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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This company knows better than to show what a person looks like wearing cheek retractors. But the bald dude in the tradeshow booth just couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and so has inadvertently revealed the eerie side of DIY whitening treatments.

If the silly little LED lights aren’t bad enough, the company has solved the apparent problem of “what to do” for the hour-long treatment process: built-in music headphones for your MP3 player.

Ahh, the fringes of the ZOOM-persuaded target audience make one smile and wince at the same time.  Thanks to Engadget for the help with next year’s Halloween costume.

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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Nice product presentation on the left, don’t you think?

Now what exactly are they? The latest in clear maxillary molar implants?

Wrong. You stick them in your ears. You. The dental professional.  Yes, you, the person who is losing their hearing and doesn’t mind spending about a grand to protect what’s left of your stereocilia.

Not losing your hearing? Then prove it to yourself. Take the test below in a quiet place. Naturally you need to have speakers turned up to about medium to hear all the frequencies. The higher ranges are what are known as the “mosquito” ringtones, which are outside the audible range of people over 30, and often used by the young-uns to send stealth text messages to each other.

There have been a few inconclusive studies published in the dental journals this decade about the concern that high decibel-level noise is an occupational hazard in dental practices. We thought that now would be a good time to gather a little of our own anecdotal evidence, and see how dentists’ hearing stacks up to the general population.

Play each of these tones to yourself and then please fill out the anonymous survey below so that we can publish the results in a future post.  

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You’ve watched way too many movies.

If you’ve got images of Star Trek’s Geordi LaForge, nerdy sidekicks in 80′s new-wave glasses a la John Hughes’ teen films, or the horrors of Total Recall memory augmentation burned into your retinas, then please, let those prejudiced views slide gently outside of your peripheral vision and consider that Virtual Reality glasses may actually be good and cheap enough these days to make them part of your patient comfort collection.

We want to heavily discourage dentists from spending thousands of dollars in wall or ceiling-mounted screens just so that patients can have something to look at besides your ugly mug while you’re fixing their teeth.

We’re not kidding.

The problem with screens like that, during dentistry, is that your head keeps getting in the way while your patient is trying to remain distracted.

There’s lots of other details that can end up complicating the whole thing, so instead of making this a gripe session about overbloated dental amenities, we’ve created a few tracks that will make it inexpensive and easy for you to start using VR glasses in your practice.

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