Piezoelectric Surgery: Comparing the Systems?

Dr. V asks:

In recent years, innovative use of ultrasonic technology, known as Piezosurgery, has greatly simplified and improved osseo-integrated implantology by overcoming the limits of precision and intraoperatory safety existing with traditional bone cutting instruments.

As ultrasonic bone surgery has continued to grow the marketplace has changed with the introduction of various piezosurgery systems. Clinicians have also gained lots of experience over the past few years with the technique and the systems.

I would love some comments comparing and contrasting the following piezo surgery systems: UBS system marketed by ACE surgical, Satelec Acteon system marketed by SALVIN, NSK Variosurg, and Piezosurgery by Mectron.

What are some real strong/weak points of these systems? What can be done with one system that cannot be done with the other?

21 Comments on Piezoelectric Surgery: Comparing the Systems?

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David
3/3/2009
Had a chance to try the mectron unit, Ace's ubs, ems's unit and acteon'unit. I ended up choosing acteon's. UBS has unbelievable power,avery reasonable price but their tips design are subpar. Mectron is nice but a lot of users report easily broken tips and below average customer support by the company. Also, their handpiece tends to heat a lot which I found to be a real problem. I think however that their tips designs are the best in the industry. EMS's unit I did not like at all,very disapointing. I chose acteon's unit because the unit has reasonable power,nice tips (love their extraction tips) and great support from Salvin which is a definite plus when you spend that kind of money.
William
3/3/2009
They are all good and they all they have their positive and negatives. Some are cheaper but have a high disposable cost per case. Some have limited part selections. The best thing to do, is contact the local rep and try it for a case. Most all of them let you test drive it. Schein lets you test the Satelec and Mectron's reps will let you use it, Ace will but a hesitant to and I'm not sure about the NSK. Think of it like test driving a car. Since this is a decent investment, try them before you buy them. They are all good at what they do.
gerald
3/3/2009
What about OSAKA?
Dr. V
3/4/2009
"Sinus window" preparation. What machine meets these objectives the best for the price?
Abhay Lamba
3/4/2009
I have used both mectron and acteon unit.I'm using Acteon from last three years and last year again went for their implant centre just because of their exellant aftersales from satelec.ITS VALUE FOR MONEY.I do agree with david,that mectron unit is very well designed but hand piece is heavy,gets hot while working and you have to stop after sometime.Acteon unit is well designed with piezo scaler inbuilt into it which is also programmable.lots of tips with differant use in implantology,periodontology,oral maxillofacial surgeries.My favourite is intra lift tips.it just makes implantologist/patient life much easier.i would suggest their implant centre which is much more powerful as compared to piezotome.I suggest dr. v to try both unit and make his own mind.don't waste your time in checking EMS or NSK etc.
piezo1
3/4/2009
I have an Esacrom Surgysonic device: it works very well, and its cost is absolutely reasonable compared to Mectron. There are two other fItalian factories (BioSaf and Silfradent) that built very good machines too.
j meyer
3/5/2009
I'm using the surgybone from silfradent. It's been really good, handpiece does'nt get hot at all. have'nt had a tip fracture in 6 months.
piezo1
3/5/2009
J meyer is right, Surgybone is the same machine as Surgysonic; BioSaf, Esacrom and Silfradent offer the same identical device with different case cover, of course.
Fabe
3/6/2009
I was one of the first in the US to have used the Mectron, back in 2005. It worked great, but broken tips were an issue as well as some kind of error messages. I have recently purchased the variosurg from NSK and could not be happier: Fast, light handpiece, keeps the temp low, the machine feels sturdy I can use also the intralift tips on the variosurg. BTW, I hesitated with the UBS from ACE and was told by the rep that they had a lot of issues with the machine and he was not recommending it to me. Hope it helps. Dr Fabe
Dr.Aslan Y.GOKBUGET
3/23/2009
I think piezoelectric surgery best for beginers bone grafting and sinus lifting procedures.Very easy control,atravmatic and safe system...I use frios microsaw which is faster to obtain bone graft compearing the other systems..both is very good for harvesting bone graft.
gurpreet
4/8/2009
i too had experience with surgybone from silfradent and teir new side water jet sugical tips its a great machine and had no handpiece heating nafter being on for around 20 minutes.
Dr Jeevan Aiyappa
4/13/2009
I am surprised nobody considereed it important enough to discuss the frequencies ofthe various machines on offer and choose relative to the merits that the various machines have as theri specs rather than go by one or the other's "experience". Look for the Frequencies at which bone cutting is facilitated in all these machines. Look and read between the lines as some of them will have specs that read ... " Min Cutting frequency .. " and "Range of cutting frequency" As the philosophy of the Ultrasonic bone ssurgery devices are all based on the fact that only at optimal frequencies does bone cutting happen with cell death occusring from Cell"Implosion" or "Cavitation" as opposed to the conventional cell death by cell "Explosion" from Inreased Itracellular pressure and oedema, seen in conventional bone cutting techniques such as burs, saws, chisels etc. The range that Tomaso Vercelloti has set for his machine (the second generation Mectron Piezosurgery) is 22 to 28KHz. He bein the pioneer in the field of Piezosurgery, and the one who apparently discovered this facet of bone surgery, would make sense to go buy the machine inspite of the so called costs nvolved. I did that almost 3 years ago. Have broken a few tips in the first year of use. But then, as an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, I tried it on the Tibial regularly for harvesting Tibial bone,on the iliac crest. Have documented cases of Rhinoplasty for access to the anterior skull base, Maxillectomy etc. There is a learning curve to it and is soon mastered (I believe if I can , anyone can!). In the last 16 months I haven't broken a single tip. Just used the Piezo on 2 patients in the last 2 days at a workshop at Safdarjung hosp in Delhi . A rige split , and a Sinus Lift with Autogenous block bones harvested off the symphysis . Did a large span Maxillary Ridge Split for Expansion last month along with a colleage who's a friend (Dr Maanav Nayyar) at his clinic in West Delhi, demonstrated a Block bone grafting and a Maxillary Split and Expansion 2 months ago at the COD SUrgery at Manipal, a case at Kochi etc.... Have had no breakages, no tips heating...blah blah.. Have no reason to crib about other systems. Have tried UBS , EMS, and Osada during the aAdvanced Implanmtlogy courses that I was faculty at, with a close friend and Implantologist. I guess he shares my opinion that the Piezo Osada EMS and Satelec came out 2nd best and Mectron was a winner, hands down in terms of cutting effieciency. After sales service is the biggest let down though, at least in our part of the world. By the way, I do not have any commercial interests with Mectron, nor do I lecture or contribute to their sales diretly or indirectly.
JP
5/19/2009
I bought the SurgyStar from Dmetec (Korea, IDS Köln). Because of price-quality. Inserts are campatible with Mectron. Anyone experience with this device ?
ae
10/15/2009
Hi, Dr. JP I want to know how is your experience with surgystar from dmetec?
rj
3/16/2010
has any one used the NSK Variosurg ? if yes what are your thoughts about it and also how would you compare it with Acteon sateltec
Dr.Giacomo Palumbo
5/20/2010
Hi, I’m a dentist Italian and I bought the SURGYSTAR for quality price. I use it in my Office by 2009 is I am very pleased with its performance, I have withdrawn lately Tips for implants that I used to with sinus crestale approach. The Council why is a great device.
piezo123
8/12/2010
Has anyone tried using the Piezoart from dowell dental products? If so, what are your comments on it? I am thinking of purchasing the one from Acteon, but I was very impressed with the dowell unit.
Scott
10/12/2010
Hi piezo123, I saw that several dentists returned the Piezoart due to not enough power and defects. I was also told that Piezosurgery by Mecton got FDA audit due to high heat generated on handpiece. Try Piezotome by Acteon or Surgybone by Silfradent. Both are European made with good quality. Piezotome looks fancy like iPod with high price about $11,000 without tips and Surgybone is not that fancy, but generates less heat on handpiece, so you can use it more than 2 hour straight and about $2000 cheaper than the Piezotome. You can easily find both products with search engine. Good luck!!
DR GAUTAM LAUD
2/25/2011
hi, im interested in buying the piezo surgical unit and im confused between the dmetec,satellec and mectron.any suggestions thanx
Dr. Kim
3/13/2011
Hello. I bought Surgystar from Dmetec last year and I'm very satisfied with its purformance. Actually, I'm Korean dentist that's one of the reasons why I chose surgystar. Before pruchased, I tried several piezo units by using demo device. I couldn't find big quality difference among Mectron, dmetec and EMS. If there is no problem with maintenance or warranty, I will recommend surgystar.
Dr Boyan Kassabov
5/5/2018
Hi I use a W&H piezosurgery unit. Anyone knows what other brand's tips could I use?

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