Air abrasion: its uses and abuses.

Air abrasion, a pseudo-mechanical, non-rotary method of cutting and removing dental hard tissue, was originally conceived in 1945. After promising early clinical developments, the advent of the air turbine handpiece and burs resulted in the loss of this early technology to mainstream dentistry. However, recent advances in adhesive dentistry have called for changes to concepts in cavity design and preparation, and air abrasion has once again come to the forefront of clinical operative dentistry. This review explains the mode of action of the current units and discusses some of the clinical uses of this technique as well as potential pitfalls.