Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
by Dr Jane Boroky, St Peters Dental Clinic, SA
This is a rubber dam clamp made of medical-grade polymer and designed for use on molars. They come in a pack of five and are very long-lasting.
What’s good about it
The Hawe Soft Clamp fits all molars—uppers, lowers, small ones, large ones, twisted around and rotated ones. It grips firmly and unlike a metal clamp, it doesn’t dig into the gingiva. It’s more comfortable for the patient and you can reduce your inventory. I haven’t used a metal molar rubber dam clamp for years.
I’ve never had one of these soft clamps slip off. Occasionally, the metal ones would only hold on two prongs, the rubber dam would stretch a bit, then the whole thing would go flying. The Hawe clamp won’t cut any tissue in the mouth or rip a hole in the dam. They are designed to be placed with the normal rubber dam forceps.
They’re autoclaveable but after a large number of cycles they will break. I would estimate hundreds of cycles and years of use before the heat of the autoclave eventually breaks down the polymer. While the metal version tends to stretch then break, the soft clamps always keep their spring.
I’ve noticed dental students often struggle to fit and remove metal clamps. These soft clamps slip on and off so easily, it takes less than a minute.
What’s not so good
I would really love it if they also made them for pre-molar teeth because I sometimes have difficulty getting the right rubber dam clamp for pre-molars.
