Polishing and fulcrum
Hi,
I wanted to ask if anyone has any advice on how to polish teeth palatally and lingually. I’m still really struggling with it, especially lingually, because the tongue constantly gets in the way and it’s difficult for me to access the area properly.
My teacher wants me to use my ring finger for the fulcrum instead of my pinky finger. It felt very unnatural at first, and polishing teeth suddenly felt like I was doing it for the first time. I’ve gradually started getting used to stabilizing with my ring finger, sometimes even using a combination of fingers. Vestibular polishing is not really a problem for me, but orally it’s much more difficult. I keep trying to angle the instrument differently and search for the right position, but sometimes I still lightly tap the incisal edges, which makes me really nervous because I absolutely don’t want to hurt a patient. Sometimes I feel like I just can’t find a stable fulcrum with my ring finger, and that I have much better range of motion with my pinky finger, but I’m not allowed to use it.
I also have shorter fingers, and using a larger metal handpiece makes everything feel even more difficult. Sometimes I honestly feel really clumsy, even though I’m trying my best. When working with a probe and thinner instruments, I was actually told by a dental hygienist that I have good tactile sensitivity and that I don’t press too hard into the sulcus, so at least I know I’m not completely hopeless. It’s just polishing that has become my biggest struggle in class, and I feel like everyone else is much better at it.
I wanted to ask whether anyone else has struggled with fulcrum placement during polishing, especially on the oral surfaces, and whether you have any tips on finding a more stable position and angle so I can feel more confident controlling the instrument. Videos or pictures would be absolutely amazing, but I’d also really appreciate a written explanation.