The Innsbruck Study: Independent Cutting-Efficiency Test of Diamond Burs
In 2009, researchers at the Medical University of Innsbruck ran a standardized laboratory comparison of diamond burs from the leading European manufacturers and published the results in the peer-reviewed journal Stomatologie (2009; 106: 29–34).
Read more about the study +
The instrument that removed the most material over the full test was Busch's diamond with cooling grooves — the design sold today as COOL DIAMANT. This page summarizes what was tested, how, and what the result means when you choose a diamond bur.
Revised on September 30, 2026
What Was Tested
Diamond burs from several manufacturers, including Busch, Diatech, Edenta, Horico and Komet, in comparable shapes and grits (ISO sizes 012 and 016, 105–125 µm diamond grit), with multiple instruments of each type so that results were not driven by a single bur.
How It Was Tested
- 1High-speed handpiece at 200,000 rpm
- 2Constant water-spray cooling at 50 ml/min
- 3Constant 152 g load, applied by the test rig rather than by hand
- 4Standardized 99.5% aluminum-oxide ceramic test blocks
- 5Four consecutive 10-minute cuts per bur — 40 minutes of continuous use — with the cutting length measured after each interval
Measuring after each 10-minute interval is what makes the study useful: it shows not only how fast a bur cuts when new, but how much of that performance it keeps.
Results
- The Busch diamond with cooling grooves (Busch K) achieved the highest total cutting length in the primary test series: 17.30 mm, significantly ahead of the other manufacturers tested (p < 0.05).
- Instruments with cooling grooves ranked highest for both cutting efficiency and sustained performance.
- Every bur lost cutting performance after the first 10 minutes. The grooved Busch instruments held their performance longer, which in practice means fewer replacements over the same amount of work.
Are These the Longest Lasting Diamond Burs?
In this test, yes. Among the diamond burs compared, the Busch cooling-groove design lasted longest: it reached the highest total cutting length over 40 minutes (17.30 mm) and kept more of its cutting performance after the first 10-minute interval. The German paper calls this Standfestigkeit, the service life of the instrument. If you are looking for the longest lasting diamond burs, this is independent laboratory data to base the choice on. The limits of the test are set out below.
Why the Grooves Matter
COOL DIAMANT instruments carry asymmetrically intersecting grooves cut through the diamond coating.
According to Busch, the grooves interrupt the grinding process up to seven times per rotation, carry coolant directly to the cutting surface and clear debris instead of packing it into the diamond layer, which should mean less heat and less wear on the diamonds and their bond. The Innsbruck study did not measure temperature.
What it measured is the outcome: over 40 minutes of continuous cutting, the grooved instruments removed the most material and held their performance longest.
What It Means for Your Practice
Fewer burs per procedure:
a bur that keeps cutting through the later stages of a preparation is a bur you do not change mid-case.
Consistent cutting speed:
preparation time stays predictable from the first crown of the day to the last.
Cooling by design:
the grooves are built to carry coolant to the cutting surface. The study measured cutting length, not temperature, so treat cooler cutting as the design intent rather than a measured result.
Reading the Study Fairly
This was a laboratory test on ceramic blocks under a fixed load, not a clinical trial on teeth, and it dates from 2009. Those are the right conditions for isolating instrument performance from operator technique, and the cooling-groove design tested then is the design Busch still manufactures. Treat the result as strong evidence about instrument durability under controlled conditions rather than as a claim about any individual clinical outcome.
Source
Untersuchung zur Schleifleistung diamantierter Schleifkörper (Investigation of the grinding performance of diamond-coated instruments), Medical University of Innsbruck, Stomatologie 2009; 106: 29–34. The paper is in German: full text on ResearchGate.
Shop the Tested Design
Every COOL DIAMANT instrument is manufactured by Busch & Co. in Engelskirchen, Germany, ships from our US warehouse, and is covered by our Busch defect guarantee.
