DENTAL DRILLS: HIGH SPEED AND PAINLESS (MORE OR LESS)

Slow Pain

Before 1950 dental drills were available, but they were slow and required a series of belts and pulleys. Having teeth drilled was a long and tedious process. Dentists could treat only a few patients each day. The process of drilling teeth was so painful, though, that patients did not complain about the wait: they wanted as many days between treatments as possible.

Nelson-Kampula

In 1951 a Swedish dentist made an airpowered, high-speed drill. This tool was a significant advance, but it had technical problems. It produced heat and could only be run for a short while before it burned the dentist's hand. In 1953 American dentist Robert Nelson and engineer John Kampula, funded by the American Dental Association, developed a water-powered drill. It ran at high speed, stayed cool, and did not require belts and pulleys. It had other technical drawbacks, though, including a slight drip of oil in the patient's mouth during use.

Airotor

In 1957 Washington, D.C., dentist John Borden designed an airpowered drill called the Airotor, the hit of the Rome International Dental Congress that year, which used ball bearings to increase its efficiency. The water-cooled Airotor was five times faster than the fastest drill then available. It operated at 350,000 revolutions per minute, compared to 61,000 RPM for the Nelson-Kampula device.