July 20, 2010
I’ve been writing this blog for over a year. Its been an interesting experience, and I am grateful for all those who supported me through their readership or sponsoring ads.
My original intent for the blog was to provide clients with up-to-date information about the host of new technologies with which we were involved. And, to provide a forum for discussion about those technologies, or any topic that may have been relevant to the dentist/laboratory relationship. However, it seems – I can’t be completely sure – that my writings were much more popular (maybe “popular” is the wrong word?) with dental technicians and industry insiders than with dentists.
So, I’m shutting it down. This is my last post. I have begun working on a more traditional website which I hope to have up on the web by October 1, 2010. I’ll leave this site up until that day – maybe someone will stumble upon a post and it will be helpful?
Anyway, thanks again for your support – Jeff
July 14, 2010
AstraTech is pleased to announce the availability of titanium and gold-shaded titanium abutments for Straumann’s Standard/Standard Plus Wide Neck (WN) 4.8 Implants.
July 8, 2010
Having been caught in a Ponzi scheme years ago, I have a special distaste for these types of crimes. I always wished there had been someone there to warn me off, so when I get the chance I try to help “shine a light ” so others don’t have to suffer a similar fate.
Ran across this story on John Flucke’s blog, and as the scam specifically targets dentists…
http://dentaltechnologyblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/wine-scam-don-fall-for-it.html
July 8, 2010
We received a case last week for which the dentist had prescribed a three-unit bridge with the distal abutment to be a full metal crown. We attempted to cast the framework four times, and each time the casting was loaded with porosity. We tried several different spruing configurations to no avail. With only two days left before the case was due out for delivery, I called the client to ask if he was okay using titanium. Given his permission, we designed the frame in 3Shape and milled it on our Origin Pro 5000 milling machine. The metal finishing essentially entailed blending in the milling connectors, after which we veneered the case with TriCeram porcelain -
Pretty fair result. I think the real beauty of this case is the value. Just for fun, we weighed one of the castings at 8.5 dwts of High Noble White Ceramic Alloy. With gold still in excess of $1200/oz., the alloy would have had a retail price of over $400.
The cost of the titanium? Around $30.
That’s some pretty significant savings, especially in view of the ADA’s decision to classify Titanium restorations slightly below those fabricated with High Noble alloys…
