What are burnishers?

Burnishers smooth and adapt a restoration's surface and margins with a rounded, non-cutting working end. In amalgam they condense the surface layer and improve marginal adaptation; in composite they shape before cure; on a matrix band they contour to re-establish proximal form. The shape of the working end determines which surface it can adapt to.

How the burnishers range is organised

Ball:

#1 in standard solid, hollow and firm-grip hollow handles — for occlusal pits and general adaptation.

Football:

#28/29 standard solid handle — for lingual and broad concave surfaces.

Ball/football combination:

#27/29 in hollow and standard solid handles.

Acorn:

#21 and #21B — for occlusal anatomy and fossae.

Other:

#34.

Choosing the right burnisher

Ball burnishers adapt into pits and against matrix bands; football and acorn shapes follow broader concavities and occlusal anatomy. A #27/29 double-ended combination gives you both in one instrument and is the sensible single purchase. Burnishing amalgam should be done at the right point in set — too early and you draw mercury to the surface, too late and you fracture the margin.