A bur with features that minimize the application of substantially identical forces to the tissue against which the bur is applied. One of these features is the arrangement of the flutes so that one pair of flutes projects outwardly from the tip at an acute angle that is greater than the angle at which the other flutes project outwardly from tip. Consequently at the equator of the bur head, the location along the bur head where the bur head has a maximum diameter, the flutes define a perimeter that is non-circular in shape.
