An Invitro Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Evaluation of preparations by an Air Turbine and Electric Handpieces

Tooth preparation have for long, been the cornerstones of a well- established dental practice and are considered necessary requirements to be a successful dental practitioner. Being in the realms of general dentistry and taught at an undergraduate level in dental schools world over, these procedures have evolved with time from the use of hand instruments to motor driven instruments. Every advancement is a quantum leap from the previous technique in terms of ease of preparation, time consumed and the quality of the resultant preparation. The electric motor driven handpiece is a recent advancement with a 1:5 advancement gear ratio which promises to deliver better results in a more comfortable manner in lesser time than its predecessor, the air turbine. Hence, this study aims to be a curtain raiser by comparing preparations using an air turbine vis-à-vis the electric motor using diamond abrasives by equating the surface smoothness using a profilometer and checking the prepared surface of the tooth under electron microscope for qualitative and quantitative analysis.