How come it never fails that when you are doing endo on a patient they wear black that day or when doing oral surgery they wear white? When doing endo, when I was an assistant and now as the doctor I am hyper aware of that little drip hanging on the end of the syringe full of sodium hypochloride. Are they going to leave with a polka dot shirt or can I whip the syringe over to the tooth in time? Bibs help, but there are always exposed areas as it rotates around on the patient or the shoulders… enter GantGuard Dental and Surgical Bibs.
Here at the Dental Advisor, we recently received GantGuard Dental and Surgical Bibs (Gant Medical). What makes these bib unique? Actually several things. For one, they have a cutout for the neck so they can wrap around and stick onto the patient’s back. This allows for more coverage around the neck and shoulders (where that sodium hypochloride drip is coming around). They are nearly twice the size of a regular dental bib for extra coverage and come in surgical length that actually goes down as far the the patient’s lap! They stick directly onto the patient via an adhesive that does not have strips that need to be pulled off over the adhesive. Finally, they have a very unique delivery system. They come in rolls and can be dispensed from a wall dispenser or a portable box dispenser!
GantGuard Dental Bib
Bib wraps around patient’s shoulders and adheres to their back
Self-adhesive
Pull apart to activate adhesive, no strips to pull off
Surgical length goes all the way down to patient lap
Pediatric size (thanks Shelby for demoing the kid version too since there were no kids in the clinic that day, LOL!)
GantGuard comes in rolls
Wall mounted dispenser
Portable box dispenser
Neck must be removed prior to placement (left) plastic backing (right)
Adhesive on the bib that gets activated once separated
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – Great patient coverage not just length wise but also wrapping around to the patient’s back. – Neck opening may not be suitable for patients with large necks or patients wearing hoodies. – Wall dispenser is a fantastic idea! – Opening the bib to expose the adhesive properly requires some practice. You have to “snap it open” and we ruined quite a few bibs trying to perfect this technique.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for a possible clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
Every year, as part of our accreditation for the public health clinic I worked at, we had to try safety needle systems. If we liked it we were supposed to adopt it and if we did not we had to report why we did not like and adopt it. We never adopted one. We just stuck with our little triangular re-capers. What was so wrong with the safety needle systems we tried? They were either a plastic disposable syringe that was not as sturdy feeling as your metal syringe or they were a complicated needle that the assistants were worried they would poke themselves trying to figure out how to get it on and off!
We recently received the SimpleCAPNeedle System (Verena Solutions, LLC) here at the Dental Advisor. This safety needle has a very unique placement system. It comes in a capsule! No, you don’t mix it in your triturator… you remove the lower part of the capsule to screw it onto your syringe (image below). When the top part of the capsule is removed you expose a sheathed needle. You simply twist to unlock the sheath and can lower it to expose the needle and re-sheath with a twist as well.
SimpleCAP on syringe in covered position
SimpleCAP on syringe in exposed position
SimpleCAP comes in capsules you safely screw onto the syringe
SimpleCAP lower portion being removed from the capsule – exposing the portion you screw onto syringe
Needle being exposed and re-covered
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – Very easy on and easy off of the syringe. – Easy to sheath and unsheath syringe with this system. – Very sturdy on the syringe, I want to see how sturdy it is while injecting though! – Yes, I found a way to poke myself right after putting it on so it goes to show that nothing is foolproof; however, common sense can prevail, LOL. – So easy to use that it makes it tough to use the excuse anymore that safely recapping taking too much time!
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for a possible clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
If you’ve been in dentistry long enough, you have been in the path of amalgam shrapnel flying at you from removing an old restoration. I have had several times, both as an assistant and as a dentist, where it flew under my goggles from above or below in the gap between the glasses and my face. I have been lucky to never have it actually go into my eye, but I have know assistants that were not so lucky… enter Surgical Facemasks with a Bottom Gap Shield.
We recently received these Surgical Facemasks with a Bottom Gap Shield (ETA) from a Dental Advisor Clinical Consultant! They feature a plastic debris deflector that protects your eyes from incoming fragments such as amalgam, porcelain, or tooth. According to our consultant that is the designer of these masks, they efficiently close the bottom gap without the glare, discomfort, fogging, visual distortion, or condensation that are typically associated with full face shield masks. He says they also do not interfere with your line of vision.
Great going Dr. Pete Arsenault! He is speaking all over the country about infection control, PPE and the importance of protecting your eyes.
A fabulous Dental Assistant modeling the Surgical Face Masks with Bottom Gap Shield… not sure what she’s looking at, LOL
A different angle
Yet another angle
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – The first thing our Editorial Board member, that is a dental assistant, noted was how comfortable the masks themselves were and how she had less fogging than normal. – When I tried these on with loupes I did not even notice the plastic but with goggles on it was noticeable. – As someone who has ducked and dodged flying amalgam my whole career I think this is a great idea! – Will they really stay out of your line of vision? – I thought they would come a little closer to the gap then they did when we tried them. Likely varies based on what kind of protective eyewear you are wearing.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for a possible clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
When I look through the supplies catalog, I rarely get as excited about HVE tips as I did when I saw these. An average dental office goes through SO many disposables it is insanity. Anything that makes us a little more Eco-friendly is exciting… even though we are probably going to throw them away in a plastic bag, but let’s ignore that little detail for now.
Here at the Dental Advisor, we recently received ECO-TIPS (Practicon). These Eco-friendly HVE tips are made of renewable, sustainable paper. They are coated with a food-grade coating that, according to the manufacturers, virtually eliminates moisture absorption and fraying of the paper. They are not new to the market, but in this time of awareness of how plastics affect sea life, and cities across the country making laws to minimize environmental impacts, this is a great time to re-address them. Also, they are available in 7 different fun patterns.
Tip starts out firm prior to water exposure
Tip is still firm after water exposure (exposed to more water than shown here)
Fun pattern of Eco-tips in HVE
Another style of Eco-tips in HVE. Good tight fit
Eco-tips slightly shorter than standard plastic HVE
7 patterns of Eco-tips
Some fraying of paper coating in the end that goes into HVE hose
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – One of our Editorial Board members that is an assistant instantly wanted to know how to order these. They are a great idea! – Come with vent holes (which as a past assistant, I personally love). – We noticed that they are a little shorter than your standard HVE tip, but still seem long enough to work well. – After playing with these for a while we did notice some slight fraying of the tips in the end that goes into the HVE line (image above). – Wonder if there will be any buildup issues in the HVE line from paper? – Seemed to hold up very well to water.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for a possible clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
