Stainless Steel Tubing image courtesy of Penn Stainless Products.
Today I have to go to the dentist. I hate going to the dentist. I dread going to the dentist. Just thinking about going to the dentist puts me in a black mood, rich with anxiety, fear and foreboding. Like most people, going to any sort of dental or medical office is not a particularly fun experience— nobody likes being the patient (not considering the few weirdos who do)— having to withstand being poked and prodded, lectured to about what you should and shouldn’t eat, scolded for not taking care of yourself and told matter-of-factly what is wrong with you and what needs to happen in order to fix such physical perversions— most of which consists of intrusive and painful procedures involving big, scary needles.
Most medical and dental equipment, such as big, scary needles, involve stainless steel tubing, which is produced from stainless steel metal. Stainless steel is a metal alloy known for its strength and resistance to stain and rust, etc. Stainless steel tubing is a hollow, cylindrical form of stainless steel used in equipment to channel fluids and gas. Manufacturers, using welding and various tubing procedures, produce stainless steel tubes and pipes for the automotive, petrochemical and semiconductor industries, along with those of medical and dental affiliations. They are applied in a number of ways, ranging from syringes and needles to hydraulic systems, fuel lines and engines. Producing stainless steel tubing is done differently depending on the kind and intention of the tube. In addition to welding, stainless steel tubing is also produced via metal spinning, a fabrication process which uses a flat round disc of sheet metal that rotates on a spinning horizontal surface, called a lathe. Stainless steel is most commonly made, though, through extrusion; a process that draws a solid billet through a piercing rod, creating a hollow shell without seams and need of further processing— this method provides a level of precision that most stainless steel tubing applications require.
Looking on the bright side, I can be thankful I live in an age when the big scary dental tools being forced into my mouth every six months are made with stainless steel, rather than an inferior, less capable material.
