Dental handpiece arrangement

A dental handpiece arrangement which has a drive transmission for transmitting the rotation from a motor to a socket receiving the tool in the head of the handpiece comprising a first drive shaft having a pair of coaxially arranged drive gears of different numbers of teeth, a second drive shaft having a gear engaging one of the pair of coaxial drive gears characterized by the second drive shaft being composed of a first drive shaft portion and a second drive portion which are interconnected by meshing gears providing a change in the gear ratio. Preferably, the two drive shaft portions of the second drive shaft are mounted in a housing with a gear at each end and the housing is adapted for being supported in the handpiece arrangement in two different positions so that in a first position, a gear at one end is engaging one of the pair of coaxial gears of the first drive shaft and in the second position the gear at the opposite end is engaging the other of the pair. Thus, by changing the position of the housing, a continuous stepping-up of the gear ratio can be obtained or by reversing the position of the housing a continuous stepping-down of the gear ratio can be obtained.