DentalBuzz – a jolt of current…

After all the buzz in the past two years about a new type of carpule that also starts with an “O,” you may think you’ve seen this product before. In one sense it’s similar: it must be used in conjunction with your regular anesthetic instead of as an anesthesia alternative.  What’s more exciting is that this just may change the way we prepare syringes for every single patient from now on.

Onset™ is the name of a new buffering agent created by Onpharma™ Inc. that will be available as soon as the final FDA review is complete. If you can answer yes to these questions, read on:

Do you want to eliminate the sting that can be caused by the acidity of local anesthetic? Would you like to be able to give an injection and go to work immediately? Are you interested in a product that will help you get your patients profoundly numb, even when infection is present? What about tissue necrosis? Would you like to prevent it if possible?

The idea behind the pH buffering isn’t novel, but the patented device is. Onpharma™ has created a simple system that can be used with all anesthetics and also solves the problems of shelf life and proper dosing. Product previews aren’t yet available on the internet so all images and details will be withheld here at DentalBuzz until further notice (it’s so hard to hold a secret, though!).

If your curiosity is now piqued, make sure to click over to the Onpharma™ website and sign up so that the company can let you know when you can purchase Onset™.

Just don’t expect it to be rapid.  

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No one likes the idea of seeing a child being restrained. Especially not at the dental office. But on the same hand, if a child is admitted to a hospital, has thousands of dollars spent to knock them out with potentially risky gas, and is in need of a procedure that takes only minutes to perform, which care is the right one?

Notorious press has given the papoose board a bad name. Granted, its utilization can be abused, especially as seen in the story that was profiled on ABC’s 20/20. General anesthesia isn’t without its opponents as well, especially when a child dies.

With that somber note hanging in the air, you may want to revisit David After Dentist and pick yourself up with a little sedation dentistry humor. Even if you don’t agree that his dad should have ever posted the video on YouTube, it’s still so freakin’ funny.

Children who can’t be cooperative still need a means of getting their dentistry done, so pedodontists must make choices that sometimes include the use of papoose boards or general anesthesia. For entertainment’s sake, let’s just call this polarizing dilemma by another name: Hugs vs. Drugs.

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So maybe it was the equipment allowing backflow into patients mouths during extractions (blecch), or inadequate sterilization measures, but whatever the case, Hepatitis B has been officially contracted during dental procedures.

A free, volunteer-staffed program offered at a West Virginia high school found that three patients and two clinicians came down with Hepatitis B viruses that were tested and matched at a molecular level, indicating that the infections came from a common source.

All people involved at the Mission of Mercy clinic last summer were mailed letters last week encouraging that they be tested for the virus. The testing is being paid for by the state of West Virginia. (Insert your best West Virginia joke here. And then be ashamed of yourself for doing it).

If you have any response to this news, it should be to check your own infection control systems, to be sure that your high speed evacuation is up to par, that you aren’t just wiping down handpieces, and that every patient is treated with those universal precautions that were so important in dental school.

After all, you wouldn’t want this happening in an elite state, like Washington. 

There’s nothing worse in the fashion world than being stuck in an outdated trend. Five years ago you would have thought that all the reception rooms of dental offices were filled to capacity because of all the patients demanding that their teeth reflect the times with grills of gold teeth.

But that’s not the case today.

The economy has since tanked and the price of gold is higher than ever (currently over $1,100 per ounce). The only one glinting a smile of 14 karats these days is Lady Gaga, and she safely skirts the hip-hop genre by going all Team Edward with vampire fangs.

So when dental gold is out (literally), you can impress your patients with a small token of your appreciation. Take out their gold crowns, inlays, bridges, and then give it to the patient along with a postage-paid envelope.

What’s cool about this deal is where the envelope goes. Not to some shady “Cash4Gold” operation. It goes to a reputable company that will pay your patients back a fair price.

And here comes the best part: Garfield Refining Company is so generous, they’ll give you ten percent for the referral. Don’t be afraid to let your patients know that you’re getting a kickback. They’ll just be happy that you’re not keeping all the dental gold for yourself.

So click this Garfield box on the left to enroll in the Patient Bling Program and get a few envelopes for your office. Nevermind that they still call it the Scrap Program; they just haven’t seen this review yet.

You also might want to look through Dental Products Report’s list of gold refining companies. And in case you were wondering, this is not a paid advertisement. Garfield Refining simply has a great idea that spreads goodwill and makes money for everyone.

The idea of dozens of dentists lined up, hoping to have their bowls filled with a ladle of delicious….CLEAR PLASTIC IMPRESSIONS….is weird. “NO INVISALIGN FOR YOU!” screamed the white-coats at Align Technology. Dentists completing less than 10 cases per year were suspended from their accounts, and sent away, bowls empty, furious with the scare-tactic attempt to boost sales and case acceptance.

Until yesterday. Instead of getting your soup in a bowl at the counter,  you complainers will be able to get it in a to-go container, from the “Concession Stand”:

Align Technology Eliminates Annual Case Requirement for Invisalign(R) Providers

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Apr 22, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) — Align Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALGN) today announced a strategic change to the Invisalign proficiency program the Company launched last June to help ensure Invisalign providers build a baseline of Invisalign product experience and knowledge through minimum annual case and continuing education (CE) goals. Effective immediately, doctors will no longer be required to start a minimum of ten shipped cases per year to maintain their active provider status. Doctors are still required to complete a minimum of ten Invisalign continuing education (CE) hours per year.

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