Where to Buy Drilling Burs?

[abcinabq]

I need a good supplier for burs. I'm killed on shipping and $2 unit prices.

[Kgobin]

At Delta Kits we have numerous burs that are in sold in a 100 pack, so this would get your cost down by 25%. Please PM or email me if you are interested or just call into Delta Kits.

[Nomad]

I get mine from Brasselers. By the 100 you generally get about half off. Expect this is true for other dental supply places too. I have even seen some dental burrs on ebay that looked like they might work, but didn't buy or try them. 100 burrs last me a long long time.

I use -- US# 700 FG taper fissure-----Order No. H33.31.010. Drills very small hole but end of drill must be moved in a circle to ream the hole as you are drilling or you will break the bit. These can be "sharpened" by breaking a little off of the very tip. Use a small needle nose pliers to do this. They are tapered so hole will be larger every time you break it off. Be careful the first time you drill after breaking it as it can sometimes be quite aggressive and want to run across the glass. Can usually "sharpen" them three time before carbide tip gets short and hole gets too large for me.

I think last time I bought them they were $120 for 100 including shipping.

There are a lot of other dental supply places around, google them or maybe ask your dentist.

By the way, my dentist told me he breaks tips off burrs all the time when doing lab work so as to get a fresh end.

[Brent Deines]

We can hook you up with a distributor in Albuquerque to avoid the shipping cost which is probably your biggest expense on small quantities. There are some big differences in bur quality, so paying $2 for a high quality bur may actually cost you less in the long run than paying $1 for a low quality bur. We have tested many with the same size and shape, and some will only drill a hole or two before you have to replace them. Depending on the shape, size, quality, and how you care for your burs, you should be able to get 10 or 20 holes with a good bur.

More importantly, how often do you drill? I like finding bargains as much as the next guy, but bur cost is really a pretty insignificant issue for me as I rarely drill. Being a bur supplier I probably should not say this, but if I was doing 10 repairs a day I would only go through a dozen burs a year, if that. That's only a few cents a week using what I believe to be the best burs in the industry.

Sorry Nomad, I had to remove the phone number from your post. Please review the forum rules. Not sure I would go to a dentist who broke off the end of a dental bur to save a buck. Dentists can only use a bur on one patient anyway, so there should be no reason to do this. I would certainly hope that he is not reusing a bur on another patient.

I also would not waste my time sharpening something that is so inexpensive to start with. How much is your time worth? If you spend 10 minutes to save $1 you are saying your time is only worth $6/hr. One of the biggest mistakes windshield repair technicians make is spending too much time trying to save a few pennies rather than developing their business or actually doing repairs. I'm pretty cheap but I have learned that if I am to make a good living in this industry I need to spend my time efficiently. To each his own, but that philosophy has worked well for me.

[screenman]

I completely agree with Brent although I use the drill a lot I still only use about a dozen a year. I do not drill every damage I do however use the drill as a powered scribe, I find I can get a pit nice and clean very accurately and without removing much glass. Do not try and save on the pennies use your time to make more £££££'s. Or in your case $$$$$'s

[GlassStarz]

I have been known to ask my dentist to order 25 extras next time he places an order

[Nomad]

Dentist only does this when working in the lab on molds, crowns etc. Not in the patients mouth. Does this with expensive diamond burrs too.

I can snap the tip off in a second, don't have to change burr. Takes longer to fish new burr out and insert than to sharpen. Also, sharpened burr will most time give a sharper and longer lasting tip than the original tip. I don't drill as often as I used to but do more than some recommend. I believe that drilling and popping speeds things up as far as the rate of resin injection in some kinds of chips, and the drill hole is so small as to be almost unnoticeable in most cases.

Also use drill as a power scribe, works great for that.

[Nomad]

I never thought of that but getting your dentist to order extra when he does send an order is a great idea. Should save a lot on shipping too. Find out what supplier he uses and what the model no. of the bit that they have that serves your purposes.

I think maybe the style of bit is important as far as how long it lasts. I haven't been able to make the little ball end bits last for more than a hole or two.

[screenman]

What are you using the ball end burs on, steel or concrete? This is what I have always used and as mentioned before 12 a year on average. However I must add that these are a quality bur purchased from Delta.

[abcinabq]

I don't want to drill so much, but I'm finding the same as others that not drilling is taking too long. I get a lot of really tight stars and batwings that drive me crazy when I don't drill to open them up. I'm only drilling to get the resin in and I don't see that it leaves any more of a scar than not drilling. The repair usually take me half the time, and working in the New Mexico sun, that makes good sense to me. Resin cure rates are really fast here and even using a good shield I'm nervious it will cure before the damage is completely filled.
I'm all about using the best products and equipment, so paying 2 bones for a good bit is not my beef, it's the shipping when I only need bits. Usually 10 bucks for a couple of tubes kills me, that's like paying 3 buck a bit. Albuquerque has very outlets for supplies so I have to do a lot of mail ordering to get what I need.
Like I said, I'm getting good mileage out of the bits I use, but I'm all about saving whenever I can. Some places will send a bit out by mail just too let touch and feel it before jumping in. What do you think?