I spent 10 years as a dental assistant before going dental school. In that time I acquired some super powers. Super Hearing: I could hear if my doctor needed something from clear across the building, Psychic Powers: I knew what my doctor was going to need before they even knew what they were going to need, and a Hulk Right Hand: from squirting out heavy body impression material on a routing basis.
Here at the Dental Advisor we recently received the PowerMix™ (Clinician’s Choice) automatic impression material dispenser. What makes this different from some automatic impression material dispensers is that it is cordless and portable (weighing in at 2 pounds). According to the manufacturers it dispenses void-free impression material at the press of a button, filling a full arch impression tray in only 10 seconds! The impression material is proprietary, so you have to use their material that fits into the unit. You can dispense the material either using the dispenser hand held or leave it in the cradle, which is portable.
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – The entire unit is very portable, it would be easy to hop from operatory to operatory with this. – When using handheld, the shape is kind of awkward to hold in your hand. – Talk about fast! It filled a full arch tray in no time, as promised. – Very smooth dispensing of material.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for our clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
I doubt there are any endodontists out there that would disagree when I say that, when performing a root canal, proper canal irrigation/disinfection is essential for positive clinical outcomes. In response to this, new technologies are being developed to help improve canal disinfection. One such technology are irrigant activators.
We recently recieved EQ-S (Meta® Biomed). It is a cordless root canal irrigant activator that utilizes indentations along the tip and a sonic counter-clockwise motion to enhance irrigant flow. It has two speeds and comes with color-coded tips in three sizes: 15/02, 25/02, and 35/02. They claim EQ-S provides a powerful clean and better cleaning and disinfection of canals thanks to their active flow polymer tip that provides: less pressure to the apical foramen, easier access to curved canals, and perfect interaction with irrigant.
EQ-S activated
EQ-S with 25/02 tip
Trying EQ-S 35/02 tip into canal
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – Wow, talk about light weight! – The tip really has a lot of power. – The settings are switched using the on/off button, so sometimes rather than changing settings when pushing the button it would just turn off. – Head design is nice and sleek.
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!
Bulk fill composite materials make a lot of sense for a busy practice. Being able to place material in 4 -5mm increments saves a practice’s most precious commodity… time. There have been many developments in bulk fill composites to make them more reliable and more esthetic.
We recently received SonicFill™ 3 (Kavo/Kerr) here at the Dental Advisor. The SonicFill line has brought a novel innovation to bulk fill composites, using sonic energy to make the material more flowable on placement. Once the sonic energy is removed from the material it becomes sculptable. The company claims that their latest edition, SonicFill 3, takes performance to the next level with improved adaptation and handling, and easier extrusion during placement. Their material is non-sticky and slump-free. In addition, cavities up to 5mm in depth can be filled in a single increment, without a need for a liner or capping layer. SonicFill 3 contains a nano-scale zirconsil (zirconium oxide + silica oxide) filler system, which provides effective blending, wear resistance, and strength.
Intro kit
Filling model tooth with SonicFill 3 handpiece
Sculpting material after sonic energy removed
SonicFill 3 handpiece
What were the Initial Insights of the Dental Advisor team? – Make sure you have a Kavo coupler for the handpiece. It is not included in the intro kit. – The material extrudes at a very nice speed. The intro kit includes practice teeth to help you get used to the speed before using on a patient. – The handpiece was a little more resonant than I was expecting. – The material was very sculptable, as promised. – Fairly opaque for a bulk fill material.
What do our Clinical Evaluators and their patients think about this product once it’s used in their offices? Look for our clinical evaluation in an upcoming issue!
