Silver Cartilage Chisel | Single Guarded | 3mm 5mm 7mm

What the Silver cartilage chisel is

The Silver cartilage chisel, also known as the Silver nasal cartilage chisel, is used in rhinoplasty for lateral osteotomies, nasal infractures and shaving the cartilage framework of the nose. It is the instrument for the part of a rhinoplasty where the material being cut is cartilage rather than bone.

A guard runs down one side of the blade and it earns its keep twice. It keeps the edge off the mucosa and soft tissue lying alongside the cut, which is the obvious job. Less obviously, because the guard stands proud of the edge and meets the tissue first, it tells the surgeon how far in the blade is without looking.

It is a chisel, ground on one face: the flat side rides along what is staying and the angle shaves what is going. Adas Instruments makes it in 3mm, 5mm and 7mm, with a straight tip or curved to the left or the right, and as a matched pair or a set of three.

Key design features of the single guarded cartilage chisel

The single sided guard, and its two jobs

A raised shoulder along one edge of the blade. The first job is protection: laid against the mucosa, it stops the edge reaching it, so the cut can be taken right up to the lining rather than short of it. The second is depth. The shoulder contacts before the edge is buried, so each pass goes in a known amount instead of as far as the last tap sent it.

Three sizes, 3mm, 5mm and 7mm

These are narrow blades, which is what a cartilage instrument should be. Cartilage does not need the width bone does, and a narrow blade steers more easily through a limited opening. 3mm is for detail at the framework, 7mm for a lateral cut in one pass, 5mm is where most trays start.

Straight, curved left or curved right

The curve is handedness, not decoration. On the left side of a nose a left curved blade follows the wall away from the septum; on the right it has to be the right curve. The straight tip is for the septal framework, where there is no wall to follow.

A flat handle end, and one piece throughout

The far end of the handle is a true flat face, so a mallet lands square and the whole tap goes forward into the blade. There is no joint, screw or moving part on the instrument, so nothing works loose and there is nowhere for tissue or cleaning solution to sit.

Which Silver cartilage chisel size and tip to order

Three widths and five tip configurations, ordered per instrument or as a set. Every row below is our own product record.

If one instrument is being bought it is the 5mm straight. For a tray doing regular rhinoplasty, the set of three, left, right and straight, means a surgeon never has to improvise a curve.

Where the Silver cartilage chisel is used

Every row is nasal, and most of them are cartilage. That is worth stating because this is the one instrument in the family whose name says cartilage, and because the word chisel arrives here carrying a workshop meaning and a dental meaning as well.

In all of these the soft tissue is lifted first, the guarded face is laid against whatever is being preserved, and the chisel is advanced by short mallet taps.

What it cuts, and what it has to leave alone

On a guarded instrument the tissue table is the specification rather than a warning printed next to it. One row of it is made impossible by the shape of the blade.

The fourth row is why this pattern costs more than an unguarded chisel of the same size. On an open blade it reads “protected by hand and by judgement”. Here it reads “protected by the instrument”.

How it compares with the rest of the nasal chisel family

Five nasal chisels sit beside each other in this range, separated by the SHAPE OF THE EDGE and by whether the blade is guarded. This one and the Braithwaite are the two guarded patterns, and they are not substitutes for each other.

Between the two guarded chisels: this one is narrow, at 3mm, 5mm and 7mm, with left and right curves, for cartilage and lateral cuts, and its guard doubles as a depth reference. The Braithwaite is a flat blade guarded left or right for bone along the ridge. A DOUBLE guarded pattern also exists, the Cinelli; this one is single guarded.

Silver cartilage chisel materials and finish

The chisel is ground from high quality medical grade stainless steel, hardened through the blade so the edge and the shoulder of the guard both hold their shape through resharpening, and left softer along the shaft so an off square tap sets no permanent bend. The steel itself is made to a German specification.

The finish is satin rather than mirror bright. A polished blade under a headlamp throws light back up the nostril and satin scatters it. On this pattern satin also makes the step between the guard and the edge visible at a glance, which is how you check the guard still stands proud of the edge.

Caring for a Silver cartilage chisel

Rinse the blade under cool running water as soon as the case is finished, and pay particular attention to the angle where the guard meets the blade. Cartilage debris is softer than bone dust and it packs into that corner rather than sitting on the surface.

Ultrasonic clean in a neutral pH enzymatic solution, rinse in deionized water, then dry fully before pouching. Tap water dried on steel is the ordinary cause of pitting.

Autoclave at 134 degrees Celsius. Store with the edge guarded. When this pattern goes for sharpening, say that the guard must keep its height: a guard dressed down level with the edge has stopped being a guard and stopped being a depth reference, and it will look perfectly serviceable right up to the moment it matters.

Ordering a Silver cartilage chisel, and wholesale

The Silver cartilage chisel is supplied as a single instrument, item code AM-01.17, in 3mm, 5mm or 7mm, with a straight tip or curved left or right. It is also supplied as a matched pair of left and right, or as a set of three with the straight tip included. Say which sizes and tips you want.

Wholesale and distributor pricing is available on quantity, and larger orders can carry a laser marked hospital or practice reference at no separate tooling charge. Send the quantity and the marking text and we will quote both.

Item code AM-01.17. Every instrument carries a three year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. Stock items ship from our own workshop. Backorder items take 10 to 12 working days to make. Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Silver cartilage chisel used for

It is used in rhinoplasty for lateral osteotomies, nasal infractures and shaving the cartilage framework of the nose. The guard on one side lets the cut be taken right up against the mucosa that has to be preserved.

What does the guard on a guarded chisel actually do

Two things. It shields the tissue on that side, so the edge cannot reach the mucosa or periosteum being kept. And because the guard stands proud of the edge, it meets the tissue before the edge is fully buried, which gives a depth reference the surgeon can feel.

What is the difference between the single guarded Silver chisel and a double guarded chisel

The number of sides shielded. This one is guarded on one side, so one face protects and the other is free to cut; the surgeon picks which way round by choosing the left curve, the right curve or the straight tip. A double guarded chisel such as the Cinelli is shielded both sides, which confines the cut but means it can only cut on the line it is set on.

Which Silver cartilage chisel size and tip should I order

For a first instrument, 5mm with a straight tip. For a tray doing regular rhinoplasty, the set of three, left curve, right curve and straight. Add the 3mm where the framework work is fine and the 7mm where a lateral cut is taken in one pass.

What is an osteotome used for

To divide bone along a line. It is ground on both faces, so the edge sits centrally and splits into the bone rather than shaving its surface. This page is a chisel, ground on one face, so it shaves instead. In a rhinoplasty the osteotome does the structural cuts and the chisel does the shaping.

Related products and categories

• Sheehan nasal chisel
• Walter chisel
• McIndoes nasal chisel

Browse the full range of osteotomes, chisels and gouges, or see the wider set of rhinoplasty instruments this instrument belongs to.