Step Pliers, 1 mm

Step bends, also called bayonet bends, are used throughout orthodontic treatment to bring an individual tooth into the correct vertical or buccolingual position relative to the rest of the arch without disturbing the alignment of neighboring teeth. Rather than removing the archwire to make this kind of localized correction with a general bending plier, step pliers form the bend directly in the mouth, at the chair, with the wire still engaged in the surrounding brackets.

Step pliers 1mm orthodontic instruments use a double-sided offset beak. One side of the beak is set forward of the other by a fixed 1 mm offset, so when the wire is placed in the jaws and the handles are closed, the resulting bend steps the wire up or down by exactly 1 mm at that point, while leaving the wire straight on either side of the step. Rotating the instrument 180 degrees before placing the wire reverses the direction of the offset, allowing the same plier to produce either a right-hand or left-hand step depending on which direction the correction requires.

The 1 mm increment is the largest in the standard step plier series, used when the required correction is more substantial than a fine detailing adjustment, such as bringing a significantly intruded or extruded tooth closer to the occlusal plane in fewer adjustment visits. For finer increments, the 1/2 mm and 3/4 mm step pliers in the same series provide smaller, more conservative corrections. Wire capacity reaches .022″ x .025″ (.56 mm x .64 mm), covering round and rectangular intermediate and finishing archwires. Medical-grade stainless steel, corrosion resistant, fully autoclavable.

Product Features

• Step pliers 1mm orthodontic offset beak forms a precise 1 mm bayonet bend without removing the archwire from the mouth
• Reversible orientation produces either a right-hand or left-hand step from a single instrument
• Largest increment in the standard step plier series, suited to more pronounced extrusion or intrusion corrections
• Handles round and rectangular wires up to .022″ x .025″ (.56 mm x .64 mm)
• Pairs with the 1/2 mm and 3/4 mm step pliers for a complete range of step bend increments
• Medical-grade stainless steel, corrosion resistant, fully autoclavable