Meeting review: 89th Greater New York Dental Meeting

Educational sessions covered all the bases — and all the body parts.

All-day live sessions at the Live Dentistry Arena included Dr. Jack Griffin Jr. demonstrating dependable, efficient preparations for monolithic lithium disilicate or zirconia crowns, digital impressions, cementation and finishing, featuring some of the most dependable materials available today. Dr. Aeklavya Panjali also spoke in a Live Dentistry session, as he surgically placed and restored a complex immediate placement implant case.

Orascoptic’s Vanessa Velasco and Tom Lindsey brought the best in human engineering to the Dental Tribune Media Lounge with a presentation on two of the company’s most recent additions: the groundbreaking XVI all-in-one dental loupe and headlight and the Body Guard PRO saddle chair. Velasco and Lindsey also talked about the Body Guard Pro saddle seat, which they described as stunning and comfortable.

At the Laser Pavilion Lecture Series, Dr. William R. Gianni of Twain Harte, Calif., helped attendees “See and Compare the Newest Lasers in Dentistry.” Gianni is the CEO of Kainos Dental Technologies and the co-founder of Zap Laser. Dr. Robert W. Carter, past president of the Second District Dental Society, presided over the lecture series.

A discussion of applied laser physics was used to explain how to safely and efficiently use a laser for the benefit of the patients. Both hard- and soft-tissue procedures, many of which can be used by general dentists, were discussed and illustrated. The seminar concluded with a brief discussion of current laser research and the criteria for the “ideal laser.”

An all-day “Botox and Facial Fillers: A Clinical Workshop and Demonstration” seminar/workshop was conducted. Dr. Steven Clark of Miramar, Fla., led the full-day course, which focused on the art of esthetic use of botox and facial fillers. The morning session provided an introduction to neuromodulators (botox, disport and xeomin) and various facial fillers, while the afternoon provided a live demonstration. Clark offered “clinical pearls,” which he developed during the last 20 years, to assure proper technique and safety while also achieving excellent cosmetic results.

Living in a digital era, it’s no surprise the dental field has made many technological advancements in the past couple decades — one of the most beneficial being CAD/CAM. Precise and increasingly user-friendly, today’s CAD/CAM technology serves dentist and, in turn, their patients on a large scale. Manhattan dentist Simon W. Rosenberg led the CAD/CAM Pavilion Lecture Series mini-discussion on CAD/CAM’s revolutionary technology, integration into dental practice (specifically with dentures) and its benefits to the industry.

According to Rosenberg, today’s CAD/CAM technology allows the average dentist a number of options in high-speed design and manufacturing, more significantly in regards to implant prostheses, crowns, orthodontic aligners and cosmetic digital imaging.

Referenced frequently throughout Rosenberg’s presentation, Dentca and Invisalign (denture and aligner manufactures) founded their products through CAD/CAM technology by careful analysis and research. Both companies boast a two- to three-visit schedule per patient to fully complete the design and manufacturing of their products, eliminating chairside time and increasing profitability. The two to three visits incorporate impression creation, a second patient visit less than a week later and an optional patient follow-up.

Speakers Dr. Cristina Teixeira and Dr. David R. Musich spoke on orthodontic topics, including “Misconceptions in Orthodontic Early Treatment” and “Early Class II Treatment: A Minimally Invasive Treatment Approach.”

The International Congress of Oral Implantologists’ seminars featured Dr. Michael Tischler, Dr. Alvaro Ordonez, Dr. Gordon Christensen and Xana Winans. Topics ranged from “The Zirconia Screw-Retained Implant Bridge” to digital dentistry to social media marketing.

In the Dental Assistants Pavilion, Shannon Pace Brinker, CDA, spoke on “Becoming a Whitening Specialist in Your Practice,” which focused on practical techniques for in-office and take-home whitening.

Highlights in exhibit hall

The Greater New York Dental Meeting has long been a favorite venue for companies to highlight new and improved products and services, and this year was no exception. The exhibit hall’s miles of aisles beckoned with fliers and signs announcing advancements in virtually every sector of dentistry — and new deals on the proven state-of-the-art products.

Jerry Herman, DDS introduced for the first time at the GNYDM the MouthWatch, an intraoral camera system for patients to use at home. It lets patients send high-resolution images of their mouth directly to their dentists via a HIPPA-compliant online platform. The idea is to tighten the connection between patient and practice, boost recall rates for cleanings and improve overall patient compliance — in part by enabling them to examine their own mouths in privacy and see just how bad their teeth and gums might be looking.

Herman’s goal was a system for the same price as a powered toothbrush, which, at $130, he hit. Consumers can buy the scanner and then find a MouthWatch dentist through an online referral site — or ask their dentist to use the system. Or dentists can provide the wand to their patients.

Biolase used the GNYDM to introduce its GALAXY BioMill, which the company developed and designed in conjunction with the German company imes-icore. It’s an open-architecture CAD/CAM system for scanning, designing, milling and finishing crowns, inlays and veneers in the dental office in a single appointment. It uses the 3Shape Trios intraoral scanner to capture high-resolution 3-D digital images of the teeth and crown-preparation site, all of which are then processed through a CAD/CAM software program to design the restoration. The design is then transferred to the GALAXY BioMill to mill the crown using the latest in esthetically pleasing, biologically compatible and durable tooth-colored materials.

Isolate was demonstrating its new Isovac Dental Isolation Adapter, the latest addition to its dental isolation product line. The Isovac uses dual vacuum controls so you can focus continuous hands-free suction in either the upper or lower quadrants and improve control of moisture and oral humidity.

In the DEXIS booth, attendees could test out the DEXIS photo app, which the company unveiled at the GNYDM. The app enables practitioners to wirelessly send photos directly into the DEXIS Imaging Suite via newer-model iPhones or iPod touches. DEXIS also announced expansion of its imaging products to natively support Apple hardware and the OS X operating system — coming in the second quarter of 2014.

In the IQ Dental Services booth, attendees could see some of the newest imaging technology by checking out the Soredex Cranex 3D dental imaging system with panoramic, optional cephalometric and cone-beam 3-D imaging programs.

New customers who visited Care Credit and signed up for the patient-payment-plan credit service — or requested an evaluation to see how CareCredit might best serve their practice — got to leave with a highly coveted Penguin Pillow Pal.

The experts at HealthFirst were staffing “Compliance Help” information stands, where attendees could find out about environmental recovery, infection control, practice quality, emergency preparedness and radiation minimization.

For dental hygienists, Denticator had all sorts of tricks up its sleeves to help make treating patients easier and more fun. Of particular interest was Zooby fluoride foams and varnish, which are gluten-free and sweetened with sucralose and xylitol. The ProphyPal, also available from Denticator, is a low-speed hygiene handpiece with an extended nosecone designed to provide extra stability.

A new product for consumers is Nature’s Charm braided dental floss, available from GPP Group. The floss consists of braided strands of materials with three-dimensional surface structure, and it comes in different sizes, colors and flavors. Also on display at GPP was a fossilized mammoth’s tooth.

Speaking of enticing booth attractions, DC Dental Supplies had a bartender on hand, dispensing Brooklyn Lager, in honor of the company’s first anniversary in Brooklyn. You could also get a caricature of yourself drawn at the booth.

Austin Powers was back at this year’s Greater New York Dental Meeting, at the Millennium Dental Technologies booth, to help increase awareness of how lasers can be used in dental treatment.

Also on the exhibit hall floor, many attendees bumped into Floyd, who was on hand to help increase awareness of the new AquasilUltra tissue managing impression system, available from DENTSPLY Caulk.