Tag Archives: intraoral

Dental Curing Light

The Different Choices for Dental Curing Light

There are numerous manufacturers in providing some type of hardness disc to verify that a dental curing light will polymerize a specific thickness of composite in a specified amount of time. Most of these discs have a small hole in the center. For this test, you fill the hole in the disc with the composite, cure it for a specified time period, and then turn over the disk to check whether the bottom surface of the cured composite “feels” like the disc when scratched with an explorer or other sharp instrument. If it does, then this presumably indicates the composite is adequately cured for intraoral( intraoral camera ) use.

However, this is a dangerous test that could give you false and misleading information. Consider what we found with the Demetron Hardness Tester, which is essentially a round white plastic disc with three holes. We filled the three holes in the disc with our test composite and cured each composite specimen 5 seconds, 10 seconds, or 40 seconds. We then turned over the disk and tested the bottom of each cured composite disc as well as the Hardness Tester itself for Knoop hardness. Finally, we asked three of our research staff to scratch the bottoms of the specimens with a sharp explorer and compare the “feel” to that of the Hardness Tester.

Measure the power baseline for your light when it is new using a radiometer and remeasure it on a weekly basis. For halogen types, if there is a significant decrease in output, change the bulb. If that doesn’t help, try a different curing tip. If it still does not register an adequate reading, try cleaning the tip and filter with a kit designed for that purpose. If all your remedies are not successful, you should send the light back to the manufacturer for a check-up.

Even with this testing, it is prudent to send your lights back to the manufacturer at specific intervals, such as every 24 months or after five bulb changes (if halogen), whichever comes first. This type of maintenance will keep your curing light in top condition and allow it to deliver maximum power.

Many directions include some strange safety measures such as using the light for 20 seconds and letting it rest for 60 seconds. Another one tells you not to use the light if the patient is on N2O/O2. These stipulations are mandated by various government regulations and manufacturers must comply if they want to sell the product internationally. Don’t let these warnings stop you from using the lights in a normal manner.

On the other hand, with LEDs that do not have fans, you are typically advised to limit their continuous use to several minutes and then allow them to cool off. While we have subjected these lights to extended curing tests and many of them have passed these tests, it is probably prudent to heed this type of warning and not subject the equipment to heat challenges that can shorten their useful lives.

dental equipment, dental tips

The Tips for Choosing Dental X-ray Machine

Finding the right technology for a practice requires research, investment and care. As more dental professionals implement digital intraoral radiography( intraoral camera ) into their practices, dental assistants should be sure to not only become educated on proper use, but also proper care.

When contemplating the change to digital dental in your practice, the choices can be confusing for the dentist. Dental radiography has evolved from film and chemical developers into a highly technical process that involves various types of digital x-ray machines, as well as powerful dental software programs to assist the dentist with image acquisition and diagnostic analysis of the acquired images.

When making the decision to purchase x-ray equipment, the doctor needs to research the available options thoroughly, in order to make an informed choice for the “right” machine for his or her practice.

While many patients see their dentist in-office, others require the dentist and equipment to go to them. Those who are incarcerated, home-bound, in nursing homes, working in underdeveloped locations or stationed on military bases are just some of the patients who may benefit from having access to a portable x-ray machine. Teeth problems could not only be painful but could also cause many health problems. Waiting to access an in-office machine may not be an option depending on the condition.

The orthodontist requires a way to obtain the size and form of craniofacial structures in the patient. For this reason, a cephalometric extension on the imaging x-ray device is necessary to acquire images that evaluate the five components of the face, the cranium and cranial base, the skeletal maxillae, the skeletal mandible, and maxillary dentition. The cephalometric attachment offers images such as frontal AP and lateral cephs.

The portable dental x-ray is not only useful to patients, but also to dentists who want to be able to help patients who don’t have immediate access to a dental office. Without the device, there is no doubt that quite a few individuals would go without knowing the cause of their tooth pain. Though it doesn’t mean they’ll seek immediate dental care, it at least increases the chances depending on the results of the x-rays.