October 6, 2009
Due to the recent, across-the-board rise in the prices of precious metals, we are raising our fees on all Noble and High Noble-based restorations. For details, please take a second to visit our Fee Schedule page.
Now would be a great time to take a look at our extensive array of all-ceramic restorations, or get more value for your money by prescribing our Pulse Interface PPMs which include 180- or 360-degree porcelain butt margins at no additional cost!!
And, for those of you still using cast custom abutments, the fixed cost structure of Atlantis or Vericore Abutments is looking better every day…
October 6, 2009
Just read an article which informs me that the Federal Trade Commission is now finalizing regulations governing blogging. Specifically, the FTC is targeting the practice of bloggers who write paid reviews of products and services. These types of blogs will have to disclose the financial arrangements between themselves and the entities paying for the review, although the exact nature of how that information is to be formatted and disseminated is not known at the time this is being written.
Let me clear it up for you.
The only people who have given me money are the six advertisers you see in the sidebar.
Believe me – I wish someone would pay me for writing a review (although they might not like what I have to say – witness Nobel Biocare).
If it ever happens, I will be sure to follow the FTC guidelines.
October 5, 2009
So, you’ve taken your digital impression with your Lava Chairside Oral Scanner (COS), and uploaded your images to 3M Brontes for processing – what happens next? Here’s a look at what happens inside the Lava COS Margin Marking software here in the lab:
After 3M Brontes has completed the data processing, we receive an email alerting us that your case has been placed in our queue from which we can now download the data. Our first step is to view and print your digital Rx. The information is entered into our Lab Management Software and assigned to a specific pan to enable us to keep track of the case even though we have no physical evidence of the case’s existence, i.e. models and/or impressions. We then download the case data. Below is a screen shot
These images can be rotated in three axes, and the idea is to manipulate the images just as a model and die technician might do with physical models to align them on an articulator. We do the same thing here – centering the midline, etc… Then we select the type of articulator to be used – either quadrant of full-arch.
The next step is to “cut out” the dies. Here’s another screen shot -
You can clearly see the sectioning lines in the upper left portion of the screen, as well as extended planes of those cuts in the lower left panel to ensure we don’t trim away adjacent tooth structure.
Next, we mark the margins.
The first step is a nice, little tool the fine people of 3M Brontes recently included called the Automatic Margin Detector. Using the image in the lower left panel – the “mesh” image – we simply select three consecutive points on where we perceive the margin to be, and then drag the cursor around the perceived margin circumferentially around the entire die. The computer extrapolates the data to provide an estimate of the margin placement which we then go back and refine.
The refinement process includes using all three image panels – the “mesh”, the profile view, and of course the 3D view that takes up the entire right portion of the screen. The mesh image can be spun and viewed from any angle. The profile view gives a sagittal view of the axial wall of the preparation, the margin, and the tooth structure and tissue adjacent to or below the margin. Using this view completely eliminates the possibility of over-extending the margin, or “over-trimming” the die. The 3D view is actually a series of still images collected from the video data captured by the chairside scanner, and is very useful in determining the exact location of the margin line.
Once all the margins have been identified, we are given one last chance to review our “die trim” and then all the data is submitted to 3M Brontes for a final review and subsequent model fabrication. Once the data has been approved, a Lava Data Packet is then sent back to us from which we can begin the design and fabrication of a coping or framework (might have to work on the draw on this case, huh?). More about that later this week…
October 2, 2009
Received this email last night from our client in Alaska -
“Jeff, We must be getting the Itero dialed in. The last 5 crown del. have been perfect. contacts, occlusion ect.. no adj. needed.”
Please, please, please consider attending our Cadent iTero seminar on October 20th. We’re working on a special offer for anyone who attends – but you can’t get the offer unless you’re there….
October 1, 2009
Since we started offering Full Contour Zirconia Crowns as an esthetic alternative to Full Cast Crowns, I have received a few inquiries as to the efficacy of this type of restoration, specifically – Are there any ramifications for the opposing dentition?
I put a little time in scouring the internet, and found this study, presented at this year’s IADR Conference, that may help answer this question. Its my understanding that there is also an on-going study be conducted at UCLA – as soon as I hear something, I will pass it along.
I also ran across a message board on which one of the posts called attention to a new device that looks promising for those of you who are placing indirect restorations (which I hope is all of you!) – Triodent’s Griptab – which I think just might make your life a little easier. Check it out, and if you have any of your own time-saving tips, please feel free to pass them along…
