the DPR Editorial Team

DPR readers prioritize and value our techniques, case studies, and how-to pieces above all other content. Here are the top requested and best read How-To pieces from 2012. Be sure to check out each article to see the complete procedure in step-by-step form alongside a detailed slideshow.

How to: Better place posterior composites 

Ivoclar Vivadent’s Tetric EvoCeram helps solve premature polymerization problems. 

KOMET USA’s Round-Ball Diamond helps to ensure an esthetic outcome. 

3M ESPE’s MDI Mini Dental Implants help provide stability for edentulous patients. 

Six Month Smiles System provides patient-focused approach to orthodontics. 

DentoGen bone graft material is formulated to handle a variety of extraction socket grafting cases. 

How to: Implement CAD/CAM into your practice

With a wide variety of materials now available to use with the E4D Dentist System, this article offers up examples of restorations and a review of material choices. 

How to: Impower your practice with social media

In collaboration with our social media video training series, we talked with three of the most socially savvy dentists to find out how social media impacts their practices. 

How to: Make sure your patients don't miss appointments

Failed and short-notice changed appointments are serious problems at any time during the year, but can really play havoc on the summer months' production, typically vacation months for dentists and team members. Here’s how to avoid them. 

Articles

Top 10 How-To pieces from 2012

These new products were chosen by our Editorial Team based on pure innovation, or the ability to bring greater efficiency or consistency to the practice. Is there any new product you saw in 2012 that should have made the cut? Tell us in the comments section!

Supported by an open and secure cloud-based platform, the 3M™ True Definition Scanner offers more ways to store clinical cases, share and connect at an economical price. It also includes an advanced digital impression system. The CAD/CAM scanner is designed without fragile moving parts and the wand never needs calibrating. The small scanner is lightweight and balanced, mimicking a handpiece to provide comfortable, clinical familiarity.
	


	From clinicians’ individual and personalized dashboards, ReputationMonitor® gathers online reviews, social media

 mentions and listings from hundreds of sites and displays them on a single screen. It is said to help clinicians increase online visibility, track patient reviews and maximize social media. Dental offices also get real-time alerts when a new patient review is posted, as well as a full list of existing ratings and reviews from across the Web. It also monitors dentists’ local competitors, displaying their online stats for easy side-by-side comparison.
	

The multi-use CS 1600 intraoral camera combines caries detection technology with image quality. With a focus range of 1 mm to infinity, the easy-to-use camera features liquid-lens autofocus technology, a sophisticated 18-LED illuminations system and an optional polarizer filter to reduce glare. The camera is said to streamline workflow and improve doctor-to-patient communication.
	


	For the measurement and management of bruxism, GrindCare is a tool said to take diagnosis to a new level.

 GrindCare Measure provides facts to patients, who deny being bruxers, to promote treatment plans. Within 3-5 nights of use, it identifies and quantifies the grinding patterns. GrindCare Clinic reduces grinding and clenching by as much as 50% in 3 weeks. Each time a patient grinds, the device transmits a mild electrical impulse that stimulates a conditioned reflex in the jaw muscles to instantly interrupt grinding.
	

Available for iPads, the Smile Guide Touch™ app allows clinicians to share smile designs with patients at the touch of a button. The app is said to take smile guides to a new dimension, making it quick, easy and fun to incorporate the patient’s vision into his or her smile design. Simply touch the screen to change incisal angles and smile line contour. Patients can watch the teeth immediately morph. It can be used with a wireless printable RX.
	

Featuring a bone-like structure, the Zimmer® Trabecular Metal™ Dental Implant is made of a three-dimensional material to achieve high levels of bone-to-implant contact or ongrowth. The osteoconductive mid-section is reportedly similar to cancellous bone. The implant is placed using the Zimmer Instrument Kit System and restored with an extensive selection of Tapered Screw-Vent prosthetic components. Additional surgical purchases or new restorative procedures are not required.
	


	The all-in-one Inclusive® Tooth Replacement Solution implant treatment package includes a complete set of intraoral

 components the clinician needs to restore a missing tooth. Described as a simple, convenient solution that offers an effective, streamlined process covering surgical, temporary and final restorative phases, and said to result in a predictable outcome, it features the use of prefabricated custom temporary components for patient-specific soft tissue management that begins at implant placement.
	

UltraCem™ cement is said to offer efficient delivery and optimal performance. It is used for luting indirect restorations made of metal, porcelain fused to metal or resin to natural teeth, and cementation of orthodontic bands to enamel. Advanced chemistry gives the cement high bond strength. A SpeedMix™ syringe ensures convenient use while luting.
	


	Featuring an ergonomic handpiece and special optics, the CEREC Omnicam intraoral camera has ColorStreaming to

 allow for continuous capture of the oral cavity as well as displaying 3D data in full color. The system is completely powder-free. The slim, rounded camera tube provides for easy rotation of the camera in the intraoral space. The camera captures images in 2D and 3D and can rapidly capture half-arch and full-arch impressions.
	

The improved nickel-plated Onset Mixing Pen features a sleek look and feel and delivers increased durability. Precision buffering of local anesthetics reportedly provides rapid onset of analgesia with less injection pain for patients. The precision compounding and dispensing device is used to mix two solutions together to transfer fluid from a standard 3 mL cartridge into a second container, such as a 1.8 mL cartridge, where the two solutions are mixed.
	

Dental Products Report published its first “Trends in Dentistry” issue in December 1984. For almost as long, the magazine has used the December issue to showcase products that received the highest reader response over the course of the year. In an effort to make the Top 100 issue  “something to savor-not just flip through,” we decided that 100 was still meaningful, but how we got to that number had to change. Instead of focusing on 100 products overall, the list includes specific products, the articles and videos that captured your attention throughout the year, top case studies demonstrating products in use and, of course, the women and men who create the products and transform smiles. Our hope is that breaking the Top 100 into smaller Top 10 and Top 5 lists creates a more digestible format that allows you to engage more deeply with the content. 

Top 10 Editors' Choice Products

These new products generated the most user interest in 2012. What were your top products this year? Tell us in the comments section!

Specially designed to help patients quickly and easily floss behind braces without a threader, FlossBow™ Ortho Flossers are said to improve ortho flossing compliance and patient care. The flossers help patients to floss faster and more often. The ortho flossers feature strong floss and secure end points to
	prevent the floss from popping loose from the thin extension. Plus, its double-ended design is like having two flossers in one. Well suited for both ortho and non-ortho use, the flossers are individually wrapped and feature a refreshing mint flavor.
	


	NuSmile Signature Anterior Crowns are available in regular or short lengths, extra light or light, in kits or individually. The Starter Kit includes 16 crowns in Centrals sizes 1-3; and Laterals sizes 2-4. The Professional Kit includes 36 crowns.
	

The dual purpose, hand-held AIR-N-GO® air polisher connects directly to the air turbine of virtually any dental chair. It is said to work as an effective supragingival air polisher for prophylaxis and cosmetic results. An optional PERIO kit includes an ultra-fine PERIO nozzle, a green PERIO powder
	tank and PERIO powder. The handpiece converts to a device capable of subgingival care of the tooth or implant for in-depth
	bacterial removal.
	


	The Quick Up complete implant pick up system is said to

 eliminate the risk of interlocking and cuts chairside time in
	half. Designed specifically for bonding attachments, such as ball, Locator® and telescopic attachments as well as other
	attachments in acrylic-based dentures, it also can be used for reattaching secondary elements in a denture such as bar
	retainers. The system includes: Quick Up self-curing composite in the QuickMix syringe; Quick Up adhesive; and Quick Up LC light-cure composite to correct minor surface defects in the denture.
	

The OSA Demonstrator is said to be an effective teaching tool to show patients the differences between normal breathing and obstructive sleep apnea by demonstrating their actual condition. All parts on the device are easily moveable to illustrate tissue obstruction, airflow limitation, and how a patient’s sleep apnea condition will improve with mandibular repositioning. The demonstrator stand adjusts for upright or supine view.
	

MI Varnish™ with RECALDENT™ (CPP-ACP)

Indicated for treatment of hypersensitive teeth, MI Varnish™ with RECALDENT™ (CPP-ACP) is a 5% sodium fluoride
	varnish that brings bio-available calcium, phosphate and fluoride to the tooth surface, releasing high levels of fluoride, it is said to provide essential minerals to reduce hypersensitivity.
	


	Controlled via iPad, the iChiropro implantology system offers

 pre-programmed clinical sequences of the top implant brands available with a dedicated iPad application. The iPad is used to control the MX-i LED motor. In combination with the 20:1 L contra-angle the iChiropro is ergonomic and easy to use. Numerous customization options are available.
	

Featuring MULTI LED and SAFEdrive, the KL 703 short motor works with a wide range of attachments for restorative, orthodontic, pedodontic and endodontic procedures. The motor is said to be lightweight and quiet with precise cutting performance using ELECTROtorque TLC and ELECTROtorque plus controllers and Plug-n-Prep calibration technology. The motor is available as an integrated option in the Pelton & Crane Spirit 3000 delivery units.
	


	Designed for optimal visual acuity and treatment room

 ergonomics, the LED operatory light has been optically
	engineered specifically for dentists and the dental operatory. It offers adjustable intensity levels of 15,000 lux, 25, 000 lux,
	and 30,000 lux at 5,000K to flood the patient’s oral cavity with a consistently neutral white light for true-to-life tones. The light’s cure-safe mode emits a brilliant yellow light at 25,000 lux.
	

Light-cured, resin-modified TheraCal™ LC calcium silicate filled base/liner is designed for used in direct and indirect pulp capping and as a protective base/liner under composite. It also can be used as an alternative to calcium hydroxide, glass ionomer, RMGI, IRM/ZOE and other restorative materials. It performs as a barrier and protectant to the dental pulpal complex. Its precise placement allows it to be used in all deep cavity preparations. The tri-calcium silicate particles in a hydrophilic monomer supplies calcium ions to facilitate calcium
	release to create a stable and durable liner or base.
	

Dental Products Report published its first “Trends in Dentistry” issue in December 1984. For almost as long, the magazine has used the December issue to showcase products that received the highest reader response over the course of the year. In an effort to make the Top 100 issue  “something to savor-not just flip through,” we decided that 100 was still meaningful, but how we got to that number had to change. Instead of focusing on 100 products overall, the list includes specific products, the articles and videos that captured your attention throughout the year, top case studies demonstrating products in use and, of course, the women and men who create the products and transform smiles. Our hope is that breaking the Top 100 into smaller Top 10 and Top 5 lists creates a more digestible format that allows you to engage more deeply with the content. 