Abstract: An instrument for use in the treatment of dental canals. The instrument includes a tool such as a pulp-burr or reamer connected by a friction coupling or slip-clutch to a mandrel driven by power to rotate the tool. Should the tool jam in a dental canal, the clutch allows the mandrel to rotate by slipping relatively to the tool thus avoiding application of excessive torque to the tool which might break it. The slip-clutch can be a helical spring fast with one end of the tool and fitted in a cylindrical bore in and co-axial with the mandrel, the spring being stressed so some of its turns press against inner surfaces of the bore to provide the friction coupling between the spring and bore.