Until today I hadn't given any thought to the lifespan, care and maintenance of the separation rings that I use in the office to create tight interproximal contacts when placing a posterior composite Read More
Drying Teeth Before Marking the Occlusion
Often I need the occlusal surfaces of the teeth to be dry, and I mean completely dry. Over the years we have dried them with the air/water syringe, or tried to wipe them off with a two by two. Blowing Read More
Flexing the Set Time of Alginate
One of our new assistants has been struggling to get exquisite alginate impressions. Together we came up with an approach to getting the kind of impressions we need for our patients and accomplish Read More
Video: Full Contour Silicone Reduction Matrix
One of the challenges in restorative dentistry is ensuring adequate reduction for the technician to create an exquisite result, while remaining conservative in our preparation and not taking away more Read More
Video: Fabricating a Silicone Incisal Reduction Guide
[/caption] This video demonstrates one technique for fabricating an incisal reduction guide. I use incisal reduction guides routinely in my practice both to verify the amount of reduction that I Read More
Silicone Bite Registration Material
Silicone bite registration material has become a standard in today’s practice. So much so, that we consider the use of wax very old school. With the advent of this new material, came some new Read More
Loading Temporary Dental Cement
I am always amazed by the variety of techniques and preferences that dentists have for how an assistant loads temporary cement into a restoration. You only have to ask an assistant who works in a Read More
Video: Fabricating a Silicone Model from Mach II
This video demonstrates fabrication of a silicone model, made from Mach II die silicone and bite registration material. This type of silicone model is a daily occurrence in my practice as I use them Read More
Quadrant Dental Impressions with an Isolite
[/caption] I had a patient in today to complete crown preparations and take final records for a full lower quadrant. I completed my preps on both lower molars and the second bicuspid, placed my Read More
Fabricating a Matrix with Silicone Lab Putty
This video demonstrates the process of fabricating a matrix using silicone lab putty on a dental cast. These matrices can be used to create reduction guides or provisional matrices used during a Read More
