Innovations in the Development of Miniature Ball Bearings – Expanding the Performance Limits of Dental Turbine Bearings

Bearings of a dental turbine are exposed to high stresses. Among other things, the miniature ball bearings have to withstand speeds of up to 500,000 rpm, insufficient lubrication (sometimes dry running), periodic superheated steam sterilizations and bearing misalignment. The life of a dental ball bearing is primarily limited by the ball bearing cage. An explanation for this characteristic is the consideration of the dental ball bearing as a tribological system. In addition to the friction partners rolling elements and raceways, this tribosystem is primarily determined by the influence of the ball bearing cage, which experiences the highest tribological stresses on the guide surfaces in the contact zone cage – ball or cage – ring shoulder. Ideally, the respective friction surfaces are separated by a lubricant. If the lubricant is lacking, a standard cage is subject to high abrasive wear, resulting in material removal, vibration and heating all the way to breakage. Due to the interaction of the cage with the ball set, the wear effects are transmitted to the entire system and ultimately lead to failure of the ball bearing and thus to a standstill of the dental turbine. GRW meets these challenges with the innovations XTRAlon® and ‘three-way’ profile.