National Dental Assisting Examining Board (NDAEB) Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the National Dental Assisting Exam with comprehensive quiz questions, including multiple choice and detailed explanations. Equip yourself for success!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

Which instrument is used to check the seal of a matrix band around a tooth?

Suction
Syringe
Explorer
Tooth elevator

The correct answer is: Explorer

The explorer is the instrument used to check the seal of a matrix band around a tooth because it is specifically designed to detect the integrity and quality of dental margins and seals. The explorer has a pointed tip that allows the dental professional to carefully probe around the edges of the matrix band, ensuring that there are no gaps between the band and the tooth structure. This is crucial because a proper seal is needed to prevent material leakage during restorative procedures, such as fillings. Using the explorer enables the dentist or dental assistant to confirm that the matrix band is properly positioned and secured, which is essential for achieving optimal adaptation of restorative materials and successful treatment outcomes. The other instruments listed, while useful in different aspects of dental procedures, do not serve the specific function of evaluating the seal of a matrix band. For instance, suction helps keep the area dry, a syringe is used for delivering anesthetics or irrigating solutions, and a tooth elevator is designed for extracting teeth, but none of these tools can accurately evaluate the fit and seal of a matrix band.