Last summer, I bought a Tesla Model X. (Don’t go too crazy. I bought it used.) I had a thought when I bought it that was interesting. As I was driving my old vehicle to the dealership for the last time, I wondered, would this be the last fossil-fuel-powered vehicle I would ever drive? There's a chance that I will only have an electric vehicle from here on out.
During my time in dental school, we used halogen curing lights. Those big, loud, clunky counter hogs. At some point I used my first LED curing light and never picked up a halogen light again. Did I notice? Did I think, “That will be the last time I ever use a halogen light”? I don’t think I did. Generally, we move on to the next, better thing and never think back. We might be on the verge of that again with curing lights.
The Monet curing light by AMD Lasers is the world’s first laser curing light. It is the first and only product in its class. You are probably thinking that LEDs work great for dental curing. Why should we start a brand-new category? My answer is that LEDs have served dentistry tremendously over the past 20 years, but there’s always a technological evolution that did not exist before. A product always has to be first.
For laser curing, it’s the Monet, and it’s pretty great. A laser is a good choice for curing because it is a consistent, collimated beam of light. That consistent collimation is superior to the dispersion of energy that an LED light exhibits. A laser curing light loses little power when curing at a distance. This is a tremendous advantage in situations where we can’t get a light directly onto a tooth to cure. LEDs lose power significantly as we back away from the tooth. Not the Monet!
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When using the Monet, in most restorative situations, the suggested curing time is one second. Let me repeat that. One second. I know that sounds too good to be true; however, one-second curing is the recommended time. We need to remember that overcuring can cause issues just like undercutting can. One of those issues could be heat generation. Fortunately, AMD has included some attachments to prevent heat problems on deep preparations. Simply snap on one of the included attenuators, and you should be good to go. This diffuses some of the heat, but these are only needed when we are near the pulp. No worries about heat in normal situations with one-second curing.One thing to note is the dangers that lasers pose to our eyes. Certainly, we don’t see an epidemic of blind dentists from using LEDs, but the danger is real when it comes to laser use. The Monet utilizes an aiming beam to make sure you are well positioned before you use eye protection and activate the laser. AMD lasers include three sets of protective eyewear as well as a protective paddle if you don't want to change out of your loupes every time. No matter what protection you decide to use, just make sure you use it!
Included with the Monet are attenuators, an extra battery, and a charging station. The charging station also includes a testing area to make sure your Monet is firing at full strength. I really liked the on-trend rose gold coloring of the Monet. (I know, I know—I am so basic.) The idea of curing with a laser is new and exotic, but at one point we felt the same about LEDs. Technology advances, and we must advance with it. One day in the near future, we will all be driving to the office in electric vehicles and curing with lasers. Two-run home run to center field for AMD lasers and the Monet!
