Hygiene Atlas

Start here · Trays · 16 entries

Tray setups

A well-set tray lets the whole visit run smoothly. Instruments go on the tray from left to right in the order they will be used, so you can always find the next one and put each back in its place. Below are common setups for the procedures you will see most, with the instruments listed in that order.

Every office has its own tray cards, and dentists have their own preferences, so treat these as starting points and follow your office's lists. The last two sections cover passing instruments and the four-handed "clock" zones that keep you, the operator and the patient safe and comfortable.

Hygiene trays

Check-ups, cleanings, deep cleanings and sealants.

  1. Exam and prophy (cleaning) tray The everyday hygiene setup: exam instruments, scalers and polishing.
  2. Scaling and root planing (SRP) tray Setup for deep cleaning below the gumline, often with local anesthetic.
  3. Sealant tray Setup for painting a protective coating into the grooves of back teeth.

Restorative trays

Tooth-colored fillings, silver fillings and crown preps with temporaries.

  1. Composite (tooth-colored filling) tray Setup for a tooth-colored filling: prep, bond, place in layers, cure and polish.
  2. Amalgam (silver filling) tray Setup for a silver filling: prep, matrix, carry, condense, carve, burnish, check bite.
  3. Crown prep and temporary crown tray Setup for preparing a tooth for a crown, taking the impression and making a temporary.

Anesthesia and surgery trays

Numbing setup and simple extractions.

  1. Local anesthesia setup Topical, syringe, cartridge and needle, ready and passed out of the patient's sight.
  2. Simple extraction tray Sterile setup for removing a tooth: loosen, lift out, clean the socket, control bleeding.

Impression setups

Alginate impressions for models and final impressions for crowns.

  1. Alginate impression setup Setup for quick impressions of both arches for study models or appliances.
  2. Final (crown) impression setup Setup for an accurate impression of a crown prep with VPS material.

Instrument transfer

How to set the tray and pass instruments safely and smoothly.

  1. Setting the tray: left to right in order of use Instruments go on the tray in the order they will be used, usually left to right.
  2. One-handed (parallel) instrument transfer Pick up the used instrument and hand over the next one with the same hand.
  3. Two-handed transfer (bulky instruments) For bulky items like forceps and dam clamps, take with one hand and give with the other.
  4. Passing scissors, cotton pliers and the syringe Special handling for hinged instruments, loaded cotton pliers and the anesthetic syringe.

Four-handed dentistry zones

Where everyone and everything goes, using the clock around the patient's head.

  1. Four-handed zones: right-handed operator Picture the patient's head as a clock face: each team member and item has a zone.
  2. Four-handed zones: left-handed operator For a left-handed operator the zones are mirrored to the other side.