Our SmarTip® delivery technology provides exceptional functionality with ease-of-use for all dental procedures requiring surface preparation such as 'sandblast' microetching , 'prophy jet' polishing and bio-film removal, and minimally invasive 'air abrasion' cavity preparation. Hard abrasive powders are used to microetch and cut surfaces intra & extra oral, while mild & soft powders are used to remove various stain types and bio-film sub & supra gingival.
Tips and Adapter Types
The SmarTip® devices are color-coded and prefilled with powder optimized for specific procedures. The color-codes indicate the powder type and therefore the procedure types it's optimized for. The SmarTip® devices are powered by adapters that mount to your dental chair air supply. New tips are push-locked into the adapter prior to use; released and discarded post-use.
We have various adapter types that are compatible with your dental chair connection and adapters that regulate the air pressure for optimal results and unprecedented performance. All SmarTip devices fit all our air delivery handpiece adapters and all adapters can be converted to support water suppression tips.
There is never clogging or cleaning of the SmarTip® instruments. Simply discard the used SmarTip® device, wipe-down the air delivery coupler, and take a new SmarTip® device in preparation for the next patient specific procedure. Every adapter supports a submicron stainless steel wire mesh that prevents powder migration into the dental chairside connection.
Tip Sizes
There are three tip sizes which differ by the quantity of prefilled material and nozzle orifice diameters. Small size tips are for localized 1-4 tooth surfaces (Aperture 0.5mm/.019”), large size tips are for 4-16 tooth surfaces (Aperture 0.8mm/.034”), and XL size tips are for long duration procedures (Aperture 0.65mm/.026”).
Localized short duration procedures require a limited quantity of powder and with our Aerosoless Technology at the correct operating pressure generate a nearly invisible stream of particles. Other procedure types -- such as full mouth prophy and cavity prep air abrasion -- require substantially more powder. For full mouth prophy treatment consider the XL tips with the water suppression option to reduce overspray and the ProphyMaster XL tips with the water suppression option for procedures that require substantial enamel removal or a multi-quadrant treatment visit.
Water Supperssion: While Small and Large tips are for short-duration procedures, some extended duration procedures require additional powder -- such as full-mouth prophy and cavity preparation -- water suppression is provided to reduce aerosol and enhance patient comfort. Water Suppression tips and adapters will be available Q4' 2024.
Procedure Types by Tip Color Code
Each SmarTip single-use disposable device is prefilled and color-coded with a specific particulate powder optimized for a specific procedure type. Click on circular images of interest below to learn more about the tip types and their configurations.
Adapter Selection
Adapter selection is important and is dependent on the following factors:
- • Type of chair side connections your equipment supports,
- • Type of procedures you are wanting to accomplish, and
- • The setting of the delivery air pressure at your chair.
Air pressure: Supply air pressure is a primary consideration in all air-particulate applications. The higher the air pressure the higher the exit velocities of the particulate matter. For some procedures, high pressure is advantageous by speeding up surface material bombardment thereby allowing for more rapid polishing, cement removal, and enamel removal for cavity prep. However, high pressure for microetching -- hard abrasive powder -- procedures can lead to over abrasion of the surface, surface damage to some materials, generate unnecessary overspray that is not contributing to the surface preparation, and cause rapid depletion of the tips. Using high pressure with light weight polishing powders leads to overspray. For those type of procedures, a limiting of the air pressure to 40-45psi (~2.2bar) is recommended or the use of water suppression to control overspray with higher pressures.
Most adapter types ship with a pressure gauge that allows you to evaluate the pressure at your dental connection. We provide you with 30-days to upgrade your adapter to a pressure regulating adapter with full credit for your purchase.
Important considerations:
- • High operating pressures can be somewhat compensated for by holding the nozzle further way from the target surface, but that is left to the discretion and capability of individual practitioners.
- • It's important to recall that the standard foot pedal control is a rheostat device that controls air flow and not air pressure. Air pressure is set at the chair using pressure regulators. Since the SmarTip device nozzle aperture is very small, a rheostat device is not sensitive enough to control the air flow to the tips.
- • While your dental compressor generates high pressure supply of 80-125psi (or higher), every chair has at least one pressure regulator (usually at the base or in the instrument tray) that reduces the air pressure supplied to the handpiece connections. Some chairs have individual pressure regulators for each handpiece connection, while others have individual flow controllers for each handpiece connection. On most chairs, a Quick Disconnect coupler provides high pressure access to pressure coming directly from the dental compressor. For your rotary handpieces, your chair is usually setup to 40psi with the air flowing through the handpiece connection -- this is referred to as dynamic air pressure. However, if flow is restricted to the handpiece connection, the pressure spikes much higher as the air flow is converted into potential energy -- this is referred to as static pressure. Since the SmarTip device nozzle aperture is very small and dynamic pressure measurements are dependent on the tubing diameter, static pressure is the best means of defining the pressure for air-particulate devices.
Adapter Selection: We provide adapters for all popular chairside connections and for most specialty connections. Click on circular images of interest below to learn more about the adapter types and their configurations.
- • 2/3/4/5/6 Hole Adapters: Our adapters require only chairside air supply and are directly compatible with all 4/5/6 hole adapters while older style 2/3 hole connections require an additional converter which is sold seperately ($25). The following three adapter models are available:
- › Universal Adapter - A pass through coupler that presents to the SmarTip device the chair pressure.
- › Pressure Regulating Adapter - A coupler that regulates the chair pressure down to 40psi.
- › Dual-Setting Adapter - A coupler with a lever actuator that toggles between chair pressure and regulated 40psi.
- • KaVo, Sirona, W&H, Bien-Air, NSK Adapters: We accommodate your favorite KaVo, Sirona, W&H, Bien-Air, NSK chairside connection with an easy to use adapter. It's important to keep in mind that in most cases these chairside connections are provided as converters that mount over your 2/3/4/5/6 hole connection. Therefore, it is sometimes beneficial and cost effective to remove this converter and use the 2/3/4/5/6 hole adapters directly, especially if a SmarTip adapter is dedicated to the chair.
• Quick Disconnect Adapters: These quick disconnect adapters are finger actuated and are useful if
- › a higher pressure connection is needed for ProphyMaster and PrepMaster procedures,
- › when a chairside connection is not available, or
- › pressure regulation is required without impacting the chair pressure setting.
All quick disconnect adapters come with an adjustable pressure regulator on the connection side. When ordering a quick disconnect adapter for EtchMaster applications the pressure regulator is preset to 40psi, when using as a ProphyMaster the pressure regulator is preset to 65psi, and when using as a PrepMaster adapter the pressure regulator is preset to 80psi.