Button probe
A button probe (English: bulb-headed probe ), German also blunt probe , is a dental and surgical instrument. It is a rod-shaped, made of stainless steel, about 14 cm long, often flexible instrument. It is crucial that, unlike normal dental probes, it is blunt, even thickened at the ends. Probes with buttons of different thicknesses are available. Depending on the model, there may be a so-called “leaf” in the middle for better handling, or one end may be bent into an eyelet to provide a surface for the fingers.
A button probe is used to palpate and track “tissue passages” bluntly, i.e. without tissue damage.
In surgery, foreign bodies are searched for in wounds with the probe and fistulas and wound cavities are examined for depth and direction.
The Bowman button probe was developed for ophthalmology as a tear duct probe. The “leaf” in the middle serves to hold the probe better. To avoid injuries, it is slightly thickened and blunt at the ends.
In dental practice it is mainly used to determine connections between the oral and maxillary sinuses . Such an mouth-antrum connection (MAV) can arise in particular when a tooth is removed in the upper jaw-posterior region.
In pediatric urology and pediatric surgery, the button probe is used to loosen foreskin adhesions ( adhesions of the inner preputation epithelium with the glans penis) in children and adolescents. Before a circumcision ( circumcision ) dissolving this bonding is required. The solution with the blunt probe is gentler than spreading the foreskin with a clamp.
Individual evidence
- ↑ P. Reuter, Lexikon Medizin , Springer Verlag (2004) p. 293, ISBN 3-540-20412-1 .
