straight flutes that feel smoother in the hand.

Using the finish to sort your trays

The black one earns its place for a reason that has nothing to do with grip. Put C on every magnifying mirror in the practice and a nurse can pick the right instrument out of a set-up from across the room. Meanwhile the three natural finishes let you separate rooms, operators or kit boxes without anyone having to read a label.

Practices that run several surgeries often buy a mix for exactly this. One pattern per room costs nothing extra and saves a surprising amount of hunting.

Heads are ordered separately

These are handles on their own. Mirror heads are listed under our mouth mirror range, and each mirror listing states which handle it ships with, so check that the mount matches before you order a head to go on one of these.

Care

Anodised and natural aluminum both want gentler treatment than steel. Strongly alkaline detergents attack the surface, so use a neutral pH cleaner and rinse properly. Repeated cycles in a harsh chemistry will dull a natural finish and can lift the colour out of an anodised one over time.

Autoclave them, but let them dry fully before they go back in a drawer, and keep them away from the heavy steel in a general wash. Handled that way a set of these outlasts the mirrors that screw into them several times over.

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