Smile design sins: How not to kill your reputation with veneers

Whether it’s porcelain veneers or composite bonding, anterior restorative treatment will make your reputation — or destroy it. With that, our third of the seven deadly sins has nothing to do with tooth-born materials. It’s about the tissue. I’ll explain. Take this image. Always considering our first deadly sin (assumptions and not making them on behalf of our patient’s desires), the average length of a good-looking central incisor falls between

SmileDirectClub unveils program for teens

SmileDirectClub has launched SmileDirectClub Teen, a program aimed at teeth straightening for teenagers. SmileDirectClub Teen uses the company’s characteristic clear aligners but also provides features tailored to teens on its telehealth platform. It is designed to cost significantly less than traditional metal braces, according to Chief Global Brand Officer Josh Chapman. SmileDirectClub is introducing SmileDirectClub Teen. Image courtesy of SmileDirectClub. The program’s unique features for teens include a patented aligner

Yomi dental robotic system gets additional FDA 510(k) clearance

Robot-assisted dental surgery firm Neocis has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for a new edentulous indication on its Yomi dental robotic system. The clearance of a new splint attachment enables Yomi to be used in full arch implant surgeries, as well as in partially edentulous cases, according to the vendor.

Case report: Prepping teeth with no water spray or aerosols

As dentists during the worldwide pandemic, the greatest enemy facing us is the aerosols we produce with our handpieces and ultrasonic devices. Many restrictions on the use of a treatment after producing aerosols have been placed by government and professional organizations. Our greatest concerns were protecting our patients, our team, our family, and ourselves in every way possible. Our team came together to examine everything we knew and did and

FDA update: Naloxone and opioid labeling changes

In its drug safety communication from July 23, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it recommends that healthcare professionals consider prescribing naloxone to patients at increased risk of opioid overdose, including those taking benzodiazepines or other central nervous system (CNS) depressants, regardless of whether the patient is receiving a prescription for an opioid analgesic or a medication used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). This may

CAMBRA Coalition conference to be held virtually

The 2020 Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) Coalition conference will be a virtual event this year, the organization announced. The conference will be held over five Tuesdays beginning August 18, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pacific time. It will address topics such as silver diamine fluoride (SDF) protocols, incomplete caries removal, desensitization techniques, and teleconnected care. Attendees will earn 7.5 continuing education credits for attending all of the

Photos: Compression treats COVID-19 patient’s chest-length tongue

Clinicians used lingual compression to assist a 40-year-old woman who experienced a severely enlarged tongue, almost stretching to her chest, following prone positioning as part of COVID-19 treatment, according to a case report published on July 16 in BMJ Case Reports. The doctors chose the novel treatment of wrapping the woman’s tongue with gauze and a compression wrap for multiple days after other interventions failed. Lingual compression may be safely

OrVance launches Aligner Pontics

Orthodontics product developer OrVance has launched OrVance Aligner Pontics, a product designed to allow dental patients to fill the space of missing or partially missing teeth in clear aligner trays and retainers. OrVance Aligner Pontics come in single-use applications and are made from a permanently pliable medical grade silicone with food-safe colorants in the Vita shade range of A2-D2, the firm said. The permanently pliable material sticks in the tray

The importance of midline in smile design

Midlines. There was a time you and I couldn’t attend a clinical continuing education (CE) course, Google the word “smiles,” or hop on social media without the standard Tom Cruise midline pics popping up. His smile donned the screen at every American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) turn. But, clinically, what was it that made his midline jump out? Was it really because it was off horizontally — or was

Align launches consulting for digital orthodontics

Align Technology has launched an independent fee-based, customized business consulting service for digital orthodontics. The Align digital and practice transformation (ADAPT) service is available to clinicians who work with Invisalign and iTero products. The service was rolled out initially to select doctors in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and the U.S. and will become commercially available in these locations during the second half of 2020. Practices that

Harvard licenses gel adhesive to Amend Surgical

Harvard has licensed its novel gel adhesive with potential oral surgery applications to Amend Surgical, a Florida-based medical device company. The gel’s biocompatible hydrogel-based material is flexible and strong and can bind to biological tissue in wet environments. It was created by researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering as an alternative to traditional sutures. The adhesive is flexible, strong, and stays attached to biological tissue even when

X-Nav Technologies announces FDA 510(k) clearance for X-Mark

Guided surgery company X-Nav Technologies has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its X-Mark patient registration technology. X-Mark is part of the company’s X-Guide dynamic 3D navigation system for guided dental procedures. It enables virtual-based registration of a patient’s anatomy and automatically adds that registration to a digital treatment plan. With X-Mark technology, the X-Guide system can match three anatomical marks placed on a patient before