Sharp to the Tip (or toe)

On November 2nd in clinic we learned instrument sharpening. We had gone over sharpening in class the week before so it was nice to finally have it introduced in class before we had to practice it in clinic. It is important to make sure we always have sharp instruments. When we have a sharp instrument we decrease the chance of causing tissue trauma to our patients. Sharp instruments increase our tactile sensitivity by allowing our grip to be looser, and we have less chance of burnishing the calculus we are trying to remove.

There are a couple of different ways to sharpen your instruments. We learned the moving stone-stationary instrument and stationary stone-moving instrument methods. I personally prefer the moving stone-stationary instrument method, but that could be because I've used that one the most.

When sharpening it is important to remember to keep the original design of your instrument when sharpening. Every time you sharpen you create new facets in your instrument, the goal is to keep the facets as close to the original design as possible. You do this by maintaining a 110 degree between the face of the blade and stone. Also you want to prevent wire edges so you will always end with a down stroke when sharpening.

Every time we see a patient and use our instruments we should check them for sharpness. This will help us maintain sharp instruments and make it easier to keep the original shape. You can test the sharpness of your instrument either with a plastic test stick or using a light. Either one works well, and they are both pretty easy.