by Dr. Joe Blaes
Protemp™ Crown Temporization Material from 3M ESPE - You will not believe this product until you see it and handle it yourself. Your assistants will be thrilled because Protemp Crown will simplify making posterior temporary crowns. This temporary material is made of a new class of composite material which will amaze you. This material is preformed into a single-unit composite temporary crown for permanent teeth. The impression for a matrix, the dispensing guns, the messy smear layer - are all things of the past! This is a fast, simple, and easy technique. You measure the width and height of the temporary you’re planning to make with a disposable ruler. Then pick a Protemp Crown from the nine sizes, which are sufficient to cover upper and lower molar, bicuspid, and cuspid teeth. They have good fit because of their wax-like crown malleability and easy adaptation process before light curing. With a little practice, Protemp Crown Temporization Material allows you to fabricate a single-unit temporary crown in less than four minutes. It is faster than current temporary material techniques and results in an esthetic temporary restoration. The material is made in one universal shade that looks great in the mouth. This one has it all: speed, ease of use, economy, and esthetics. Protemp Crown will be launched at the Chicago Midwinter Meeting, so if you will be there, be sure to stop by and try it. I am sure you will order some for your practice. I cannot wait to begin teaching this technique to dental assistants. They will love it! Order from your dealer or go to www.3MESPE.com for more information.
OptiDisc™ from Kerr Dental - During my career as a dentist, my material of choice for polishing tooth-colored materials has been a sandpaper disc. With the advent of the microhybrid composites, I have had to change to other media to get the lasting polish I wanted. Thanks to Kerr, I can go back to using a disc for finishing and polishing composite restorations. OptiDisc allows me to get a final polish equal to that of natural dentition. The three-grit system (instead of the traditional four) achieves a higher surface gloss in fewer steps than competitive products. And, you can see through the translucent OptiDisc, which makes for better working surface visibility. You will never second-guess which side has the abrasive grit. Each disc is color coded to indicate grit type and clearly identify the abrasive side. The flush-mounted mandrel ensures precise operation. OptiDisc also has an extra-coarse grit available for gross removal of composite prior to finishing and polishing. If you like to polish with a disc, you’ll get great results with OptiDisc. Order from your dealer or go to www.kerrdental.com for more information.
MagnaVu PSII Dental Procedure Scope from Magnified Video Dentistry, Inc. - I have always wondered why we have not been able to operate in the mouth like surgeons do with scopes in the rest of the body. Some of the surgical procedures we do are even more precise than what they do. About three years ago, I saw a demonstration of a video unit that would allow me to do just that. It was a fairly rudimentary system and the company didn’t last. Since that time, several other companies have come on the scene and I have looked at them all. I have been using this system for more than a year. Each time, I said, “It is a good unit but it would be better if ....” MVD made modifications to the scope to improve it. The current MagnaVu PSII Scope uses the highest-resolution digital color CCD camera chip available. Combined with custom optics, it is able to produce clear, precise images that will give you the quality images and confidence needed when performing Magnified Video dentistry. The MagnaVu’s incredible depth-of-field (up to 4 inches) means that everything in the mouth can be in focus at the same time. Depth perception is no longer an issue. By incorporating this new scope and a more ergonomic posture position during procedures, the MagnaVu can reduce aches and pains for you, improve the level of care provided to your patients, increase production, and maybe actually prolong your dental career. It was amazing how easy it was to learn to use the MagnaVu. All the scopes come with a built-in reverse image switch and an image freeze frame that can be operated from a foot control. The intensity of the LED lights, the focus, and magnification all can be controlled from the foot control. The MagnaVu features a fully adjustable custom lens system that allows you to choose the desired optical magnification level from 1x to 23x. The versatile scope can look down a root canal, be positioned for quad dentistry, display an entire arch for hygiene procedures, or pull all the way back to take beautiful smile and full-face images. The MagnaVu installation is extremely flexible, and is available in wall-mount, countertop, ceiling units, and mobile carts. See the MagnaVu PSII Scope at dental meetings throughout the country. Once you experience the difference, you will never practice dentistry the same way again. Call (866) 999-9150 for more information.
Standard and Petite Aspirating Syringes from Septodont - From the people who bring you that great anesthetic, Septocaine®, comes two new syringes. The newest dental syringes come from the number-one name in pain control. Septodont dental aspirating syringes are lightweight, durable, and contain no removable parts. A few companies are finally getting the idea that hands come in different sizes, so these new syringes are available in two distinct sizes to fit your specific injection style. Septodont Standard syringe is equipped with a larger thumb ring and offers the standard-length plunger for improved comfort. Septodont Petite is for dentists and hygienists with smaller hands. Its compact design provides a smaller thumb ring, finger grip, and a shorter plunger length. This design provides better control and added comfort when aspirating. Both models offer lightweight construction consisting of aluminum and stainless steel, which reduces hand stress during injections. Both syringes accept the 1.7 ml/1.8 ml dental cartridges. Get yours today and feel the difference. Order from your dealer or call (800) 872-8305.
