Laboratory dental micromotor maintain

This is a laboratory dental micromotor and is what dental technicians use. It is not what dentists use inside people's mouths, which is usually a high speed (up to around 400,000RPM) or low speed (around 200,000RPM) turbine, operated by an air compressor. There are some electric ones and other micromotors such as for surgery or endodontics (according to some makers' websites) but these are also not what is (IMO) best for woodwind repairs. The higher speed of more than 50,000RPM is not useful IMO.

Plus the straight angle of the lab micromotors is better for many purposes. There are several types of tools that are used in woodwind repairs that are similar one a lot of ways. One is a Dremel, actually brand name but there are other Dremel-like tools that are the same. I think I saw a Dremel used to grind teeth of some animals in the zoo! There are flexible shaft rotary tools, also called pendant drills. I have tried all those types significantly. There are also different types of lab dental micromotors, which I have also tried. I went to a dental equipment exhibition to try a lot of different ones and choose mine. First, how a micromotor is different from the other "similar" tools.

If repairs were a Formula 1 race, then a crude comaprison would be that the micromotor is a Ferrari race car, the flexible shaft tool is a family car and the Dremel is a bus. You can still complete the course with the bus, but it will be much slower and more cumbersome. Actually maybe there are parts you couldn't manouver with the bus at all. The family car would be better but no match for the race car. A good micromotor is significantly more expensive than the others. The most obvious difference is that with the Dremel or pendant drill, the motor isn't micro. The Dremel has a big motor on the handpiece. This makes a very inprecise tool that is awkward to use to precision work.

It also (according to Dremel's website) has a speed from 5,000RPM to 35,000RPM. Some of the uses are better with slower and faster speed than that. Some of the things I wouldn't dare to use a Dremel at all, just no enough control and accuracy. AFAIK the Dremel can also have an extension to be made into a pendant drill. The pendant drill (aka flexible shaft rotary tool) has a motor seperate from the handpiece and they are connected with the flexible shaft. This is a cable that trasmits the rotation from motor to handpiece. In comparison with a micromotor, this is the equivilent of writing with a pencil with an apple stuck at the back end of it. Really imprecise in comparison and also lack of control. These typically have a high speed of about 20,000RPM.