Dead or Alive – 1984 or Flo Rida 2009 if you’re a millennial.
$3500 an hour made easy – by Pete Burns

“You spin me right round baby, right round like a record baby, right round right round”

What does this have to do with dentistry?  Everything. I don’t think there’s a segment of dentistry other than pathology whose revenue isn’t generated by the spinning of a handpiece, round and round at hundreds of thousands of RPM.

Today I’m focusing on dental burs. Have you ever even looked at a bur catalog? It’s mind-numbing how many different shapes and sizes of burs there are out there. Diamonds in multiple different grits, single use, multiple use, cutting carbides, polishing carbides, friction grip, latch type, lab burs, lathe burs. This begins to sound like the part in Forrest Gump where Forest’s friend discusses all the different types of shrimp he can make.

I’ve been doing dentistry for 16 years. I’ve used expensive burs, cheap burs, medium priced burs, and I can never tell the difference. I can tell fresh bur vs. dull bur but a 330 is a 330 is a 330 to me.

So let’s begin with the carbide bur, I’ll do diamonds in another article  There are many brands here some of the biggest names are Midwest, Axis, SS White, Brassler, and many supply houses have their own house brand of burs.

Let me introduce you to a player in the industry you may never have heard of.  DentalRee – an internet only company out of Las Vegas Nevada – DentalRee.

I discovered this company based on a recommendation from a large dental message board site and it’s been awesome.

Let’s compare some prices – all prices from 2/2018 and I’ll take into account this month’s manufacturer promotions when applicable.

330 bur – prices from Henry Schein

Midwest – $198 for a 100 pack – $1.98 a bur (they do have a buy 4 get 1) that drops it to $1.58 per

SS White – $200 for 100 pack – $2 a bur (have a buy 3 get 1) drops it to $1.50 a bur

Schein Brand – $155 for 100 – $1.55 a bur.

By comparison DentalRee has two lines of carbides – made in USA or made in Canada – I’ve tried both, they are both great. DentalRee always has 20% off for orders over $200 using the coupon code ‘volume’ ($4.75 flat shipping rate per order).

USA – $125 for 100 – and you’ll be at $200 total or $1.00 a bur.

Canada – $105 for 100 – get 2 packs and you’ll be at $168 total or $0.84 a bur.

I know what you’re thinking…is he really talking about a difference of like $0.50-0.60 a bur…who cares?

How many of your favorite operative bur not to mention caries removing round burs are you going to use in a year? I’m not going to be surprised if you say you use 1000 of these in a year, so that $0.50 to 0.60 a bur has now added up to $500-600 for doing nothing more than just ordering your bur from a different place. I haven’t even touched on the potential savings from polishing burs, diamond burs, or lab burs (future articles). Spoiler alert: Their prices rock on all types of burs and their Crosstech diamond burs are highly rated in independent studies like the CRA Report.

So, take my advice and enjoy your newly found $500-600 per type of bur.  There’s that Xbox One you’ve had your eye on for yourself or a child. Enjoy!