Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

Dental Economics magazine is trying something novel and innovative – a dental trade show on the internet.

And, why not?

It is a pain in the ass for the active practicing dentist to run out to a dental society or other dental organization sponsored trade show in a distant locale to attempt to look at a product with a horde of other folks crowding around. Besides the exact product that you may be researching may not be there or the booth/exhibit space so crowded you cannot see it demonstrated.

Then, there is the competing dental continuing education that NEVER allows enough time to get down to the exhibit floor.

Flap knows of the dental manufacturers and sales representative concern about the costs of these shows. It is a legitimate concern and pushes up the costs of dental care unnecessarily.

A virtual trade show is a step in the right direction.

From the press release:

Flap has moved the graphic press release which has active links for registration here. Check it out.

Oh, by the way, Flap has not accepted any gratuity or anything from the companies featured in the press release over at My Dental Forum.

Quantum Detection of Tooth Decay

A new laser device designed to detect the earliest stages of tooth decay could help dentists stop cavities in their tracks.

A newly developed laser device that uses thermal radiation and light waves to detect tiny, subsurface lesions in teeth could potentially unseat x-rays as the diagnostic standard in dental care.Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Advanced Diffusion Wave Studies say that the technology can spot lesions as small as 50 microns in between teeth, one of the most difficult spaces to spot cavities, and up to 5 millimeters below the surface of a tooth. This is well outside the boundaries of x-ray detection without exposing the patient to radiation. The researchers built a clinical prototype of the device this month and plan to begin clinical tests next year.

Detecting the earliest signs of decay could bring big changes to dentistry. “You need to lose about 30 percent of the mineral before you begin to see it on an x-ray; that’s why these new technologies are so exciting,” says Christopher Fox, executive director of the International Association for Dental Research, based in Alexandria, Virginia, and a 20-year industry veteran. “If we can detect early mineral loss, we have different intervention technologies we can use to prevent getting to that drill and fill point.”

Fox calls Quantum’s approach “very interesting” but says that x-rays will always be needed to assess periodontal health, such as the deterioration of bone structure around the teeth.

Testing teeth: Researchers at the University of Toronto have just assembled a clinical prototype of a new laser device (shown above) that measures thermal and light frequencies to detect early signs of decay below a tooth’s surface, where demineralization is difficult to spot with x-ray technology. The optical pen beams heat-emitting infrared light onto a tooth’s surface, and sensors within the pen measure heat and light waves that bounce back. Certain wave patterns can reveal loss of mineral content in a tooth, a sign of early decay that can lead to troublesome cavities. Credit: Quantum Technologies

Don’t discard the x-rays yet, Doc. But, this technology looks promising for another significant diagnostic tool for the dentist – one that can detect early caries, earlier than ever before.

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Dentistry Today: The Ultreo – Ultrasound Toothbrush

Flap’s Dental Files

Set of teeth on display at a dental show. Snaggle-toothed hockey players and sugar lovers may soon rejoice as Canadian scientists said they have created the first device able to re-grow teeth and bones.

AFP: Smile! A new Canadian tool can re-grow teeth say inventors

The researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton filed patents earlier this month in the United States for the tool based on low-intensity pulsed ultrasound technology after testing it on a dozen dental patients in Canada.

“Right now, we plan to use it to fix fractured or diseased teeth, as well as asymmetric jawbones, but it may also help hockey players or children who had their tooth knocked out,” Jie Chen, an engineering professor and nano-circuit design expert, told AFP.

Chen helped create the tiny ultrasound machine that gently massages gums and stimulates tooth growth from the root once inserted into a person’s mouth, mounted on braces or a removable plastic crown.

The wireless device, smaller than a pea, must be activated for 20 minutes each day for four months to stimulate growth, he said.

It can also stimulate jawbone growth to fix a person’s crooked smile and may eventually allow people to grow taller by stimulating bone growth, Chen said.

Tarek El-Bialy, a new member of the university’s dentistry faculty, first tested the low-intensity pulsed ultrasound treatment to repair dental tissue in rabbits in the late 1990s.

His research was published in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and later presented at the World Federation of Orthodontics in Paris in September 2005.

Quick sell your dental implant stocks……

Seriously. this looks like an interesting prospect but won’t be replacing conventional dentistry and/or dental implants anytime soon.

Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.

MedGadget: The IGI System for Dental Surgery Navigation

We are continuing our coverage of this year’s Medical Design Excellence Awards. One of the two winners in the dental category was DenX Advanced Dental Systems Ltd., a Jerusalem, Israel based company. According to a press release, its IGI system for surgical navigation “assists in the preoperative and intraoperative phases of dental implantation surgery, accurately guiding surgical instruments according to a CT-based presurgical plan.”
Here is the company on its product:

With IGI, the dental clinician can be assured of a comprehensive navigational solution where:

- pre-surgical planning matches the surgical performance

- critical structures are accurately defined and avoided

- the implant is precisely placed and

-on-line treatment, follow up and data storage are provided…

The company website is here.

VIOlight Toothbrush Sanitizer

VIOLight sanitizes your toothbrush and prevents contamination build-up. Even after a thorough rinsing, thousands of germs can remain on your toothbrush, creating the potential for harmful bacteria to grow. In just minutes, VIOLight sanitizes your toothbrush with UV light. After each use, place your toothbrush in the battery-operated case; the UV bulb automatically shuts off after the sanitation cycle is done. Case has a removable tray that stores the brush until your next use. Bulb lasts 1,000 hours. Measures 8½ x 2¼ x ¾”. (3 oz)

This is a great gadget, especially in the flu season.

H/T Medgadget

Technorati Tags: dentistry, dentist, dental, toothbrush, teeth, tooth

Check out this web-based cosmetic dentistry imaging service, Fabulous Smiles.

There are at least sixty-six proportional relationships on the human face that relate to the symmetry of the face and smile. Those ideal relationships, recognized and used by Euclid, Leonardo daVinci and Michelangelo are known as Golden Proportions. When these golden proportions are present the face appears to us as attractive, even beautiful.

The reality is that not everyone has golden proportions. The further each person’s facial proportions are from Golden the more difficult it is to design a smile and teeth that retain a sense of symmetry and harmony in the individual. Fabulous Smiles recognizes that one need not necessarily be “golden” to still be attractive, but that individual’s proportions are consistent within the face and smile.

By evaluating each person’s individual facial proportions and dimensions, it is possible to establish a Personal Aesthetic Ratio or PAR for each face. These measurements can be used to design anterior teeth that bring out the best features and harmony to the individual patient.

Each individual has a tooth shape, tooth size and most importantly the placement of those teeth that would best reflect their own personal proportions. This is the key to designing the best smile for each person. Fabulous Smiles does exactly that; evaluates the face, the proportions and the symmetry of each person and designs a smile that is best for them.

This service with its software is definitely worth a look. There are no large cash outlays for hardware or software and the learning curve is reasonable.

Technorati Tags: dentistry, dental, dentist

Check out this new device from Down Under, Invention aids safer use of scalpels.

An Australian company has produced a device to make scalpels safer, reducing the risk of injury to doctors and nurses.

The device, called a sterile blade remover, was developed by Brisbane based company Qlicksmart and is expected to reduce accidents involving scalpels by half.

The Qlicksmart website is here.

It enables staff to remove blades and put them in clear containers without the risk of injury.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane launched the device at St Vincent’s and Mercy Private Hospital in Melbourne.

“Now not only does that protect the nurses or the doctor or whoever is handling the scalpel from cutting themselves when they remove the used scalpel blade, but it allows it to be kept in such a way that the blades can be counted at the end of the operation and that’s a very important part of any medical procedure,” he said.

Flap likes the part about the doctor or assistant not cutting themselves.

Definitely a winner of a product.

H/T Medgadget

Technorati Tags: dentistry, dental, dentist, scalpel