New Dental Product Highlights from the 2012 Chicago Midwinter Dental Convention

Highlights from the 2012 Chicago Midwinter Dental Convention
Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Product Highlights from the Show Floor 

Every year, the Chicago Midwinter Meeting gets better. Maybe it is because it is its 147th year and they are perfecting the art of the trade show. Maybe it's because it is usually so cold outside it drives people indoors to the lectures. One reason I think it is exciting is the suite of new products that comes out every year. This year, of course, was no exception. As a dentist, it is exciting to see continued development of products that not only improve treatment for patients, but make it easier to get the job done.

Stem Cell Collection – Planning for the Future
Anyone who has had a child in the last few years has been offered to save umbilical cord blood or cord tissue from their newborn. The idea is that we made need those valuable stem cells found in that tissue for future treatments in cancer, tissue regeneration, diabetes, and more. Provia Labs has created a system to save those same hard-to-find cells from extracted teeth. Called Store-A-Tooth, the service makes it easy now for dentists to bank stem cells. You can order the collection kits for your office, and can send avulsed or extracted teeth overnight to their labs for storage.

Apple’s iPad Meets Oral Surgery
Bien Air has had a solid electric surgical handpiece called the Chiropro for a while now. The newest version, the iChiropro, has an iPad literally mounted on the front of the machine. From the touchscreen interface, you can select which doctor will be using the machine that day allowing you to customize individual user preferences. Also, there is no need to keep track of protocols for implant surgery. Just pick what implant type you are using, and what size, and the program automatically pulls up the right sequence and settings for the osteotomy.

LED in the Operatory
Several companies in the last couple of years have introduced LED lights for the operatory. A-dec now joins their ranks with their new A-dec LED dental light. Like other LED lights, it goes much brighter than the typical halogen at up to 30,000 lux. It also uses less power and generates less heat than its halogen counterparts. Plus if you are tired of replacing bulbs in your old light, these will typically last more than 20 years.

A New Tool Against Oral Cancer
In case you have never heard of VELscope before, they are the company that made the intraoral scope that makes it easier to see any pre-malignant changes in oral tissue. The old unit had the scope attached to a base portion, tethering you to a countertop somewhere. The newest version is the VELscope Vx, and is 100% handheld and portable. Considering oral cancer is still on the rise, we need all the help we can get to discover the disease in its earliest stages. 

Miniature Electric Handpieces
Many dentists avoid electric handpieces due to the weight compared to an air turbine, and cost of the initial setup. Considering the gears last longer than typical turbines, you may not end up saving money depending on how often you are replacing them. Plus, the newest additions to the electric handpiece market are smaller and lighter than ever. KaVo, NSK, and Bien-Air have some all new, lightweight motors that bring the total weight of the setup to within a few grams of the lighter air turbine handpieces. Plus, the COMFORTdrive from KaVo features an even smaller micro-motor that brings the power of an electric, and the feel of an old school high-speed.

Precision Surgical Guides – Chairside
Sirona finally delivered on its promise of allowing CEREC/Galileos users with the ability to create surgical guides in your own office. In terms of workflow, you combine a CEREC digital impression of the edentulous area with the 3D Cone Beam scan of the Galileos. Digitally place your implant in the ideal position, and then re-export the prescription back to the CEREC. There, you can mill out your own surgical guide from the MCXL milling machine. You won’t end up doing large edentulous cases with this, but it is perfect for that single or side-by-side double implant placement. 

The First Band-Aid for Your Mouth
The mouth contains some of the fastest healing tissue in our bodies. Of course, it would potentially heal faster if the mouth wasn’t so full of bacteria. PerioPatch is a little oval shaped patch that helps speed up healing. It contains a hydrogel which helps to not only protect, but essentially wick away inflammation from the site. You can use this on anything from implant surgical sites, a sore spot following scaling and root planning, or even over a cheek bite.

That is all for now - keep an eye on Dentalcompare for all the latest products. Feel free to leave a comment, I read and respond to all of them!

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