The Two Main Types of Dental Suctions

There are two main types of dental suctions unit that dentists use: the saliva ejector and the high volume suction.

The saliva ejector does exactly what its name implies; it sucks saliva out of the mouth.  This is the suction pictured at the upper right of this article.  Many times dentists will have the patient close down on this suction so that it can suction away any remaining saliva in the patient’s mouth.

The other main type of dental suction that we use is the high volume suction.  This suction is so strong that the dental assistant simply holds it close to where the dentist is working and it will suck away any nearby debris, much like a strong vacuum cleaner can suck away crumbs without actually touching them.

You can see the high volume dental suction pictured below – try to pardon the lack of glove use by that dentist!

Where Does The Stuff Go After It’s Sucked Away?
I remember sitting in the dental chair in Dr. Arnold’s office as a child wondering what happens to all of the stuff that gets sucked down the suction.  Maybe I was hoping that the tooth fairy would somehow be able to save the bad part of my baby tooth that the dentist removed and put it back together once my tooth fell out.  After gathering up the courage to ask, I think I was slightly disappointed by the answer.

After your saliva, tooth debris, etc. gets sucked away, it travels through the suction line to a vacuum separator that will separate out any solids.  After that, your spit makes a journey down the pipes and into the sewer system.

It is now recommended that dentists install amalgam separators in their suction lines to separate out any dental amalgam and keep it from getting into the public sewer systems.

Source:

http://www.oyodental.com/blog/2016/05/21/the-two-main-types-of-dental-suctions/