Efficacy of Hand Instrumentation vs Power Instrumentation

Dental hygienists face many challenges as they practice during a global pandemic. The strict implementation of a variety of new infection control guidelines needed to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has changed the way many oral health professionals practice. On June 9, 2020, the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Advisory Task Force on Dental Practice Recovery issued guidelines that included the preferred use of hand instrumentation over ultrasonic instrumentation for plaque and calculus removal to reduce aerosol production. As many clinicians are accustomed to using power instrumentation during periodontal therapy, this article will examine the effectiveness of hand instrumentation in the removal of soft and hard deposits compared to the combined approach of hand and power instrumentation to prevent and treat periodontal diseases