Dental Products Report May 2012

Imagine the administrative area of a dental office of 20 years ago.

Health care providers today are feeling significant pressure to work more efficiently and streamline procedures in their offices. The pressure can come from insurance companies, patients, or the government, but the message from all parties is to reduce costs and avoid waste. For dentists faced with the pressures of running their own practices, the push toward greater efficiency can be internal as well, based on a desire to minimize unnecessary costs and keep the practice running profitably.

CEREC 4.0 Software takes full advantage of the speed and accuracy of advanced Bluecam digital imaging technology from Sirona. Sophisticated, yet easy-to-use multiple and simultaneous restoration design capabilities enable users to work on as many restorations as they want-and at the same time.

Dr. Mark Colonna lives and practices in Whitefish, Mo., a small community of 6,300 only a few minutes’ drive from stunning Glacier National Park. The park encompasses 1,013,572 acres of alpine forest, snow-capped peaks and 37 glaciers. Despite the ruggedness of the land, Dr. Colonna’s practice is anything but rustic. He is a strong advocate of laser dentistry, being the first dentist to use only a laser to prep a crown, and he uses the cloud to manage his practice.

The DPR Technology Census has been a cornerstone of the DPR Editorial Calendar for a number of years. Part of what makes the tech census a must-read year after year is the fact that it helps dentists benchmark themselves. It's not always about what technology is available, but who is using it, who plans to use it, and what barriers to entry exist.

A sophisticated panoramic and cephalometric digital imager that incorporates Morphology Recognition Technology (MRT) to automatically identify patient size and all parameters for correct exposure, the Hyperion X7 eliminates the need to manually calculate exposure settings or select patient arch size.

Today's HOT How To features a technique demonstrating the use of KOMET USA's S6856XL.FG.021 extended-length diamonds to help ease crown preparations when gingival recession is present. Case presentations are performed by Christine M. Yonker, DDS, and Sergio Rubinstein, DDS, from Oral Rehabilitation Center in Skokie, Ill.

Dr. Thu Tran first tried Premier Dental’s Traxodent Hemodent Paste Retraction System about three years ago when she was asked to review the product for a dental magazine. She was so pleased with its consistency and how easy it is to use, it’s been part of her practice ever since. What benefits does the Traxodent Hemodent Paste Retraction System bring to your practice?

I have been a prosthodontist for more than three  decades, concentrating in Oral Rehabilitation, and have done more than 50,000 units of crown and bridge. Each tooth has been prepared with a Midwest Quiet-air. A practice like mine is a litmus test of any highspeed. Probably the most severe service a handpiece can endure is cutting off old bridgework, particularly non precious prosthesis. For this you need a handpiece that can deliver high torque as well as high speed to get the job done.

The technologies you use in your personal life can benefit your professional life as well. We have talked with dental professionals who have already put the latest technologies to work in their practices.

While high tech options continue to evolve and offer us ways to simplify our personal lives, transferring those same advantages into the dental office just makes sense. Here are the stories from dentists, like you, who are already finding success using some of these most recognized technologies in the dental practice setting.

The TI-Max Z95L dental handpiece from NSK Dental is a durable, high performance, titanium-bodied electric handpiece. It features a small head and slim neck dimensions allowing operational visibility like never before. Very Quiet: It performs at a remarkably low noise level with virtually no vibration to aid the clinician’s focus and to enhance patient comfort.

No dental professional sets out to become Gordon Christensen - not even Dr. Christensen himself. And while today he is able to fill conference rooms, influence product development, and help direct attention to key trends and causes, it wasn’t something that happened overnight.

If you’ve read my dental columns over the years, you know I’m incredibly finicky about computer backups. A digital office is absolutely dependent on a consistent and repeatable backup schedule. I cannot stress that fact enough. The saying among geeks like myself is, “The failure rate of hard drives is always 100%.”

The development of bulk fill composites for direct posterior restorations has provided a simple and efficient alternative to conventional composites. Prior to bulk fill composite materials, to achieve successful direct posterior restorations the layering technique was the necessary procedure, requiring competence, proficiency and dexterity.