Are you looking to buy a new coupling or a new handpiece? This guide will help ensure you know what to look for when making the purchase. Let’s start with the basics. A dental coupling functions as a connector for handpieces, linking them to the dental unit hose to deliver air, water, and light to the handpiece during operation. The purpose of the coupling is to provide 360 ⷪ movement of the handpiece on the hose and enable quick attachment and release.
What’s your dental hose connection?
Before buying a new coupling, you need to know what connection you have on your hose to ensure you’re purchasing the right coupling. There are 3 types, below we will explain them in much more detail.
2 Hole – Borden Connection
The Borden connection comes with 2 holes. The large hole is for the compressed air and the smaller hole is for the water outlet. Borden does not have an air exhaust, so it blows the air directly out of the handpiece, making it louder compared to other handpieces.
4 Hole – Midwest Connection
The 4 hole-Midwest connection is non-optic and is now far more common than the Borden connection. One of the holes is used for the air exhaust, and the other hole is for the air intake. The 2 smaller holes are for the supply of water.
The 2-hole and 4-hole connections can both be used with ‘direct connection’ handpieces without the need for a coupling. See our range of value direct connection handpieces:
- NSK Pana-Max2 Non-Optic Single Spray Turbine Handpiece – Direct Connection
- KaVo SMARTtorque S609C Non-Optic Highspeed Handpiece
- Woodpecker High Speed Turbine
6 Hole – Midwest Connection
This is the new-style connection that is fully electric. This connection features everything the 4 hole-Midwest connection has but with the added benefit of having 2 small connections that power the optics.
Choosing the right Dental coupling
Now that you know how many holes your hose connection has, you can purchase the correct dental coupling. If you’re looking to purchase a new high-speed handpiece, you need to ensure you select the right connection type depending on what coupling you have on the dental hose.
For example, if you have a 6-hole connection hose with the Mk Dent Multiflex Coupling, you can use any high-speed handpiece that has that has a Kavo Multiflex type back-end.
See our most popular handpieces that come with a Multiflex connection option:
- KaVo SMARTtorque S619L Optic MULTIflex Connection
- MK Dent Classic Line HC20KL High Speed Optic 28W Power Edition Handpiece – Kavo Connection
- MK Dent Eco Line HE21L High Speed Optic Handpiece
Another scenario: if you have a 6-hole connection with a W&H Rotoquick coupling, you can use a W&H Synea Fusion or a MK Dent Eco Line, or any other handpiece with a W&H connection.
See our most popular handpieces that come with a W&H Rotoquick connection option:
Most manufacturers have their own coupling connections but normally manufacture in other connection options. All handpiece connections can look different so check out the diagram below to ensure you purchase the right coupling that will fit the correct high-speed handpiece.
