Dental Bur Speed Chart
Recommended operating speeds for Busch & Co. rotary instruments, compiled from the official Busch 2024 catalog and IDS 2025 documentation.
Read more about these speeds +
Speeds are shown in revolutions per minute (min⁻¹ / RPM). As a rule, the larger the head diameter, the lower the permissible speed — ranges run from the smallest to the largest size in each series. These values are recommendations only: always observe the maximum speed stated on the individual instrument packaging, use adequate cooling where indicated, and never exceed the marked maximum. Click any instrument to shop the series, and see our Dental Bur Comparison Chart for cross-references to other manufacturers' numbering. Double cut (X-cut) laboratory cutters are grouped in our Double Cut Burs: Busch Crosscut Carbide Cutter Collection.
Download the official Busch speed charts (PDF): the table below is our quick-reference summary; Busch's own published charts — with the complete instrument-by-instrument breakdown in German, English, French and Spanish — are available directly below.
Recommended Speeds by Series
All Busch instruments are manufactured by Busch & Co. in Engelskirchen, Germany. Speed data is provided for general guidance from manufacturer documentation; the packaging of each instrument is the authoritative source for its maximum permissible speed.
Speed and torque settings for burs: how to set them together
The chart above gives half the answer: the speed each Busch series is designed for. The other half is torque, which is set by the handpiece rather than by a dial. As a general rule, an air turbine runs at very high speed with low torque and slows under load, while an electric micromotor with a contra-angle runs slower but holds its torque almost constant. HP-shank cutters belong in a straight handpiece or laboratory motor, which is built for torque at low speed.
Matching the two means reading the Shank and Speed columns together. FG instruments carry the high figures: 225,000 min⁻¹ for the smallest 21R preparation burs, and Busch's recommended 110,000 – 150,000 min⁻¹ for standard diamonds. W/RA instruments sit at the opposite end: 1SX round excavators at 3,000 – 500 min⁻¹ and the 406 / 407 root planing instruments at 12,000 – 8,000 min⁻¹ are slow-speed work where torque, not speed, moves the material. HP laboratory cutters run at 25,000 – 10,000 min⁻¹, and the 1RS stainless bone cutters at only 5,000 – 500 min⁻¹.
Three rules follow. Never exceed the maximum speed printed on the bur packaging, whatever the handpiece can deliver. Choose the handpiece whose torque suits the job: bulk reduction, bone and laboratory work favour torque at moderate or low speed, while finishing and polishing favour light pressure at moderate speed. And take the lower figure in each range as the target for the largest head in the series, because the larger the head diameter, the lower the permissible speed. See our dental bur glossary for shank types and our guide to carbide vs. diamond burs for choosing between the two materials.
