Clinical techniques of performing suctioning tasks and of positioning the high volume evacuation (HVE) attachment and inlet when assisting a dentist. A guide for dental assistants: part 2.

Abstract

When assisting a dentist, an assistant may need to hold the high volume evacuation (HVE) attachment and use it to suction aerosols produced by the dentist's tools, particularly the high speed handpiece or the cavitron. The main objective of suctioning is to hold the inlet of the HVE attachment close enough to the source of aerosols to evacuate those aerosols, while avoiding suctioning of the patient's intra-oral soft tissues, and avoiding contact of the HVE attachment with the handpiece, cavitron or other instrument that the dentist is using. In general, assisting a dentist with suctioning is a somewhat complex skill that may require months of experience before an assistant develops an intuition for suctioning. This is the second part of a two-part article, and focuses on how to position the HVE suction inlet at various locations intra-orally and on how to maintain and clean the dental office suction pipes.