ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Vital tooth preparations may cause irreversible thermal damage to the pulp. The manufacturing techniques of dental burs may decrease heat production and minimize the risk of overheating and trauma to the dental pulp. Strauss (Raanana, Israel) has introduced "premium" diamond burs, claiming superior efficiency and longevity. We sought to determine the safest preparation methods by performing a comparison of intrapulpal temperature increases caused with "standard" and "premium" burs. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Three types of diamond burs (F1R, F21R, and K2) were tested on extracted human teeth (n = 8 teeth per bur type). Premium and standard manufacturing techniques were compared for each bur type (n = 24 teeth per group; total 48 teeth). An intrapulpal thermocouple was used to measure the temperature during the procedure. Comparisons were analyzed with the t test and one-way ANOVA. P ≤ .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: All premium burs demonstrated lower temperature increases compared to the standard burs (P ≤ .001 for F21R and K2, P = .086 for F1R). The temperature increases with premium burs were similar for different bur shapes, but the temperature increases with standard burs depended on the bur shape (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Using premium diamond burs for tooth preparation may reduce the risk of pulp tissue damage, and thus reduce postoperative pulp-associated complications.