NLZ: FLEXIBLE INSTALLATION AND HIGH PERFORMANCE IN A COMPACT MICROMOTOR
Find out why Foroud Hakim, DDS, MBA, believes that NLZ from NSK:
• Improves workflow with multimode operation and between-operatory portability for endodontic flexibility.
• Integrates into the existing practice with a small footprint, light weight, a range of bracketing options, and a split-unit form.
In dental school, I was trained on air-driven equipment, but like many of my peers, I began to experiment with electric handpieces in the early 2000s and started to fully integrate that technology into my practice about a decade ago. Because of some of the traditional limitations related to those first-generation electric handpieces (size, weight, ergonomics, feel, heat, etc.), I ran dual connections and equipped my then newly built office delivery units to cradle both electric and air-driven handpieces. I would jump back and forth between the two based on the task at hand. The utilization ratio has significantly changed for me, however, since we installed the NLZ.
I was presented with the opportunity in late 2016 to test-drive NSK’s NLZ. I agreed to do it…skeptically. I’m so glad I went through with the evaluation and I’m now a regular user. The NLZ has so many great features.
The split-unit form simplifies installation into any existing operatory and/or delivery unit. This is critical since we don’t want to have a build-out project just to integrate a new motor or handpiece.
Its tiny footprint, light weight, and bracketing options allow it to fit unobtrusively into the busiest of delivery units—fixed or mobile—for convenience.
With multimode operation, NLZ includes high and low speeds with 6-program memory as well as dual endo modes for both rotary and reciprocating protocols. The demo mode capability allows me to move the motor to a different operatory when it is not being used in high power where water cooling is critical. This means flexibility and mobility for endodontic procedures.
NLZ delivers the highest torque in the market at 4.2 Ncm (compared to leading competitors that range in the low 3s).
For safety, NLZ integrates contra–safe, contrarestriction, and overheat prevention features.
Since it was installed in our third operatory, we accomplish all procedures with the NLZ and related NSK handpieces. My associates and I seem to all gravitate more toward that operatory lately over the others, which run competitor equipment.
I will add this: If the NLZ is equivalent to a high-level race car motor, the NSK complementary handpiece line then becomes the aerodynamic car that brings the engine to function. The ergonomics, head size, weight, and diameter allow for access, preparation, and visibility that is unsurpassed. The problems of a tall head bumping against opposing dentition and engulfing burs to less than ideal exposure, or a wide diameter head blocking operator visibility, are completely eliminated.
