SS White, Fixing one problem and creating another?


I have been using SS White burs forever and I like them very much. The only problem I have experienced is that occasionally they break at the weld, while I am using them. Other than that they have been pretty good burs and almost always cut very well . I also usually order one shank length. If I need to shorten a bur, I will use another carbide to cut the shank shorter, to make my own custom short shank bur.

Today I had a patient who had a filling that needed doing on tooth #32 (the wisdom tooth). I tried to shorten the shank by cutting the bur I wanted to use and I was unable to cut it. I was able to finish the filling but I was confused as to why I was having a problem cutting the bur. I placed a call to SS White customer service and they explained that they had changed the manufacturing process so that the bur was now "one piece" and not made from two pieces  that needed to be welded. They had made the change due to complaints about breakage at the weld joint, so they "fixed" the problem.

To my mind, now they have a new problem. The new metal is much tougher and is almost impossible to shorten by cutting the shaft. The customer representative did explain that I could order a short shanked version of the bur that I use but I declined. Probably I will now try a bur from another manufacturer that is still welding their burs to the shank like the previous SS White bur.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2020/01/ss-white-fixing-one-problem-and.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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