A dental handpiece to securely detect the load applied to the handpiece itself, and when excessive load is applied to the handpiece cutting operation is suspended. The dental handpiece according to the present invention comprises: a head a support mounted in the head to support a cutting tool and a transmission mounted in the head to transmit driving force to the support wherein the support and the transmission are slidably connected with each other. In the above dental handpiece, the support may be cylindrical and can be provided with a plurality of inclined projections that are arranged in a longitudinal direction of an outer periphery of the cylinder the transmission may be provided with engaging projections with inclined faces parallel to inclined faces of the plurality of inclined projections and the transmission can be provided with a resiliency that allows the engaging projections resiliently movable in a direction apart from the inclined projections.
