In air polishing, "cordless" usually describes a handpiece that mounts on the dental unit's turbine coupling. It has no box and no mains cable of its own, but it still runs on the unit's compressed air and water. We did not find a battery-powered model among the devices covered here. This article sets out what actually changes between a coupling-mounted handpiece, a tabletop unit that only air-polishes, and a combined tabletop system that adds an ultrasonic scaler, using published specifications and public prices checked on 8 October 2026. Preventio Hub has not bench-tested these devices; brands are listed alphabetically.
Photo: Daniel Frank / Pexels
Three ways to air-polish
| Type | What it is | Examples (alphabetical) | Public EU prices, ex-VAT (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coupling-mounted handpiece | An air polisher that fits the dental unit's turbine coupling and uses its air and water | Acteon AIR-N-GO easy; EMS AIRFLOW Handy 3.0 family; NSK Prophy-Mate neo; W&H Proxeo Aura; Woodpecker AP-H | €328 (AP-H) to about €1,600 (Handy 3.0 PLUS) |
| Air-only tabletop | A unit with its own controls and powder chambers, without a scaler | Dentsply Sirona Cavitron Prophy-Jet; EMS AIRFLOW One | €8,293 (AIRFLOW One, shown unavailable); no public EU price found for the Prophy-Jet |
| Combined tabletop | An ultrasonic scaler and an air polisher in one unit | Acteon OPUS; Dentsply Sirona Cavitron Jet Plus; EMS AIRFLOW Prophylaxis Master; EMS GBT Machine; Mectron Combi Touch; NSK Varios Combi Pro2; Woodpecker PT-E | €5,833 (NSK) to €8,143 (Cavitron Jet Plus, Dentaltix France) where listed; DMI Ireland lists the Jet Plus at €5,657.61, VAT not stated; no public price for the EMS units |
What actually differs
Air and water supply
A handpiece depends on what the dental unit delivers at the coupling. Woodpecker, for example, lists the AP-H for an input air pressure of 3.5–4.5 bar and water at 0.7–2.2 bar, and handpiece makers sell versions for specific coupling types, so check both before ordering. Tabletop units state their own requirements instead: EMS gives 4.5–7 bar of dry compressed air and 2–5 bar of water for the AIRFLOW Prophylaxis Master, and Mectron 4–8 bar of air and 1–6 bar of water for the Combi Touch. Some tabletop units also carry their own water: the Woodpecker PT-E has a 1,400 ml tank and the Acteon OPUS an 800 ml tank, according to distributor listings.
Water heating
A handpiece uses the water the dental unit supplies. Several tabletop units heat it themselves: the EMS AIRFLOW Prophylaxis Master has five settings from unheated to 40 °C, the Mectron Combi Touch heats the polishing water, and the Woodpecker PT-E has four settings for polishing between 25 and 40 °C.
Powders
Powder chemistry depends more on the brand than on the format. In the EU only EMS devices use erythritol, because EMS holds the European patent on erythritol air polishing powder; that includes the EMS AIRFLOW Handy 3.0 PLUS handpiece as well as EMS tabletop units. Other brands use powders such as sodium bicarbonate, glycine or calcium carbonate: NSK's FLASH pearl, for example, is calcium carbonate. The Mectron Combi Touch has two removable powder containers, so two powders can be loaded at once. Our buyer's guide lists powder prices per 100 g.
Scaling
Only a combined unit adds an ultrasonic scaler. A handpiece or an air-only tabletop sits alongside the scaler the surgery already has; UK distributors describe the EMS AIRFLOW One as an option for clinicians who already have a PIEZON scaler module.
Reprocessing
Check the instructions for use for each part that touches the patient. NSK states that the Prophy-Mate neo can be washed in a thermodisinfector and autoclaved at up to 135 °C. EMS gives a limit of 1,000 sterilisation cycles for the AIRFLOW Prophylaxis Master handpieces. The tabletop unit itself cannot go in an autoclave, so surface disinfection and waterline care apply as well.
Space
Published sizes range from a handpiece of 119–125 g (Woodpecker AP-H, per distributor listings) to tabletop units such as the NSK Varios Combi Pro2 (W 249 × D 290 × H 115 mm, 3.5 kg without bottle and chamber), the EMS AIRFLOW One (290 × 205 × 245 mm, 5 kg) and the Mectron Combi Touch (L 410 × W 260 × H 145 mm, 4.8 kg).
Is there a truly cordless air polisher?
We did not find a battery-powered air polisher from the manufacturers covered on this site. When a device is described as cordless, check what is meant: a handpiece without its own power cable still needs the dental unit's air and water, and a wireless foot pedal, as on the Cavitron Prophy-Jet (according to Dentsply Sirona), removes only the pedal cable.
Questions to settle before you choose
- Do you want to keep your current scaler, or replace it?
- Which coupling types and air pressures do your dental units have?
- Which powders do you plan to use, and are they approved for the device?
- Do you want the water heated?
- How will each part be reprocessed, and how many cycles is it rated for?
- How much bench or cart space is there at each chair?
- What do the device, the powder and service cost per year, in writing from the distributor?
Frequently asked questions
Are cordless air polishers battery-powered?
Not the ones we cover. Air polishing handpieces described as cordless mount on the dental unit's turbine coupling and run on its air and water, so there is no separate unit or mains cable. The tabletop units for which we found electrical specifications, such as the EMS AIRFLOW Prophylaxis Master and the Mectron Combi Touch, run on mains power.
How much cheaper is a handpiece than a tabletop unit?
In public listings checked on 8 October 2026, handpieces cost €328 (Woodpecker AP-H) to about €1,600 (EMS AIRFLOW Handy 3.0 PLUS) ex-VAT. Combined tabletop systems with a public price ran from €5,833 ex-VAT (NSK Varios Combi Pro2) to €8,143 ex-VAT (Dentsply Sirona Cavitron Jet Plus at Dentaltix France); DMI Ireland listed the Jet Plus at €5,657.61 without stating VAT treatment. A combined unit also includes an ultrasonic scaler, which a handpiece does not replace.
Can a handpiece air polisher be used below the gumline?
Some can, with the right nozzle or version. Acteon sells PERIO nozzles for the AIR-N-GO easy for pockets of 3–8 mm; EMS describes the AIRFLOW Handy 3.0 PERIO for pockets deeper than 4 mm, and distributors list the Handy 3.0 PLUS for pockets up to 4 mm; Woodpecker's AP-H Plus adds a subgingival nozzle. NSK sells a separate handpiece, the Perio-Mate, for subgingival work. Follow each manufacturer's instructions for use on indications and pocket depth.
Do I need a combined tabletop system?
Only if you want the scaler and the air polisher in one unit. If the surgery already has a scaler you want to keep, a handpiece or an air-only tabletop adds air polishing without replacing it. UK distributors, for example, describe the EMS AIRFLOW One as an option for clinicians who already have a PIEZON scaler module.
Sources
- Woodpecker AP-H: Dentaltix; Net32. Woodpecker PT-E: Esadental; Foquim.
- EMS AIRFLOW Prophylaxis Master: EMS instructions for use, technical description. EMS AIRFLOW One: EMS product page; Henry Schein UK; Dentaltix. EMS AIRFLOW Handy 3.0 family: EMS product information (ZWP online); Dentaltix.
- Mectron Combi Touch: Mectron manual, technical data.
- NSK Prophy-Mate neo: NSK product page. NSK Varios Combi Pro2: NSK product information; Dentaltix.
- Acteon AIR-N-GO easy: Optident Perio kit listing. Acteon OPUS: DD Group.
- Dentsply Sirona Cavitron Prophy-Jet: Dentsply Sirona. Cavitron Jet Plus: Dentaltix.
Correction note (8 October 2026): this article was rewritten from published specifications and public prices. Earlier versions gave price bands in US dollars, pressure figures, powder capacities, "cooled powder" and connectivity features, and performance rankings that we could not trace to a source; they have been removed.
