Dental instruments
Explorer Probe 23/17 Double Ended
TGI referenceTG-REF:931 · TG-REF:932Quote this to us. It is printed on TGI's own catalog photograph of this article.TGI-C-43717232 Web reference. It identifies this page, not a factory part number.
Also printed on the photographDouble Ended · 23/17 Printed on TGI's own catalogue photograph of this article.
Also called Sickle Probe
Double-ended, pairing the No. 23 shepherd's-hook tip with the No. 17 tip used for the surfaces between teeth, where the articles beside it carry one tip alone or pair the No. 23 with a different second end.
A hand-held dental diagnostic instrument with one or two thin, sharp-pointed working ends set into a straight handle, used to feel tooth surfaces, margins and fissures. The tip is machine-ground to a fine point and hand-sharpened, unlike a periodontal probe, whose working end is blunt and marked with graduated millimeter bands for measuring pocket depth instead of detecting surface irregularities. Double-ended explorers are made from a single length of spring-tempered steel so the shank does not flex and dampen tactile feedback. The named patterns differ only in how the tip is bent: a tight hook (shepherd's hook), a curled loop (pigtail), a curved horn shape (cowhorn), or an angled blade (sickle), each reaching different tooth surfaces.
Minimum order200 instrumentsThe minimum for dental instruments. Mixed orders are quoted against your list.
Lead timeInstruments ~2-3 weeks · full sets ~4-6 weeks after advance.
Quality control
The inspection step is set by the line you order.
- Economy line
- sample: visual + dimensional
- Clinical line
- sample + boil test
- Premium line
- tighter sample + hardness test
- Executive line
- 100% inspection + laser mark
Finish A color is a second choice, made on top of the line. Colored finishes on request, on any instrument, in addition to the steel line. Evidenced: black · gold · rose gold · blue · rainbow (anodised titanium).
How it is built
- Single-piece spring-tempered stainless steel shank on double-ended models, machine-ground and hand-sharpened to a fine point
- Straight round or hexagonal handle; the pattern is formed by the bend ground into the tip, not by a hinge or joint
- No moving parts: the tip shape alone (hook, pigtail, cowhorn, sickle) sets the pattern
PatternsShepherd's hook · Pigtail · Cowhorn · Sickle
The standard sizes this kind of instrument is made in
No. 23 (shepherd's hook) · No. 17 · No. 2 (pigtail) · No. 23/6 (double-ended)
These are the sizes the pattern is manufactured in across the trade. They are not a stock list. Tell us the size you need and we will quote against it.
This describes the dental explorer / explorer probe as an article. 8 other articles in this catalog share it: the sentence above is what separates this one. This describes the article. The steel, the finish and the inspection step are set by the line you order.
Material and quality
| Line | Steel | Origin | Finish | Inspection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy line | AISI 410 | Pakistani or Taiwanese | satin, passivated | sample: visual + dimensional |
| Clinical line | AISI 420 | Pakistani or German | satin, passivated | sample + boil test |
| Premium line | AISI 420-440C | German or Japanese | fine polish, passivated | tighter sample + hardness test |
| Executive line | AISI 440C | German or Japanese | mirror polish, passivated | 100% inspection + laser mark |
This is the steel each line is made from as standard. A different origin can be supplied on request (a lower grade in Japanese steel, for example), agreed on your order.
Premium is the line where the choice is yours: 420 or 440C, agreed on your order. Economy is always 410 and Executive is always 440C. Those three are the instrument steels. Hollowware and sterilization containers are made in AISI 202 on a Clinical order and AISI 304 on a Premium or Executive one, and they are not offered in the Economy line at all, which is the section above.
True of every order
Instruments are marked to the buyer's requirement (TGI, unmarked, or the buyer's own brand), agreed on the order.
Customized packaging is part of what TGI supplies. Your own printed boxes, your labels, your brand on the pack, or plain export packing, whichever your market needs. The packing for your order is agreed with you and confirmed on the order.
Manufactured under the quality management system covered by TGI's ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 certificates. Certificate numbers and the issuer's registry are on the certification page. Open the certificates
Every batch of steel is ordered to a specified grade and arrives with the mill's own certificate, which identifies the mill and states the grade. TGI checks the material at the factory against its own requirement before it goes into production. That check is TGI's own inspection, not an independent laboratory test.
TGI manufactures in its own factory in Sialkot and also supplies articles made by contracted partner workshops, to TGI's specification. Which applies to a given article is confirmed on your order.
One-year guarantee on Premium and Executive tier instruments, hollowware and sterilization containers: any technical manufacturing defect, including material faults and rust, is replaced free of charge. Damage from handling or accidents is not covered. The year runs from the day the goods leave Sialkot.
If something is wrong with a delivery (a manufacturing defect, or a short or wrong article), tell us on WhatsApp within 7 days of delivery, with a video and photographs of what arrived. Replacement instruments are sent free of charge and dispatched within 24 hours of us seeing them; you pay the shipping, and they reach you as a normal order does.
Damage that happened after the goods left Sialkot is a claim against your carrier. The video of your parcel at the shipping office is sent to you before shipment and is the evidence that claim needs.
