Kristin Hohman has served as Associate Editor of Dental Products report since 2019. She has a background in journalism and digital content. Kristin can be reached at khohman@mjhlifesciences.com.

Kristin Hohman

5Ws* DM Insights | Image: © DentalMonitoring


Tracking data to boost efficiencies, such as patient adherence, practice activity, clinical data, and performance.

DM Insights is a platform that gives orthodontists access to all the clinical data needed to drive treatment decisions, improve workflows, and grow the practice. Clinicians can refine workflows with access to practice data, compare activity among patients and their performance with other practices, research how appliances vary across brands, and grow their practice without hiring additional staff.

DM Insights offers precise views of patient adherence and the ability to compare compliance data with practices in your region. Practices can also compare the number of patient messages received from the previous month, compare the number of additional scans requested from the previous month, and the number of teenagers and adults currently monitored and categorized by doctors’ preferred protocols. DM Insights’ clinical data allows clinicians to view the top 5 most used protocols and receive detailed notifications, including the percentage of patients affected and at which tooth the event frequently occurs.

Articles

DM Insights allows clinicians to improve workflows and track patient adherence and practice performance via its 1-stop platform. 

5Ws* DM Insights 

Dentists have no shortage of options when it comes to restorative materials. As technology advances, clinicians have a seemingly never-ending supply of improved products to choose from. This makes it even more important for clinicians to use materials that meet certain esthetic, strength, and durability criteria.

® 2023 Materials Survey asked approximately 150 dentists which materials they use day in and day out for restorative cases. The results offer insights into how dental professionals select materials and which ones they use. Approximately 70% of survey respondents are practice owners and approximately 77% have 20-plus years of experience in the industry. Survey results have been rounded to the closest whole number.

Durability ranked as the most important factor when choosing a new material, with nearly 63% of survey respondents saying it is their first consideration. This is in line with the 2022 results, although that percentage has decreased in 2023. Clinical research data was the next most important factor, according to just over 56% of respondents, showing that supporting evidence remains valuable among clinicians. Other factors dentists look for in new materials are esthetics, ease of use, and bioactivity/compatibility.

Keeping inventory stocked ensures you will always have the materials needed for your restorative cases. Data from this year’s survey showed that at least 50% of clinicians keep 2 to 3 types of composites, glass ionomers, resin cements, adhesives, and primers in their inventory. This is closely in line with results from 2022, which indicated that 49% of dentists kept 2 to 3 types of these products in their reserves.

A majority of clinicians—approximately 67%—reported that they sometimes, but not always, explain what materials they are using to their patients. This number is up from 54% last year. About 32% of clinicians say they always explain materials to patients, and 0% never speak to patients about restorative materials, a drop from 7% year over year.

More than half of respondents reported that their practices try new materials at least once a month or more. This shows that clinicians are not willing to settle for products that do not meet expectations and that they continually try to improve results and techniques. The number of clinicians who said they almost never try new materials dropped from 3% last year to 0% this year, reinforcing the idea that dentists are on the lookout for newer, enhanced materials.

When respondents were asked which options met their expectations for various materials, composites came out on top, with nearly 66% of participants reporting that composites somewhat exceeded or exceeded expectations. Coming in a close second were adhesives with just over 64%. Adhesives also scored the highest in the “exceeds expectations” category with 19.4%. Glass ionomers were the only material that rated votes in the “does not meet expectations” category.

Just as in previous years, respondents consider research findings and an evidence-based approach before trying new materials; approximately 47% look for published research data before making any purchasing decisions. The percentage of respondents who consider themselves early adopters increased slightly from last year, at 24% in 2023 vs approximately 21% in 2022.

Durability and esthetics remain top characteristics that clinicians look for when selecting restorative materials. 


The Dental Products Report 2023 Materials Survey: Material Matters

 Lares Perceptive Electric Handpiece System

 Any practice looking to add an electric handpiece or to increase efficiency

 Said to be dentistry’s first voice-controlled electric motor, Perceptive lets users adjust motor settings with a simple verbal command for ease of use. Users can also use the large tablet computer screen to select new settings.

 Users can select speed presets, forward/reverse, and lighting settings. The system’s large, brightly lit tablet touchscreen clearly displays current motor settings, and it mounts in any convenient location. The tablet beeps to confirm verbal commands were received and executed. The Perceptive system features 3 speed presets to ensure the safety of the patient and staff. Users can adjust the RPMs to any speed using the slide bar, voice control, or the touchscreen toggle through the 3 presets for a customized experience. It also features a quiet, 40,000 rpm brushless motor with long-life LED lighting. The hose is also designed to be ultralight to minimize hand fatigue.

This electric handpiece motor features voice control, allowing users to adjust settings with verbal commands.

5Ws* Lares Perceptive Electric Handpiece System

Miele’s PG 8581 Washer-Disinfector is designed for cleaning and disinfecting using a variety of features and programs for optimized infection control. The PG 8581 offers solutions for dental clinicians in need of an instrument cleaning system and does so through its state-of-the-art disinfecting features. One feature is the variable-speed heater pump, which adjusts the pump speed and wash pressure to facilitate the removal of soiling. The built-in heater allows for efficiency in its elimination of an external heating source. Disinfection is then carried out in a cleaning phase using 199 ℉ temperatures for 5 minutes. The PG 8581 also uses Miele’s ProCare Dent Process Chemicals to neutralize and deactivate germs without damaging equipment. There is a spray arm monitor to optimize cleaning while simultaneously protecting from harsh water and a wash capacity of up to 24 regular-sized cassettes per cycle.

An often overlooked, but no less important piece of the practice puzzle is infection control. Instrument reprocessing is essential in infection control and ensuring patient and staff safety. For Robin Waner, MS, RDH, director of clinics at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Dentistry, the PG 8581 Dental Washer-Disinfector from Miele has been key in keeping up with the sterilization needs of more than 400 undergraduate dental students.

“We have…a lot of sterilization needs that we have to meet, and we make these needs based on federal, state, [and] local guidelines,” Waner says. “So, we don’t take shortcuts and it’s a very high-paced volume area that we operate.”

The college of dentistry has gone through several iterations of the Miele instrument washer since Waner joined the staff about 20 years ago. She estimates that the staff at the college run about 4 cycles per unit, and with 11 units in total, their volume is especially high. Despite the high number of cycles, the PG 8581 has held up well, thanks in part to Miele’s customer service and support.

“I think that the Miele is a great piece of equipment,” Waner says. “Ours last forever, because…in many cases, Miele is doing all the servicing of the unit. That pretty much guarantees that you’re only using Miele parts. And there is a certain amount of expectation we have for them to be quality, and they haven’t disappointed me on that.”

The PG 8581 features a variable-speed heater pump. The speed of the pump and the wash pressure are adjusted in alignment with cycle requirements and program settings. For dental instruments, high pressure can facilitate the removal of stubborn soiling, whereas low pressure can ensure the complete soaking of all wash items, according to information provided by Miele. Its integrated heater element is said to save space in the chamber, and it heats the water faster and delivers it through the feed pipes and spray arms more efficiently.

For those who are environmentally conscious, the PG 8581 is designed to consume 42% less water compared with previous models. The variable-speed heating pump adjusts its speeds, and in turn, the wash pressure, in line with the relevant requirements in the program. Through this process, energy and water consumption remain low while optimum wash pressure is maintained.

Additionally, the PG 8581 features EcoDry, which at the end of each reprocessing program opens the door automatically as soon as the temperature in the wash cabinet has fallen below 158 °F. This is designed to allow residual moisture to escape from the wash cabinet and the washed items to dry more quickly.

Something that made the Miele unit stand out was its ability to remove human error, Waner explains. It also ensures her staff safety and reduces the potential of sharps injuries.

“One of the reasons why we went to this system, [rather than] any other type of thermal disinfector, is…that it takes human error, in many cases, out of the equation,” Waner says. “So for example, in a private office, they’re going to sit with a brush on the instrument, and they’re going [to] scrub each individual instrument, or touch contaminated instruments, prior to sterilizing them [and] putting them into an autoclave machine.”

“When we throw things into the thermal disinfector, you don’t have to touch it,” she continues. “So it reduces the bioburden. That way, there is far less of a risk. If any of our staff then gets a stick from a sharp instrument because it’s been through the cycle, there’s been a certain amount of disinfection that has already taken place. And for that reason, I’m in favor of every dental office putting one of these in.”

The unit allows staff to check for broken instruments and residue without fear of being contaminated by a pathological microorganism, Waner says. That, to her, is one of the key benefits of practices using the Miele PG 8581.

“That’s the main advantage to using this,” Waner says. “If offices [add this system,] it makes for a much safer environment for their staff.”

The PG 8581 Dental Washer-Disinfector from Miele is crucial to the operations of one dental school and its nearly 400 students.

This Instrument Washer/Disinfector Keeps Up with High Volume

 Amplify360’s practice marketing approach revolves around listening to your goals so they can provide tailored solutions. General and pediatric dentists can break through the ceiling of complexity and get out of preferred provider organizations (PPO) forever with the help of advanced practice assessment analysis software and a tailored marketing strategy.

 Any practice looking for a new marketing solution.

 Every office has different goals at different times, and Amplify360 customizes a multifaceted marketing strategy to help dentists achieve their goals.

 Dentists are guided through a calculated step-by-step strategic plan with monthly 1-on-1 advisory, retention best-practice guide, team training, and proprietary practice analysis software. Amplify360 has helped thousands of dentists achieve the highest levels of profitability, increasing time off by 20% to 30%, according to the Amplify360 website.

 Amplify360’s customer experience begins with a complimentary practice growth call, where the company works with dentists to create a growth plan designed to increase profits by increasing the quantity and quality of patients. Their 3-part strategy offers a long-term partnership that’s dedicated to providing support and solutions that practices need, personalized performance, and meaningful marketing solutions.

This practice marketing approach utilizes a 3-part plan to create growth and increase profits.

5Ws* Amplify360 

Valo X-LED Curing Light is a broadband light-emitting diode (LED) curing light that offers durability, power, accessibility, and versatility. It features a large 12.5-mm lens and a new custom LED chip to offer a more complete cure. This light comes equipped with 2 power modes (Standard Power and Xtra Power) and 2 diagnostic light modes (Black Light and White Light) and allows clinicians to work with or without a cord.

The Valo X-LED’s 1-button activation features a user interface with an accelerometer so users can cycle between the light’s power and diagnostic modes with the wave of the wand, a light tap, or the push of a button. The light also comes with 5 accessory lenses. Its simplified, low-profile design enables the light’s head to reach posterior restorations with ease.

This curing light features 2 power modes, 2 light modes, and a low-profile design.

5Ws* Valo X-LED Curing Light

Every aspect of the dental industry has faced an ongoing workforce shortage for several years. Vacant dental assistant and hygienist roles are estimated to have reduced dental practice volume by 10% nationally.

Although these staffing challenges have largely been attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, there are several other contributing factors, including a decline in enrollment in dental assistant programs since 2015.

 Research suggests that this decline in enrollment will not recover anytime soon, resulting in a continuing personnel shortage for the foreseeable future.

® spoke to April Todd, MPH, chief policy and research officer for the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare, Inc (CAQH), a nonprofit organization that was formed over 20 years ago by a number of health insurance companies with the goal of transforming business processes through collaboration and innovation. Todd shared key findings from the company’s 10th annual Index, including how staffing challenges affect spending on administrative functions, adoption of automated processes in health care, and trends within the industry.

CAQH is a nonprofit collaborative organization that was formed a little over 20 years ago. We were formed to help reduce the cost of administrative processes, to help simplify administrative processes. We do that in a few different ways. One of them is, we have … technology solutions that help to reduce the burden of the submission or exchange of data in duplicative ways. So, we do that in areas related to collecting credentialing data from providers, collecting provider directory data from providers, helping with coordination of benefits, those kinds of back-end processes. The second thing that we do is, we have an organization called CORE [Committee on Operating Rules], which creates what are called operating rules. And these are rules that help to further standardize electronic transactions, help to simplify the business flow of data, and help to further streamline the exchange of [those] data. And then the third thing that we do … is our research function, which is called Explorations. And every year through that program, we put out our Index, which is a study of the cost, volume, and mode [of conducting] administrative transactions within the industry.

 Can you give a broad overview of the report and its aims?

 This is our 10th anniversary report, so we’re very, very proud of this. What the Index does is, it surveys plans and providers, within both the medical and dental spaces, to track how administrative functions are being conducted within the industry. So, we look at the volume of transactions that are going through; we look at what it costs to conduct those transactions, how much time it takes, as well as how they’re conducted, whether it is electronically or needing to be conducted manually or phone or fax, for example. And in the 10th year of the Index, the last 2 years have been an interesting time to be tracking this because we’ve been going through the early part of the pandemic and the second year of the pandemic. So, we’ve seen some different patterns than we have historically seen. One really nice thing is that we have seen the industry automate more transactions out of necessity. And so, with some staff working remotely, there’s just been a need to automate; call centers have not worked as frequently as they had in the past, and the ability [to use] fax machines and to reach someone over the phone has gone down. The availability of electronic transactions and the use of them has really increased significantly; that’s 1 change. The other thing that we’ve seen, I would say, particularly in the last year, is just a shift in utilization. So, we saw volume go down in the first year of the pandemic. And we’ve seen that pent-up demand, leading to more volume in the second year of the pandemic. We’ve seen some shifts in volume, and some shifts in spending as well. And then lastly, I would say the interesting trend that we have seen, which the industry is going to need to figure out how to address, is this change in workforce. We have seen staff leave the healthcare industry. And we have also seen new staff come on [who] are needing to get trained; they take longer to perform certain functions. And so there’s definitely a workforce shift going on right now as well.

 What role did Covid-19 play in expediting the use of digital/automated workflows?

This is a strange thing to say, but Covid was a little bit of a silver lining for administrative transactions. It helped to accelerate the adoption of more automated processes, as I mentioned, just out of necessity to help to facilitate an environment where more electronic processes were needed. We just had [fewer] people in person [and] less ability to process things manually. And so we definitely saw that adaptation, during both the first and the second years of the pandemic.

 The US health care system spent $60 billion on 9 specific administrative functions, compared with $42 billion the previous year. These 9 functions are:

What accounts for such a dramatic increase of spend on these functions year over year?

We saw an increase in spending for a few different reasons. As you might expect, during the first year of the pandemic, we saw volume go down; people were not going to the doctor, [and] dentist offices were closed, a number of them. We just saw volume and utilization, generally speaking, go down. In the second year of the pandemic, all of that pent-up demand, it came back. We saw pretty significant increases in volume of all transactions across the board, from eligibility to claims to prior authorizations. Volume is 1 of the reasons for the increase in spending. The other reason for the increase in spending, although we had more adoption of electronic processes, which was great to see, those processes were being conducted by new staff. As I mentioned before, we’ve had workforce challenges. Since the pandemic, and particularly in the second year of the pandemic as people retired, left the industry due to burnout, we have [had] some new staff coming in. We also have [had] actual providers and dentists themselves doing the transactions, who are high-cost administrative staff. The actual cost and time to do these transactions, even electronically, [have increased] a little. Those are 2 of the main components that we’ve seen, resulting in increasing spend.

The Index found that the healthcare industry as a whole can save up to $25 billion just by switching to fully electronic transactions, which is pretty remarkable. Do you find that there’s a hesitancy among healthcare professionals to switch to automated technologies?

I think there [are] a few different things going on. There [are] definitely some transactions that are very, very automated and are [already] at a pretty high level of automation. Eligibility is 1 of those [transactions], [and] claim submission is another, of those that are very highly automated. Those transactions also have a very high volume. Just with eligibility and benefit transactions, we [conduct] more than 26 billion of those transactions a year. And so, although most of them are automated, just given the high volume, given the percentage that are remaining, that’s a large chunk of spend.


The reasons for those remaining transactions not yet being automated fall into a lot of different categories. It’s not necessarily that providers don’t want to adopt electronic transactions or that health plans don’t want to adopt them. Most health plans and providers are [conducting], for example, [the above 2 types of] transactions electronically. There are some [transactions], though, that are difficult right now to conduct electronically. We have benefit plans that tend to be more complex that go through the system. We also, during the pandemic, had a lot more people using telemedicine, and we hadn’t anticipated that. The transactions don’t work as effectively as they could for those things. There are definitely some scenarios that we’ve been working on over the past year to help address those situations so that more transactions actually can be conducted electronically. So that’s 1 aspect. Another aspect of this is that there are some [electronic] transactions that have very low adoption within the health care industry: things related to prior authorization attachments and things related to payment, in particular in the dental industry, that are low. And in those use cases, there are different reasons for the lack of adoption, for attachments in particular, related to prior authorization and other uses of attachments. We don’t have a national standard yet. And so, without a standardized way of doing things, there [are] a lot of different ways that people are transmitting attachments. And for some of the claim payment aspects on the dental side, we have heard from providers that they actually like to do things more manually, which is a challenge that in the dental industry, we need to address.

Something else I found interesting was that adoption of electronic processes increased by 5% in both the dental and medical industries, but the cost of administrative functions went up to $60 million over the previous year. Of course, you would think that as the adoption of these technologies goes up, costs would come down. But it’s the inverse of that. Could you talk about that disparity?

 It is [the inverse], and that’s related to the 2 factors that I mentioned before that are a little unique about the pandemic. I think in any normal year, you would see costs go down when adoption goes up. What’s different about this year (some of it is probably just this year, but some of it might be a more challenging trend going forward) is that we have all this pent-up demand in volume. So, because there’s such a large increase in volume, even though the percentage of that volume that is electronic has gone up, the volume itself has just gone up so much [more] that the spend related to the manual aspect of that has grown, just [because of] pure volume with the pent-up demand. And that’s transitory; we anticipate that volume will go back down to normal levels as we come out of the pandemic. But what is a little more concerning and challenging is thinking about how to deal with the workforce challenges. We have an aging population, and we have the pandemic that led to more retirements and burnout of medical staff. There really is a need right now for training. And for encouraging new people to come into the healthcare industry. We do have some workforce challenges that have resulted also in just things taking more time to complete, and that results in more cost.

 As you mentioned, the staffing shortage really played into the spend on administrative functions going up. Could you talk about that a little more?

When we do this survey, we get quantitative information that comes back from providers. But we also do some in-depth, qualitative surveying with them as well to kind of understand what’s going on: why they have seen an increase in cost, why they’ve seen an increase in time [required to complete] some of these transactions. What we have heard from them [are] a few different things. Definitely the staff have left; some of their more senior staff have retired or burned out, left the industry. So that has left some providers, and some dentists in particular, doing the transactions themselves. [Whereas they] previously had administrative staff [who] were doing those [tasks], they either weren’t able to find people to come in to fill those roles or, just out of short-term necessity, they were doing [it] themselves. Providers [such as] dentists are pretty highly paid administrative staff, and it’s not something they were trained to do. It takes time, and it’s expensive to use that time for those tasks. The other thing is, when you are bringing in these new staff, many of them [are] doing this for the first time, and they’re learning; it just takes longer for them to get up to speed. Also, typically [the staff who] came in during the second year of the pandemic, they’re getting paid more than the staff [who] were there before because of the workforce shortage and because of the competition for staff, and [because] we have an extremely low unemployment rate right now.

Were there any other key thoughts or takeaways from the report that you wanted to add?

 I think one of the key things from this report, particularly given that it is our 10-year anniversary, is that we’ve looked at things over the history of the 10 years that we have been tracking this. And when you look at that totality, although we’ve identified areas where we can still focus right now, as an industry, on how we can improve, I think it’s also important to take account of what the industry has already done to make significant progress. In total, if you look at what the industry has already done through the automation that has already happened, we are saving over $187 billion annually. In the healthcare industry, that is a significant amount of money that has come from the automation of just 9 transactions, and that is significant progress. And in the dental industry in particular, I would say, within the past 5 years, the automation of eligibility has almost doubled. That’s significant in a 5-year period of time. We’ve also seen significant automation around claim submission, around remittance advice. So, there are definitely areas [where we] are making leaps and bounds, particularly in the dental industry. Acknowledging all of that great progress, I think, is really important because it shows the industry that even though there are areas [where] we can still improve, we’ve done this in the past, so we can keep doing what we’re doing and continue to make progress.

ADA Health Policy Institute in collaboration with American Dental Assistants Association, American Dental Hygienists’ Association, Dental Assisting National Board, and IgniteDA. Dental workforce shortages: data to navigate today’s labor market. October 2022. Accessed March 5, 2023. 

https://www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/files/resources/research/hpi/dental_workforce_shortages_labor_market.pdf

April Todd, MPH, chief policy and research officer for the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare, Inc, shares key findings from the company’s 10th annual Index, including how staffing challenges affect spending on administrative functions, adoption of automated processes in health care, and trends within the industry.

How Staffing Challenges, Automation Affect Health Care Spending

All dental practices that perform restorative care looking to save time, reduce cost, and minimize inventory.

Indicated for direct anterior and posterior restorations, OMNICHROMA 

 BULK can also be used as a cavity base or liner, and to block out cavity undercuts before fabricating indirect restorations. It can also be used in the repair of porcelain or composite.

 BULK is a low-viscosity, light-cured, radiopaque composite resin for use in direct restorations. It is a single-shade matching material. OMNICHROMA 

 BULK is a flowable material that can be placed in 3.5-mm increments and is available in syringe form.

Employing smart chromatic technology and uniformly sized spherical fillers, OMNICHROMA 

 BULK composite generates a red to yellow color range to esthetically shade match any tooth color from A1 to D4. The color generation ensures there is no loss of chroma or drop in value. The composite’s fillers are formulated to generate color, reflecting the shade of the surrounding tooth. OMNICHROMA 

 BULK also features low polymerization shrinkage, high compressive strength, excellent cavity adaptation, and high polishability.

This composite resin uses smart chromatic technology to shade match any tooth color from A1 to D4.

5Ws* OMNICHROMA Flow BULK

For Gary M. Radz, DDS, FACE, there is no question that VOCO Retraction Paste sparked a change at his practice in Denver, Colorado. A general dentist for 30 years, Dr Radz has extensive experience with other retraction techniques.

When Dr Radz first heard of VOCO Retraction Paste more than a year ago, he says he knew the product would be good based on his previous experience with the company. However, what he found was a product he called “the best I’ve ever tried in that category.”

“The tip design was ideal, and the viscosity of the paste was good and easy to control. Even the color I like better than some of the others,” Dr Radz says.

VOCO Retraction Paste is an aluminum chloride–containing astringent paste designed to widen and dry the gingival sulcus for successful digital or analog impressions. The paste is a unique blue color, which provides high contrast to the surrounding tooth structure and tissues.

“It did a good job of hemostasis. The retraction part is great, but the hemostasis part has to be there as well. And this product had both of those properties and did a good job,” Dr Radz says. “For the past year, I’ve just used VOCO because it’s superior to what the other companies have right now.”

VOCO’s paste is formulated for a 2-phase viscosity, which makes application very simple. First, the paste flows under low pressure for precise application. Secondly, after application, the material’s viscosity increases to remain stable in the sulcus, stopping bleeding and displacing moisture.

Other pastes Dr Radz has used are not as user-friendly as VOCO’s product, he says. Other products on the market offer either good hemostasis or good retraction but not both, he adds.

“The differences are subtle; it’s not dramatic,” Dr Radz explains. “But if you’re experienced enough with the other [products] and you’re trying a new one, you can see quickly that [VOCO’s] is as good or better than what else is out there.”

VOCO Retraction Paste is an astringent paste with aluminum chloride. It is designed to widen and dry the gingival sulcus, creating ideal conditions for successful impressions. The material is a bright turquoise color, providing high contrast to tooth structure and gingiva. It saves clinicians up to 50% of procedural time compared with other methods. Its 2-stage viscosity makes for simple application.

Compared with retraction cord, VOCO Retraction Paste is not only easier but 50% faster, according to information provided by VOCO America. The application time is reportedly only 1 to 2 minutes, and the material rinses off easily without staining. Retraction cord, on the other hand, can be more labor intensive, time intensive, and technique sensitive, Dr Radz adds.

He finds the material to be particularly helpful when taking digital impressions. One of the main purposes of digital impressions is to make a clinician’s workflow more efficient, he says.

“If I have a product where I can control hemorrhage and move the soft tissue out of the way a little, and I can do that in a very quick, efficient manner, that makes my workflow faster,” Dr Radz says. “So probably 75% of the time, when I’m scanning for an impression, we’re going to use the VOCO Retraction Paste beforehand so that we can visualize the crown [preparation] that much better.”

Another indication for which Dr Radz has found the material to be useful for cementing crowns or veneers after a patient has worn a temporary. This is a case where retraction cord might be contraindicated because it will cause more bleeding than it will stop, he says.

“Controlling that bleeding is important,” Dr Radz says. “[VOCO] Retraction Paste really comes in handy.”

In addition, adding VOCO Retraction Paste to his toolbox has benefited both his staff and patients. It has helped his team by improving patient behavior and allowing staff to be successful, Dr Radz says.

Plus, placing retraction cord can be very uncomfortable for patients and cause more postoperative sensitivity, Dr Radz says. “The patient may not realize it, but if you’re using retraction cord, the degree of postoperative discomfort is more than retraction paste because you’re taking a string and poking it all the way around the gums,” he explains. “Whereas retraction paste is atraumatic in nature… I know they’re going to be more comfortable after the procedure.”

VOCO Retraction Paste from VOCO America helped one clinician improve their digital scanning workflow and increase patient comfort.