2 Hole (Borden Connection)
- Usually the standard in developing countries (e.g., all of Latin America).
- It has one large hole, which is air intake to drive the turbine to spin, and a small hole for water to cool the bur/tooth.
- No air exhaust, so the exhaust just blows right out of the handpiece, making it much louder.
- Also, no chip air, so the water comes out more as a stream than as a fine mist.
- A 2/4 adapter can be used to fit this kind of handpiece onto 4 hole tubing, but the handpiece will still not have the chip air or exhaust air features.
3 Hole
- Used very little. In fact, we may be one of the last manufacturers still to offer this style!
- It has the same handpiece thread design as 2 holes, but with the addition of one extra small tube for the chip air line to allow the water to come out as a fine mist.
- It can be converted to 2 holes by simply removing the chip air tube.
4 Hole (Midwest Connection)
- The standard in the U.S. and Europe.
- It has two large air holes (the smaller of the two is air in and the larger is air exhaust out).
- It also has two small holes, a water tube and a chip air tube (which brings air to the head where it either mixes with or hits the water to make a fine mist) to cool the bur/tooth and clear debris.
- A 4/2 adapter can be used to fit this kind of handpiece onto 2 hole tubing, but the handpiece will lose the exhaust and chip air feature.
5 Hole
- Has the same handpiece thread design as 4 holes, but with the addition of a fiber optic rod which
- transmits light through the handpiece and illuminates the bur and tooth area for better visibility.
- Has all the other features of 4 hole as well.
- A 5 hole handpiece can be used on 4 hole tubing, but the light feature will not function.
Quick Disconnect Coupler Connections
- Couplers can be 2 holes, 4 holes, and fiber optic (2 types).
- 5 hole fiber optic couplers have an internal glass rod that goes onto tubing that has a light source (bulb) either in the tubing or on the dental control unit.
- 6 pin couplers (with 4 holes like a normal 4 hole handpiece plus 2 metal pins to provide electricity) have the light bulb in the coupler itself.
