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June 9, 2009 | dentalproductsreport.com Curing lights From providing the best patient care to personal preferences, doctors and manufacturers weigh in what to look for when choosing a curing light.
Photo: Dr. Gary Radz Selecting the right curing light for you and your staff is an essential element of great patient care. Improper cures can cause leakage, post-op sensitivity and the eventual failure of the restoration. But with so many options for curing lights on the market, what specs and features should you be paying the most attention to? Power Output “The two most important specs are wavelength and power output,” Dr. Marty Jablow said. “You need the right wavelength to make sure it’s going to cure the composite you’re using and in fact at this point in time most lights will cure all composites. The power output is another important thing because you need to be able to cure to the ‘bottom’ of the box. What kind of number do you get when you’re down 5 or 7 mm? So what you need is the power rating, and my suggestion is the higher the better, so something around 2,000 mw/cm². That should give you sufficient power output to cure a composite at a distance of 5 to 7 mm.” When it comes to power, check manufacturer’s sites and unbiased Web sites such as ada.org for data and research on how the curing lights preformed when tested. That way you can make the best choice for your needs and the applications you perform most often. Make sure the light you choose can properly and efficiently cure the types of restorations you regularly provide. The VALO from Ultradent and the bluephase G2 from Ivoclar Vivadent both have 3 modes, which allow the practitioner to control how much power they want. “A practitioner should not be locked into using one, and only one, specific curing mode. It really wouldn't be conducive to each and every case they see on a daily basis. Each case deserves specialized attention. Flexibility really is an extremely important curing light feature,” said Mark D. Smith, Senior Brand Manager for Ultradent. “The power output is my biggest consideration, but second is to make sure that the spectrum of that light cover the composites that you’re using. After that it becomes personal preference for bells and whistles,” Dr. Jablow added. Time “Time is everything,” said Dr. Bill Busch. “If you can get a 3-second cure, which is attainable, you should go for it. We have two curing lights per room, so the dental assistant cures and I cure all at the same time. So I might do four or five resins in a quadrant and we’re double curing all the way down the line. Typically, you never have one filling or two fillings. It’s usually for or five at a time. So speed is everything.” Dr. Busch uses plasma arc lights in his office, which offer fast curing times but come with a higher price tag than other models. For him it’s worth the extra cost to save time—over the coarse of a day he can tack on an extra 20 minutes he’s not curing. “A 1-second time would be great but I’m not going to get greedy. I’m very, very thrilled and excited about Ivoclar’s new light (Bluephase 20i),” said Dr. Busch, noting that the soon-to-be released product gives his practice another speedy option aside from plasma arc lights. Ivoclar Vivadent is getting ready to launch this new curing light in the fall; the Bluephase 20i will be part of its bluephase G2 LED Polymerization Light platform. It will feature a fourth mode in addition to soft start, low power and high power. The new turbo mode one will have an output of 2,000 mw/cm², which is the same category output as those delivered by plasma arc lights. Dr. Busch believes that saving time results in better patient care. “Patients don’t want to be in the chair. I can’t tell you how many times I hear both, ‘I hate going to the dentist’ and ‘You’re finished?.’ I put the easy button (as seen in the Staple's commercials) in all the rooms so the patients can push it when they’re done,” said Dr. Busch. Not everyone agrees with Dr. Busch’s need for speed. Dr. Sheri Doniger likes to take her time and explain to her patients the process in order to calm their nerves. “I feel that my patient is the most important person in the room at that time and the service I give them should be of the highest caliber. If it takes me 10 more seconds to cure something, that should not be a huge factor,” Dr. Doniger said. Before buying a curing light you should decide just how important saving time is to you. Ergonomics “Dentists want something that’s going to be easy to use and ergonomic,” said Mark Gersh, Director of Global Marketing, Clinical Products for Discus Dental. Dr. Doniger beta tested Discus’ FLASHlite Magna and found the wand shape and power intensity were key factors in her achieving successful cures. For Dr. Doniger, the most important specs include portability, price and weight, in addition to the head size and power. “For my hands I have to have something that is light. Women’s hands are just a little bit smaller, and you do not want to have a heavy weighted instrument, especially in the back end, that you are trying to maneuver into a potentially moving patient’s mouth. When you’re looking at women’s hands, [the FLASHlite Magna] is a perfect fit,” Dr. Doniger explained. When taking ergonomics into consideration look at the wand style versus gun style curing light and see what is more comfortable for you and your staff. “I like the FLASHlite Magna because it’s in a pen shape and it’s thin, very portable and very accessible to get to every little corner of the mouth,” Dr. Doniger offered. Another consideration is cordless versus cord. Many of the LED curing lights on the market today are cordless, but make sure to check out the battery. Is it easy to replace? How long does it hold a charge? Does the battery add more weight to the curing light? “What would you give up if it were cordless? We couldn’t have it as lightweight. We couldn’t have the consistency of the power output that we have. We’ve eliminated the need for the practitioner to replace batteries,“ said Smith regarding Ultradent’s VALO. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE - SEE YOUR OPTIONS
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