Instrument Glossary
Plain-English definitions of orthodontic instruments — what each one does, how to choose it and which Equate references fit.
Adams Plier
An Adams plier is an orthodontic wire-forming plier with square, tapered beaks used to fabricate Adams clasps and other fine wire components for removable appliances and retainers. It grips hard stainless wire, typically 0.7 mm, at precise points so the clinician or technician can make sharp, accurate right-angle bends.
ReadDental Articulator
A dental articulator is a mechanical device that holds upper and lower stone models in a fixed relationship so a technician or clinician can study and finish the occlusion outside the mouth. Simple hinge types reproduce opening and closing only; semi-adjustable and fully adjustable designs also approximate jaw movements.
ReadBand Pusher
A band pusher is a single-ended or double-ended orthodontic hand instrument with a small serrated working tip, used to seat molar and premolar bands onto the tooth. The tip engages the occlusal edge or a seating lug of the band so the clinician can push it apically, often alongside a bite stick, before cementation.
ReadBand Removing Plier
A band removing plier is an orthodontic plier used to lift cemented molar and premolar bands off the teeth at debond or when replacing a band. One beak carries a cushioned plastic tip that rests on the occlusal surface or cusp; the other is a metal blade that hooks under the band's gingival edge. Squeezing the handles levers the band occlusally.
ReadBand Seating Plier
A band seating plier is an orthodontic plier with small, firm tips that grip the margin of a molar or premolar band so the clinician can position and seat it on the tooth before cementation. It controls band placement without crushing the metal, and is often used with a band pusher or bite stick.
ReadBird Beak Plier
A bird beak plier is an orthodontic wire-forming plier with one round, conical beak and one flat, pyramidal beak. Wire bent around the round beak forms smooth loops and curves, while the flat beak makes sharper angles. It is used to bend loops, springs, clasps and arch adjustments in light round wire, both chairside and in the laboratory.
ReadBoley Gauge
A Boley gauge is a dental sliding caliper with a millimetre main scale and a pair of pointed or flat jaws, used to measure tooth widths, crown heights and study-model dimensions. In orthodontics it supplies the mesiodistal widths behind Bolton analysis and space analysis, reading to a fraction of a millimetre when fitted with a vernier track.
ReadBracket Holder
A bracket holder is a single-handled orthodontic instrument with a small hooked tip that cradles a bracket's archwire slot, so the clinician can place it on the tooth and hold it steady while adhesive is positioned and cured. The tip leaves the bracket's face open for light curing.
ReadBracket Holding Tweezer
A bracket holding tweezer is a fine orthodontic tweezer that grips an orthodontic bracket by its wings or slot so the clinician can carry it to the tooth, position it, and seat it in the adhesive before curing. Tips are shaped to hold the bracket securely without covering the bonding base, and cross-action patterns stay closed at rest.
ReadBracket Positioning Gauge
A bracket positioning gauge is a calibrated orthodontic instrument that sets the vertical height of a bracket on the tooth crown, measured from the incisal edge or cusp tip to the bracket slot. A seat that fits the archwire slot holds the bracket at a stamped reference height, such as 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 or 5.0 mm, while it is bonded.
ReadOrthodontic Cheek Retractor
An orthodontic cheek retractor is a chairside frame that holds the lips and cheeks away from the labial tooth surfaces. It gives access and a clear view for bracket bonding, debonding and intraoral photography, and helps keep saliva and soft tissue off the working field, though it does not give full isolation.
ReadCinch Back Plier
A cinch back plier bends the end of an archwire sharply down behind the last molar tube so the wire cannot slide forward or poke the cheek. It is used at archwire placement, on stainless steel and, with suitable pliers, on NiTi wire, to keep arch length and protect soft tissue.
ReadClear Aligner Pliers
Clear aligner pliers are specialised orthodontic pliers used to modify thermoformed aligners chairside. Cold pliers punch holes, create tear-drop, horizontal or vertical pressure points and dimples that add local force on a tooth; heated thermal pliers form bubbles, ramps and slots. They let clinicians fine-tune tracking without ordering a new aligner.
ReadDebonding Plier
A debonding plier is an orthodontic plier designed to remove bonded brackets from the teeth by breaking the adhesive bond in a controlled way. Most designs squeeze the bracket wings or engage the base edge so the bond fails at the bracket–adhesive interface, leaving adhesive on the tooth to be cleaned off rather than stressing the enamel.
ReadDental Measuring Ruler
A dental measuring ruler is a slim stainless steel scale with millimetre graduations, used chairside to measure endodontic files, paper points, gutta-percha cones, orthodontic wire lengths and short distances in the mouth or on models. It is autoclavable, quick to use one-handed, and often has a hole for hanging.
ReadDistal End Bender
A distal end bender is a slim chairside hand instrument that hooks behind the end of an archwire as it leaves the buccal tube and folds it into a small gingival-facing bend. This stops the wire sliding and keeps the cut end away from the cheek, without needing a full plier.
ReadDistal End Cutter
A distal end cutter is an orthodontic cutting plier used to trim the excess end of an archwire flush with the distal edge of the last molar tube or bracket. Its blades sit at right angles to the handles so it can reach the back of the mouth, and most designs hold the cut fragment so it cannot fall into the patient's mouth.
ReadDividing Gauge
A dividing gauge is a spring-loaded divider with two pointed arms that can be locked at a set distance, used to transfer and compare linear measurements between models, wax-ups and set-ups. Unlike a sliding caliper it carries a distance from one place to another rather than reading it off a scale.
ReadElastic Separating Plier
An elastic separating plier is a spring-loaded orthodontic plier with fine angled tips that stretches an elastomeric separator ring so it can be slipped through a tight interproximal contact. The separator then opens a small space between teeth so a molar band can be fitted at the next visit.
ReadOrthodontic Force Gauge
An orthodontic force gauge is a spring-loaded instrument that measures the force delivered by archwires, elastics and auxiliary springs at the bracket. A hook-tipped indicator slides along a calibrated barrel against a coiled spring, so the clinician reads the load directly and adjusts activation to the prescribed force, typically in ounces or grams.
ReadHard Wire Cutter
A hard wire cutter is an orthodontic cutting plier built to cut heavy stainless steel, TMA and cobalt-chromium wires, typically up to .028 in (0.71 mm) round or .021 × .025 in rectangular. It has short, robust jaws, often with tungsten carbide inserts, and is used chairside and in the lab wherever a ligature or distal cutter would be overloaded.
ReadHowe Plier
A Howe plier is an orthodontic utility plier with straight or curved beaks ending in small round serrated pads. It is used to grip and carry archwires, seat and remove bands, adjust loops and auxiliaries, and handle small appliance parts. The round pads give a firm grip without nicking wire, making it one of the most versatile instruments on an orthodontic tray.
ReadIwanson Caliper
An Iwanson caliper is a spring-loaded thickness gauge with curved arms that measures the wall thickness of wax patterns, metal copings, ceramic build-ups and thin sheet material. The curved jaws close on the measuring point and a scale on the arc reads the thickness directly, typically from 0 to 10 mm.
ReadJarabak Plier
A Jarabak plier is an orthodontic wire-bending plier with fine tapered beaks, typically one conical and one flat or rounded, used to form loops, boot loops, offsets and first-order bends in light round archwires, commonly around .016 to .020 inch. It is a finishing and detailing plier, not a heavy-wire bender.
ReadLigature Cutter
A ligature cutter is a small orthodontic cutting plier with fine, pointed beaks used to cut stainless steel ligature ties, lock pins and very light wire close to the bracket. Its delicate tips slip under a twisted ligature without touching the archwire, but it is not designed for archwires and is damaged if used on heavy wire.
ReadLigature Director
A ligature director is a slim hand instrument with a fine, often hooked or J-shaped tip used to guide ligature wires and elastomeric ties around orthodontic bracket wings and to direct loose wire ends. Many are double-ended and can also act as an explorer to check that the archwire is fully seated.
ReadLigature Tucker
A ligature tucker is a slim double-ended hand instrument used to tuck the cut ends of stainless steel ligature wire under the archwire, away from the cheek and lips, and to seat the archwire into bracket slots. One end is typically angled for tucking, the other a thin straight probe.
ReadLigature Tying Plier
A ligature tying plier is a long, slim plier that grips both legs of a stainless steel ligature wire and twists them into a tight pigtail around a bracket, securing the archwire in the slot. Its low-angle curved beaks let the clinician pick up, twist and release the ligature with one instrument.
ReadMathieu Plier
A Mathieu plier is a spring-loaded, ratcheted orthodontic plier with serrated narrow tips, used to grip and place ligature wire, elastic ties and stop beads, and in some designs to hold a needle. The ratchet lets the clinician lock a grip without sustained finger pressure, which helps at the back of the mouth.
ReadPeriodontal Depth Gauge
A periodontal depth gauge is a double-ended instrument with thin, graduated right-angle probes used to measure pocket depth, osteotomy depth during implant placement and soft-tissue thickness. Banded markings along the shaft are read directly at common clinical intervals, and the knurled handle gives a controlled grip while charting.
ReadRectangular Arch Forming Plier
A rectangular arch forming plier is a wire-bending plier whose flat, wide jaw and matching platform support a rectangular archwire across its full cross-section while an arch curve is formed. This lets the clinician or technician shape edgewise wire to the dental arch without rolling or twisting it, which round-beaked pliers cannot guarantee.
ReadRound Arch Forming Plier
A round arch forming plier shapes round orthodontic wire into smooth curves using a round or grooved jaw against a flat or cylindrical counter-jaw. Grooved designs such as the Dela Rosa seat the wire in a channel sized to its diameter, so progressive squeezing builds a symmetrical arch without kinking the wire.
ReadStarter Orthodontic Kit
An orthodontic starter kit is a pre-assembled set of the instruments needed to start a fixed-appliance or aligner practice: wire and band pliers, a cutter, ligature and positioning instruments, gauges and mirrors. It lets a new clinic equip a chair in one purchase rather than sourcing each instrument separately.
ReadStep Bend Plier
A step bend plier is an orthodontic wire-forming plier that places a small, precise offset (a step) in an archwire, typically between 0.25 mm and 1 mm. Clinicians use it during finishing to move one tooth's segment of the wire gingivally or incisally, correcting small discrepancies without removing brackets.
ReadInterproximal Stripping Instrument
An interproximal stripping instrument is a hand holder that tensions an abrasive strip so a clinician can remove a controlled amount of enamel between adjacent teeth, known as interproximal reduction (IPR) or stripping. It keeps the strip flat and tight so it does not buckle during the reduction stroke.
ReadThree-Prong Plier
A three-prong plier is an orthodontic wire-bending plier whose one beak has two prongs and the other a single prong that closes between them. Squeezing wire between the three points makes a controlled bend at a precise spot. It is mainly used to adjust clasps, springs and labial bows on removable appliances and retainers, and to make small bends in round wire.
ReadTorquing Plier
A torquing plier is an orthodontic wire-forming plier that twists a rectangular archwire about its long axis to create a third-order (torque) bend, which tips tooth roots labially or lingually once the wire engages the bracket slot. Wide patterns torque a segment of several teeth; narrow patterns torque a single tooth.
ReadTweed Loop Forming Plier
A Tweed loop forming plier is an orthodontic wire-bending plier with one conical beak, stepped in graduated diameters, and one concave or flat beak. Wire wrapped around a chosen step forms a loop of a precise, repeatable size. It is used to bend closing loops, vertical loops, helices and omega stops in round and light rectangular archwires.
ReadVernier Caliper (Dental)
A dental vernier caliper is a sliding measuring instrument whose main scale reads in millimetres and whose auxiliary vernier scale resolves fractions of a millimetre. Dentists use it to measure tooth widths, arch dimensions, wax patterns and study-model landmarks, and surgical versions such as the Castroviejo caliper measure tissue and graft dimensions.
ReadWeingart Plier
A Weingart plier is an orthodontic utility plier with long, tapered, serrated beaks angled at the tip, used to hold, guide and insert archwires into brackets and molar tubes and to remove them again. Its fine angled tips give a secure grip on round and rectangular wire close to the bracket while keeping the operator's view clear.
ReadOrthodontic Wire Bender
An orthodontic wire bender is any hand instrument that forms a bend in an archwire, from step and V-bend pliers to loop-forming pliers and distal end benders. In Equate's range the wire bender is a V-tip distal end bender that crimps and folds the wire end against the buccal tube.
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