New products and educational opportunities on tap in sunny Anaheim

For those needing to renew a license or permit, there was a Thursday morning lecture on infection control offered by Tricia Osuna, RDH, BS, FAADH, and an afternoon lecture on the California Dental Practice Act offered by Diane Morgan-Arns. In between these required courses, there was a myriad of other options, from corporate forums to lectures and even express lectures, to fill out the rest of the educational day. These courses were scheduled to be repeated on Friday and Saturday as well.

 

Corporate forums included those held by Invisalign, Carestream Dental, GC America, Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals and 3M ESPE, offering courses with one to eight units of C.E. credit.

Among the express lecturers, lasting 90 minutes, were a few “New to the Podium” speakers, such as Richard Golden, who spoke on “Achieving Atraumatic Extractions Simply, Predictably and Nonsurgically,” and Dr. Randolph Shoup, who discussed “Advanced Cariology and Prosthetic Restoration for Everyday Practice.”

Thursday’s workshops lasted from two and a half to three hours each, with the option of a morning or afternoon session, and covered topics as varied as lasers, TDIC risk management, dental photography, dental marketing, digital dentistry and oral pathology, to name just a few. Also among the workshop lineup was Dr. Douglas Lambert’s lecture on “Smile Design: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something RED?” and Dr. Derek Mahoney’s discussion of “Patients’ Nasal Breathing Problems and How This May Influence Dental Crowding and Facial Morphology.”

Exhibit hall

More than 100 new products are being introduced to attendees, according to the CDA, all of which may make your job as a dental professional quicker, easier or less fraught with complications. Here is just a sampling of the innovative new products you can find in the exhibit hall:

• Better flossing: Studies show less than 30 percent of the population flosses regularly, and even that number is disputed. Philips Sonicare has a new product designed to increase that number: the AirFloss. With microburst technology, the Sonicare AirFloss delivers a quick burst of air and microdroplets of water or mouth rinse deep between your teeth.
• A new dual-modality system: Carestream Dental is introducing its dual-modality CS 9300-1, which offers 3-D imaging, flexibility and up to seven selectable fields of view. Additionally, the CS 9300-1 offers clinicians 2-D digital panoramic imaging with variable focal trough technology. “For practitioners who have been waiting to integrate cone-beam computed tomography into their practice, the CS 9300-1 offers everything they need in one, space-saving system with exceptional image quality,” said Jeffrey H. Brooks, DMD, clinical director of 3D Imaging, Carestream Dental.
• Composites game-changer: SonicFill, a new sonic-activated, bulk fill composite system from Kerr, could change the way you do composites. Kerr is calling it “the first easy-to-use, single-step bulk fill compsite system,” and the company asserts that you can go from placement to polished restoration in less than three minutes on cavities up to 5 mm!
• Go green: Do you wish your dental practice could be more environmentally friendly? GreenerStep is here to help you. The brand-new, family-owned business is launching its Snap Toothbrush System here at CDA. The system allows dentists and patients to only replace the head of a toothbrush instead of the whole toothbrush. The company says every year a single full-time hygienist can help to eliminate more than 50 pounds of plastic waste (equivalent to more than 4,000 plastic shopping bags) by using the Snap System. “Everyone wants to do good for the environment, especially when it is economically friendly to do so,” said Roberto Rivera, co-owner of the company.
• Measurable results: This week, Planmeca is introducing the new ProMax 3D Mid, a CBVT unit including 3-D imaging, panoramic, extraoral bitewing, cephalometric all-in-one machine that can accommodate all your clinical needs. The technology provides an extended selection of 3-D volume sizes combined with traditional 2-D panoramic and cephalometric imaging. Planmeca’s Doug Gouger says the system is easy to use, comes with complete software system for diagnosis and can be integrated with third-party software.

Of course, these are just a few of the many offerings available in Anaheim.