Finger Rests are a very important part in Dentistry, for every treatment which includes right from oral examination to other treatments like Scaling, Extraction, finger rests while performing Root Canal treatment which are usually time taking and without proper finger rests there will be excess strain on the dentist. To get the least amount of stress and strain on the dentist while performing dental treatments for prolonged periods of time.
Finger rests are important even in proper retraction of the cheek or tongue while performing treatments. Wrist position is also an important aspect to get the proper finger rest and help in reducing the strain on your hand. The Fulcrum is a finger rest which is used to stabilize the working hand during Periodontal treatment. A fulcrum gives precise control over the amount of pressure during each stroke.
Types of Finger Rests for Dental Scaling for Mandible and Maxillary arches:
Conventional finger rest : The finger rest is established on the tooth surfaces immediately adjacent to the working area.
Cross arch : The finger rest is established on tooth surfaces of the teeth on the other side of same arch which is being worked on.
Opposite arch : The finger rest is established on tooth Surfaces on opposite arch. Ex: Finger rest is taken on the mandibular arch while working on the maxillary arch
Finger on Finger: The fourth finger of operating hand rests on the index finger of the non operating hand while the lingual surfaces of maxillary posterior teeth are instrumented.
Palm up extra oral fulcrum: The backs of the fingers, rest on the right lateral aspect of mandible. While the Maxillary right posterior teeth are instrumented.
Palm down extra oral Fulcrum: The front surfaces of fingers Rest on left lateral aspect of mandible while the Maxillary left posterior teeth are instrumented.
Types of Fulcrums in Dentistry:
Intra-oral Fulcrum: The stabilizing finger (ring finger) is placed on a tooth close to the working area
Extra-oral Fulcrum: The fingers are placed on the chin or cheek outside the patients mouth to get better stabilization
Advanced Fulcrum: It is also called as Reinforced technique which requires the use of Both the hands to achieve Stabilization.
Ideal Wrist Position in Dentistry:
Wrist position is also an important aspect to support ideal finger rests to decrease the stress on your wrists and tendons while working. There are 4-5 things which need to be followed to get the ideal Wrist position.
- Wrist should be aligned with lower arm
- Palm should be open and relaxed to decrease the strain on the wrist muscles
- Light pressure against the handle wit the thumb to get a good grip
- Index finger and thumb held in a rounded shape against the instrument being used
Proper technique, finger rests, fulcrum and Ideal wrist position are the essentials points which should be followed to give proper and stress free positioning for the Dentist to work with.
Do we use finger rests during filling of teeth as well. Suppose we are doing filling of lower molar where will be our finger rest.
Yes, Finger rests are used while doing Restorations as well. In case of Fillings in Mandibular molars the finger rest is usually on the pre molars in larger oral cavity or canine in some small size oral cavity.
in case of conventional finger rest, we use adjacent teeth as finger rest upto how many teeth are regarded as conventional is it said to be cross arch finger rest if we use the opposite arch teeth as finger rest? for example, if we use finger rest as 33 to the instrument on 43 then what type of finger rest is this?
Do we take the finger rest with the ring finger? Thank you for the reply.
In most cases we use the Ring finger to take finger rest, but that can be changed based on the size of your hand, the mouth opening of the patient etc. So the answer for textbooks / exams is Ring finger, but in clinical practice, it can be middle finger or little finger as well.
is it possible to get a video on this
Please make a pdf on finger rests during extraction with elevators and luxators
Sure mam, will try to do it with images for each one of them for better understanding.
What is the purpose of the finger rest on the individual tray?
What do you mean by Individual Tray ???