Telling you about it, usually in the form of a whine that gets louder every week. Midwest Tradition Maintenance: The Five-Minute Routine That Protects Your Turbine

A turbine with a free speed of roughly 410,000 rpm does not forgive shortcuts. Skip the lubricant once, and you may not notice. Skip it for a month and your Midwest Tradition will start.

The good news is that the right routine takes only a few minutes per handpiece. This guide follows Dentsply Sirona's official Midwest Maintenance Guide and Tradition instructions, step by step, so your team can do it the same way every time.

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Why Air-Turbine Maintenance Is So Unforgiving

Inside your Tradition, a tiny rotor rides on a ceramic bearing set. Dentsply Sirona upgraded that bearing set in 2018 to reduce noise and support a one-year warranty. Bearings like these depend on two things: being clean and being correctly lubricated. Debris and dried bioburden are abrasive, and lubricant stripped away by chemicals leaves bearings running dry.

The After-Every-Patient Routine, Step by Step

These steps come from Dentsply Sirona's Midwest Maintenance Guide.

Flush the lines. Run the handpiece on the unit with water for 20 to 30 seconds, then remove the bur safely.
Disconnect. Remove the handpiece from the coupler or hose.
Clean the outside. Apply Midwest Plus Cleaner and scrub under running water with a soft sponge. Pay close attention to the fiber optic lens on Pro models so light is not obstructed.
Lubricate. Fit the right nozzle on Midwest Plus Aerosol Spray, hold the can upright, and spray for 2 full seconds with the head covered by a paper towel. For fixed-backend handpieces, place the nozzle tip into the drive air tube. If lots of debris appears, repeat the 2-second spray.
Expel. Connect the handpiece without a bur to a maintenance adapter, cover the head, and run it on air for at least 30 seconds or until no more oil appears on the towel.
Bag and sterilize. Wipe off excess lubricant, pouch the handpiece, and steam sterilize. Dentsply Sirona says gravity and dynamic air removal sterilizers are both acceptable.

Sterilization Settings You Need to Know

The Midwest Maintenance Guide tells you to follow each handpiece's own instructions for sterilization parameters. For the classic Tradition models, Dentsply's instructions specify:

Step	Classic Tradition Instructions	Why It Matters
Packaging	Sterilization bag with at least one paper side	Lets steam penetrate and the handpiece dry
Bagged autoclave cycle	Minimum 15 minutes at 132°C / 270°F	Validated time and temperature for this handpiece
Cassette steam devices	Unbagged, minimum 3.5 minutes at 135°C / 275°F	Applies only to cassette chamber saturated steam units
After the cycle	Keep in the bag until use; no relubrication needed	Protects sterility and avoids contaminating the bearings

If you own a current-generation Tradition (part numbers 770344, 790344, 780344 or the Pro versions), confirm these settings against the instructions supplied with your handpiece.

Weekly Jobs: Chuck and Coupler Care

Dentsply Sirona calls for weekly chuck maintenance:

Lubricate the handpiece chuck using the oil dropper (380130) or Midwest Plus Aerosol Spray.
Lubricate the operatory coupler O-rings at the same time.
Do chuck maintenance before the main lubrication step so excess oil gets expelled.

If you use a Midwest Automate, it has a dedicated port for chuck maintenance.

Handpiece surface wear inspection. on Repair Guru

Monthly and As-Needed Care

Some jobs are not daily, but they make a big difference over time:

Water spray tube: the classic instructions describe using the cleaning wire back and forth in the inner water spray tube and around the chip air tube to remove mineral build-up.
Sluggish handpiece: only if sluggishness occurs, the classic instructions allow ultrasonic cleaning of the handpiece head, head down in Midwest Plus Handpiece Cleaner, for 10 minutes, then the normal clean and lubricate steps, adding 1 drop of lubricant to the chuck on push button and lever models.
Air pressure check: confirm operating pressure at the handpiece end of the hose. The classic Tradition instructions specify 30 psi of clean, filtered, moisture-free air.
Handpiece inventory: keep enough handpieces in rotation that nobody is tempted to skip a step.

Storage and Handling That Protect Your Investment

Keep sterilized handpieces in their pouches until you need them.
Never use the handpiece as a cheek or tongue retractor.
Never cool a hot handpiece with water.
Always make sure the bur is secure before cutting, and never extend the bur outward from the head.

Eight Maintenance Mistakes That Shorten Turbine Life

Spraying or wiping the handpiece with disinfectant or alcohol.
Washing it with hand or dish soap. Dentsply Sirona warns these contain chloride.
Putting lubricant into the wrong tube.
Skipping the 30-second expel step, leaving excess oil inside.
Lubricating after sterilization instead of before.
Forgetting weekly chuck and coupler O-ring lubrication.
Using non-Midwest maintenance products.
Running the handpiece above the recommended air pressure.

For more information, visit Repair Guru

Midwest Tradition Maintenance FAQs

Where do I put the lubricant on a Midwest Tradition?

Into the drive air tube, which is the shorter of the two larger tubes and gold on many Midwest handpieces.

Should I lubricate before or after sterilization?

Before, Dentsply Sirona's classic Tradition instructions say no relubrication is needed after autoclaving.

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Midwest Tradition Maintenance Guide | Repair.Dental