The Instruments and Filling Material You Need for Cement Fillings

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HealthWiki > Where There Is No Dentist > Chapter 10: How to Fill a Cavity > The Instruments and Filling Material You Need for Cement Fillings

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In this chapter:

 

In this chapter:

In many places, government medical stores can provide most of the instruments as well as cement filling material. If this is not possible, a dentist may be able to help you to order what you need.

Instruments

Most dental instruments look alike, but the small end of each instrument is shaped to do a special task. Try to get instruments similar to these and keep them in a kit.

mirror	probe (explorer)	tweezers (cotton pliers)	spoon (spoon excavator)
	(metal or plastic spatula), for cement or ART	OR (wooden spatula), for cement only"
filling tool (filling instrument)		mixing tool

Some instruments have more than one name. The second one, in parentheses ( ), is the proper name. Use the proper name when you order.

Cement filling material

Many companies make temporary filling material. The names on the packages are different. This makes it hard to know which one to order.

However, the basic material of each product is the same — zinc oxide and oil of cloves (eugenol). To save money, order these two main ingredients in bulk, instead of an expensive kind of dental cement filling material.

Oil of cloves is a liquid.	Zinc oxide is a powder.

You may be able to buy a special kind of zinc oxide powder called I.R.M. (Intermediate Restorative Material). Fillings with I.R.M. are stronger and harder, so they last longer. But it is more expensive than zinc oxide and eugenol.

This page was updated:04 Apr 2024