Making stress, chaos part of the past

Joe Blaes, DDS

MX2 Micro-Series Electric Handpiece from Bien Air Medical Technologies – I saw this new handpiece in Orlando at the ADA meeting and have already cut a lot of teeth with it. I have been wanting to tell you about it, but I was sworn to secrecy. You must see and experience this handpiece at the California Dental Association meeting in Anaheim. With the new Micro-Series, Bien Air delivers a 28% smaller and 23% lighter handpiece with the performance that you would expect from an electric. It is simply amazing! I have been using Bien Air electric handpieces for more than 25 years. I can tell you that I have been totally satisfied with their quality, performance, and endurance. The only problem I ever had was when an over- zealous dental assistant once sterilized the electric motor, which years ago was not sealed. The Micro-Series has LED lights, torque control, endodontic functions, and the motor and handpiece are autoclavable. The constant high torque of the MX motor makes it possible to use only one latch type and one friction grip attachment to accomplish virtually every procedure. These attachments are fitted with nondegradable solid glass optics, push-button chuck, and triple water spray. All procedures – including high speed, slow speed, and rotary endo – can be accomplished with these two attachments. The motor and handpiece are maintenance-free. There is no need for more cleaners or oil. The new shorter and lighter handpiece will delight female dentists, who have had to struggle with the size and weight of older handpieces. The small motor allows small hands to easily balance the handpiece for ease of use throughout the day. You will be amazed at the torque that is available with the MX2. When you visit a booth that displays a handpiece, you usually will be able to use it and do so by cutting on a piece of bone instead of a tooth. When I test a handpiece at a booth, I request a new bur and then I sink the bur about a quarter of an inch into the bone and then move it as fast as I can. You will find that the torque is constant and you will not stall the bur. This kind of control comes without the noise of an air-driven handpiece and without vibration. Your preparations will look better than ever. The new Bien-Air Micro-Series includes ultra-short attachments combined with the new state-of-the-art MX2 LED micromotor. With its ultra-compact size, MX2 offers the same performance as the MX micromotor. This includes power, versatility, and perfect speed control, as well as auto-reverse and torque limitation capabilities. Order from your dealer or visit www.bienair.com for more information.

Under Armour Performance Mouthwear™ from Bite Tech – This is a new line of custom mouthpieces and mouthguards designed to help athletes improve strength, endurance, reaction time, and reduce athletic stress. It is powered by ArmourBite™, Bite Tech's patented technology. The lower mouthpiece is meant for noncontact sports, and the upper mouthpiece gives greater protection for contact sports such as when you shoot baskets with your kids on the driveway or play hockey in the men's league. How about considering yourself an athlete when you do a difficult procedure on that difficult patient? The easy way to convince yourself about this technology is to get a lower mouthpiece and wear it as you go through your busy daily schedule. I wear mine every day, whether I am seeing patients, writing articles, editing articles, solving problems on the phone, or lecturing. In all these situations, I stay relaxed and focused on the task at hand with no sweating or clenched muscles. Many times when I prepped teeth for a difficult full-mouth restorative case, I would get tired and need to take a break. This does not happen anymore! In fact, my assistant will usually tell me that we need to stop to give the patient a moment to relax and change positions. Usually, after a morning or afternoon of writing and trying to meet a deadline, I would have a headache, a neck ache, and my massetor muscles hurt. This also does not happen anymore. As I write this column, I have my mouthpiece in place, am comfortable, and can write much faster than before. Now consider how many of your team members are under the same kind of stress. It would be great to get them mouthpieces when you consider how much more productive they can be without stress. How about your patients? Are some of them under stress in their jobs or homes? Could they benefit from Under Armour Performance Mouthware? In my opinion, they certainly will if you and your team believe in the benefits and tell patients how much better you feel and perform. For more information, visit www.DentistryIQ.com and search "The Future of Athletic Performance," a supplement to Compendium, July/August 2009, Vol. 30 (Special Issue 2). This technology is simple and cost-effective to incorporate in any practice and patients will love it. Under Armour Performance Mouthwear is a practice-building system available exclusively through Patterson Dental. For more information, visit www.bitetech.com.

Enzymax® Instrument Cleaning and Care from Hu-Friedy – Your practice and patients deserve the best, so choose a product that delivers a level of instrument cleaning that is powered by a dual-enzyme design that works quickly to remove and prevent biofilms while thoroughly cleaning instruments. Hu-Friedy, a trusted name in dental instruments, has developed just such a cleaning agent. Enzymax® extends instrument life with Steelgard™ agents and corrosion inhibitors. They provide multipurpose applications including ultrasonic, presoak, linen, spot removal, and evacuation cleaner. It is available in concentrated liquid, lightweight powder, convenient, single-use packets, or a precleaner spray gel. Hu-Friedy is dedicated to providing environmentally friendly cleaning products. While all Enzymax® products are biodegradable and phosphate-free, Hu-Friedy's line of green detergents, Enzymax Earth™, presents less bioaccumulation potential and contains enzyme stabilizers that are safe for the environment. Enzymax Earth™ offers the same cleaning attributes as Enzymax with Steelgard agents and corrosion inhibitor for added protection and sparkling instrument restoration. This product is available in liquid and PAX (single-use packets). Enzymax Earth™ is registered with the DfE (Design for the Environment) as a safe product for the environment. DfE is a program created by the EPA to work with companies to integrate health and environmental considerations into their products. The DfE promotes innovative and improved cleaning while recognizing companies dedicated to manufacturing products that are safer for consumers and the environment. These improved products contain ingredients with lower inherent toxicity, less bioaccumulation potential, less toxic by-products, and more rapid biodegradability. I applaud Hu-Friedy for doing the extra work necessary to earn this recognition. Order from your dealer or visit www.hu-friedy.com for more information.

Spirit 3800 Rear Delivery Unit from Pelton & Crane – I have at one time or another tried every type of delivery system made until I discovered a rear delivery system that I designed for the DentalEZ Company back in 1976. They called it the "615 Truth System." Since then, I have used only rear delivery systems. I have evaluated the new Spirit 3800 and found it to be an excellent system. I cannot think of anything that has been missed in putting this rear delivery unit together. In my opinion, the secret to dentistry today is systems. A dental practice that uses a system for every procedure in the office runs like a well-oiled machine. Stress and chaos are things of the past. A couple of months ago, I visited a four-dentist, 25-chair office outside of Dallas, Texas. When I walked in the door, I knew there were systems in place because it was a calm, comfortable place. The Spirit 3800 can help you have this kind of office. When I visit a medical professional, I do not want to see any of the instruments. With rear delivery, we accomplish that in our office. Workflow optimization in your practice can increase productivity and reduce wasted time, both during and in between procedures, which will positively influence your bottom line. You will experience a freedom of positioning by being able to achieve more than 23 different procedural positions. You can walk around the "clock" – from 8 to 4 – and easily accommodate two-, four-, and six-handed procedures with an advanced range of motion. The Spirit 3800 allows effortless left and right conversion since the doctor and assistant instrumentation is independent. Believe it or not, you can have a side delivery from this rear delivery unit. The doctor's unit has a vertical adjustment from 24 to 30 inches and the assistant's unit from 28 to 36 inches. The doctor's delivery unit allows six in-line instruments to choose from, including dual E-motors. The assistant's delivery unit provides six positions that have removable inserts for easy in-field configuring. A syringe, HVE, and saliva ejector are standard with a second HVE, curing light, and scaler optional. All movements are simple to perform, and at the same time, logically placed and ergonomically reachable. I am sure I may find a few things that I would change, but right now I am satisfied that this is a well-thought out unit that will definitely make a difference in your practice. Get to a dental meeting and see the new Spirit 3800 Rear Delivery system. Sit down and try it on for size, and I think you will agree with me. The unit offers a five-year warranty. Order from your dealer or visit www.pelton.net for more information.

SonicFill: Sonic Activated, Bulk Fill Composite System from Kerr – This new product has been described many ways, such as "SonicFill will change the way composites are done forever!" (Dr. Robert Lowe), "Profit from faster posterior fillings," and "Finally, a practical, efficient technique for placing posterior composites in one single, esthetic, bulk fill increment" (Dr. Ron Jackson). Sound too good to be true? Is it just a lot of marketing hype? No, I don't think so. SonicFill's technology is unlike any other composite material on the market. It uses a highly filled thixotropic resin that contains a rheological modifier that reacts when sonic energy is applied. The carpule containing the composite is attached to a special air-driven handpiece. As sonic energy is applied through the handpiece, there is an immediate, rapid drop in the composite's viscosity (up to 87%). This makes the resin's characteristics dominant and the material perfectly suited for precise and quick placement. This happens in a few seconds. The tooth is filled up to 5 mm deep in less time than you can imagine. SonicFill's delivery system dramatically lowers the viscosity of the composite during placement, and this provides you with much better adaptation than ever before with no worry about voids. When the sonic energy is stopped, the composite immediately returns to a nonslumping, highly sculptable state that is easy to carve without being sticky. SonicFill has great mechanical properties, including superior strength, low shrinkage, and high depth of cure. This allows it to be placed in bulk increments up to 5 mm so dentists can use it with confidence in posterior restorations. Kerr has simplified composites to the point of making them faster to place, carve, and polish than an amalgam. SonicFill is the first and only easy-to-use, single-step, bulk fill composite system that doesn't require an additional capping layer. Now you can go from placement to polished restoration in less than three minutes on cavities up to 5 millimeters. This means I can easily do a quadrant of composites in less than 30 minutes. If you put the SonicFill system into place in your practice, watch production go up while the stress of placing composites disappears. But don't just take my word for it. Visit Kerr on the Web at www.sonicfill.kerrdental.com to view an informative procedure video by my friend, Dr. Ron Jackson. Then call your dealer to order SonicFill and try it soon. I think you will be surprised how much fun it is to use.