With the advent of ridge augmentation to receive implants and sinus lifts, grafting materials are being designed for specific applications.

I have blogged before about how impressed I was with the approach Curve Dental is taking with Hero, their dental practice management software. It is entirely browser based, the same way Google Docs does Microsoft Office without a massive software installation or need for local data storage. Now they have announced another online addition: Dental Patient Education Software called curveED. Some of the original work was done by Orasphere, a highly talented company that put together some great 3D animations of dental procedures. No offense, but these will always trump the drawings you do on the back of your patients chart. The database is extensive, can be viewed from any workstation in your practice including PC or Mac, and you can even email the vids to your patients. Best of all? Its free. On Dentalcompare, you can compare other manufacturers of dental patient education software and make your own decision. But keep an eye on Curve. They are really shaking things up.

Precocious toddlers who've graduated from Hooked on Phonics will not have to be bothered by irritating fine-print warnings about tooth decay on their sippy cups and bottles....at least not in New York state. Free-thinker libertarian Gov David Paterson just vetoed a bill that would have required a warning label about the risk of early childhood tooth decay from undefined prolonged use of a "vessel with a duckbilled lid, bill-shaped extension or bill-shaped spout." The legislation also covered baby bottles. A New York Daily News editorial in June called the bill "nanny statism run mad." After what I can only imagine were countless sleepless nights mulling over the pros and cons of this critical and potentially historic legislation, Paterson came to the conclusion that "Brief warning labels are simply not the best vehicle to convey detailed information about general parental practice and proper use of a product that is not inherently dangerous." So, doctor, just know that your patients are out there in a dangerous world...it's up to you to spread the message.

Widespread use of disposable dental supplies, such as chair covers and sterilization pouches, helps perpetuate the country's dependency on petroleum.

Cefla Dental Group America recently sent its portable digital x-ray sensor, X-pod, to accompany a humanitarian outreach group from Temple University to Haiti.

I had a friend forward this article to me from Discovery News. Eric Bland talks about a new gel used to repair teeth that is so amazing, “Dentists could soon hang up their drill.” He goes on to say that “The new gel or thin film could eliminate the need to fill painful cavities or drill deep into the root canal of an infected tooth.” There are other sensationalized comments, but those are my favorites. Without trying to sound controversial, the article completely misses the mark on what the aim of the original research had been. I think there was a moment there that I forgot I was reading Discovery News, and thought I clicked a link to the Enquirer. If you look at the original research article, there is no mention of treating decay at all. The article discusses a concept in dentistry called “pulpal regeneration”. Basically, if a cavity gets to deep and allows bacteria to enter into the nerve of the tooth, the current standard of care requires completely sterilizing the internal part of the tooth to prevent proliferation of the bacteria. This process also kills the pulpal cells of the tooth. The research on PGA-alpha-MSH looked at a way to try to regenerate those cells to keep the tooth alive. What they are looking at is to end root canals by regrowing your own cells. So will dentists hang up their drills? Not from this stuff. It doesn’t prevent decay, and it certainly doesn’t grow mineralized enamel structure back. It also doesn’t preclude the use of the drill to replace defective fillings or crowns. Further, if a filling is painful while it is being worked on, my recommendation would be to ask for more numbing, or go somewhere else. It’s 2010. We should be able to make our patients comfortable.   So it seems that Discovery News is in need of a Dental News Correspondent who can convey accurate information to properly educate people rather than distort and sensationalize. I’m available. Just throwing that out there.  

Early in 2010, Kuraray essentially combined the Clearfil Protect and Clearfil SE, and in doing so, "updated" both products to create Clearfil SE Protect.

Digital x-rays are one of those items we have in our practice that completely changed our workflow, and our sanity. There are plenty of articles on why digital x-rays work so well, but the latest numbers I have heard are that only 50% of dental offices use the technology. This seems to be especially true of pediatric dentistry, with complaints that the sensors are inconvenient or just to big to fit. Well the good news is that there is a solution. At the CDA conference, Gendex announced their newest digital intraoral sensor, the GXS-700. In addition to the regular sized sensor, they have a smaller size for kids or a gagger patient. It is only 25x37mm, and it has rounded corners so that the back end doesn't jam into your palate. It also plugs directly into a USB port on your computer or laptop. That's a big deal considering that you don't have to spend another $2000 on average for a capture box. You can also add to that HD image quality and integration with most practice management systems. So no more excuses. If its good enough for my one year old, it will work for your practice. (That's just an exact size sample, by the way. I'm pretty sure soggy Cheerios will void your warranty.)

 The first-in-the-nation legislation ensuring Maine’s youngest children have access to early preventive dental care was signed June 1 by Gov. John E. Baldacci. The bill, "An Act To Improve Dental Insurance Coverage for Maine Children," ensures that all dental benefit plans provide coverage to children from birth, earlier than the coverage of most kids' dental plans (if available at all) that begin coverage at 2,3, or 4 years of age. Beginning in January of 2011, any dental plan offered in Maine will have to provide parents the ability to enroll their child at birth, or at any age thereafter. Whether or not children are enrolled will be entirely up to the parents. The Maine Dental Association lobbied for legislation after a local dentist treated a 4-year-old child who had significant tooth decay. The parent said she didn’t bring the child to the dentist earlier because her dental benefit plan didn’t pay for earlier care. After some investigation, it turned out the parents’ employer had an age restriction for enrollment, which has been very common in Maine for dental benefit plans. Gov. Baldacci is right to be proud. “With this legislation Maine is setting a high standard for children’s dental benefit coverage,” he said. “I am pleased to sign this bill into law and make Maine a leader for children’s oral health.” Bravo!

Here's a case where a diode laser and chairside CAD/CAM technology were the only treatment options for a significant dental emergency.