A symphony of precision and convenience

by Joe Blaes

Odyssey® Navigator from Ivoclar Vivadent - When was the last time you or one of your team had to lug a heavy laser from one room to another, and then had to move something else to make room for it? Rather frustrating, isn’t it? Why can’t these companies invent a laser that is small and portable?

Ivoclar Vivadent has addressed this problem with its Odyssey Navigator, featuring technology that provides more convenience, easier operation, more flexibility, and unmatched portability. The unique design features a small docking cradle that secures it to a countertop and provides a charging base for the rechargeable battery. The battery allows you complete freedom to use the Odyssey Navigator in any operatory. The innovative, ergonomically designed handpiece is a pleasure to work with for every procedure. My biggest problem with lasers has always been the need to strip and cleave the fiberoptic cord. The Odyssey Navigator has unique, uni-dose fiber tips that are delivered not only sterilized, but also prestripped and precleaved. This revolutionary idea allows for fast, easy operation by simply snapping a new tip on the handpiece and you are ready to lase! The Odyssey Navigator uses the 810 nanometer wavelength, which has a high affinity for gingival tissue. This makes it an invaluable tool for esthetic sculpting, accessibility, isolation, and soft-tissue healing. The Odyssey Navigator comes standard with more than 30 preset clinical procedure programs, along with the ability to create custom programs. The intuitive software design is easily navigated, and selecting a program is as easy as a touch to its touch-screen monitor. Included in the software design is the ability to use the “Quick Set” feature, which allows you to simply select Mode, Set Power, and Go! Nothing could be easier.

Order from your dealer or call (800) 533-6825 for more information.

Tru-Align Positioning System from Interactive Diagnostic Imaging, Inc. - Few things in dentistry are more critical and yet more frustrating than taking excellent diagnostic-quality radiographs. Far too often the dentist is faced with the choice of retakes or compromising with radiographs that are cone cut, overlapped, foreshortened, or elongated. The ADA estimates that 25 to 40 percent of the radiographic images taken by general dental offices are retakes! What a blessing it would be to take an X-ray knowing it would be perfect each and every time. There’s no need to wait any longer. A new dental radiography tool eliminates these frustrating problems forever while producing the best radiographs we’ve ever had. For the first time, dentists can easily and quickly eliminate alignment errors in the production of radiographic images with the Tru-Align Positioning System. This is a fail-safe system for taking accurate radiographs 100 percent of the time with no mistakes! Moreover, the Tru-Align produces much sharper images, with more diagnostic information, faster than ever before. To top off these achievements, the system reduces the radiation that you, your staff, and your patients are exposed to by 70 to 80 percent. These remarkable benefits - superior diagnostics, perfect alignments, and dramatically reduced radiation exposure - are achieved by the Tru-Align system regardless of whether you use film or digital sensors. Tru-Align simply replaces the traditional round collimator on your X-ray head with a patented rectangular collimator that finally resolves the old problem we all know about with rectangular collimators: they were really hard to position and almost always produced cone cuts and misalignments. The Tru-Align is so intuitive that my hygienists and assistants were able to take it out of the box and use it immediately without reading the instructions. Their images were the best they have ever taken! Not only is this system faster, but it’s actually easier to use than our old, round collimators. Its innovative audio and visual signaling systems tell you when your X-ray head has docked onto the Tru-Align ring for perfect alignment. This ring (which is actually a rectangle) and its counterpart on the X-ray head at the front of the Tru-Align system are like a docking station. When connected properly, the system beeps and flashes telling you optimum alignment has been achieved and it’s time to take the X-ray. Rectangular collimation is recommended by the American Dental Association and the National Council on Radiation Protection. Here are some of the key elements that make the patented Tru-Align Positioning System unique.

1. Electronic sensors with a magnetic plate mounted to the perimeter of the front edge of the rectangular collimation tube detect contact with the alignment device’s “docking station ring,” which connects to the film holder.
2. Once in contact with the alignment device, the magnet creates a magnetic bond holding the X-ray head in contact with the film holder while a radiographic image is taken.
3. When these two components are in alignment, a circuit is completed and the visual and audible signals tell you that perfect alignment now exists for taking an X-ray. Just as a jet fighter’s missile guidance system signals audibly and visually when it locks onto a target, the Tru-Align Positioning System alerts the operator when the film is correctly aligned, thereby producing a perfect image every time.
4. The magnetic bond prevents drifting of the X-ray tube head. If the patient gags or moves his or her head, the magnetic bond is broken and the signals instantly halt.

This product is a “must buy!” For more information, go to www.idixray.com or call (866) 343-9729.

SporeCheck™ from Hu-Friedy - Do you ever wonder if your sterilizer is doing what it is supposed to do? Are you sure all the “bugs” are being killed? In-office biological monitoring allows you to take control of your steam sterilizer testing. It provides you with the peace of mind that your sterilizer is functioning properly with results in 24 hours, and it is in compliance with local, state, and federal guidelines. In-office biological monitoring helps dental professionals comply with best practices guidelines established by the CDC, which states that steam sterilizers should be monitored at least weekly, preferably daily, and with every load that contains implantable devices. Hu-Friedy offers a quick and accurate approach to steam sterilizer biological monitoring. The SporeCheck™ system is the fastest in-office biological indicator (BI) monitoring system on the market, providing reliable results in 24 hours. SporeCheck is simple to use: one biological indicator vial works for all types of steam sterilizers, including gravity, prevacuum, and flash. SporeCheck BI vials are self-contained systems; no mixing is required. The test results are easy to interpret with a visible color change for positive results, leaving no room for error.

Order a SporeCheck starter kit from your dealer or contact Hu-Friedy at (800)HU-FRIEDY for more details.

RelyX™ Unicem Cement in the Clicker™ Dispenserfrom 3M ESPE - Now you can have the convenience of a paste-paste mix with all the great features of a product you already trust. The cement of choice now saves steps and time. For years, doctors have trusted RelyX Unicem Cement to deliver a strong bond - without etching, priming, or bonding. Now in the Clicker dispenser, it eliminates the need for activating and dispensing, saving even more time. RelyX Unicem Cement eliminates etching, priming, and bonding steps and it has been proven to reduce postoperative sensitivity compared to traditional resin cements. This cement has been clinically proven with years of data, independent university studies, and opinion-leader testing. The innovative Clicker dispenser makes it easy to get the exact dosage for consistent results and it can be used for virtually all indications.

Order from your dealer today. Contact 3M ESPE at www.3mespe.com or customer service at (800) 634-2249 for more details.

Book review: “Tiger Traits: 9 Success Secrets You Can Discover from Tiger Woods to Be a Business Champion”by Dr. Nate Booth - Tiger Woods is a once-in-a-generation phenomenon. Tiger is both a superlative professional golfer and an extremely successful businessperson. It’s estimated that he earned more than $100 million in 2006. Today, Tiger is well on his way to being recognized as the greatest golfer of all time, the first sports billionaire, and an exceptional philanthropist - all at the age of 31! Like his astounding accomplishments on the golf course, Tiger’s phenomenal business success is no accident.

Both kinds of success arise from the same nine key traits you will learn in Nate’s book. With the aid of inspiring and revealing stories from Tiger’s life, Nate shows you how to become a champion in business and in life, too. Tiger Traits is an extremely readable and practical 160-page hardcover book. I would recommend it to any dentist - golfer or not.

To view the book’s contents, read a sample chapter, or order an autographed copy, go to www.tigertraits.com.

Feldspathic Porcelain CEREC Blocs from Sirona - After 20 years of recommending other types of ceramic blocks for the milling of ceramic restorations, Sirona has developed its own range of millable ceramic blocks for the CAD/CAM systems CEREC® and inLab®. The CEREC Blocs are made of industrially manufactured feldspar ceramic. They embody more than two decades of clinical experience - experience showing that fine-structure feldspar ceramic is the ideal material for ceramic restorations in terms of longevity and excellence. In addition, the CEREC Blocs offer outstanding esthetic properties, natural abrasion, and cost-effective machining on the CEREC. CEREC Blocs offer a unique, new feature: a universal CEREC color system was developed for the blocks, which combines the simplicity of the classical VITA® shade guide with the color diversity of VITA’s 3D-Master® system. It contains 12 monochromatic and three polychromatic blocks in varying shades and translucencies. CEREC Blocs are indicated for the CEREC/inLab CAD/CAM production of inlays, onlays, partial crowns, full crowns, endocrowns on molars, and veneers. Sirona has developed the new ceramic blocks with VITA (Vident). These blocks are made from the same porcelain as the VITA CEREC Blocs, so all studies from the past 20 years that show the strength and longevity of VITA restorations will apply to the new CEREC Blocs as well.