Tina Calloway, CDA

One dental assistant on why she loves the Isolite Systems Dental Isolation.

The days of using cotton roll isolation and mirror retraction to control saliva contamination during a procedure are over. In my practice, this cumbersome method has been replaced with what I see as an innovative game changer-Isolite Systems.

 gives us complete quality control over the humidity and contamination in the oral environment, therefore increasing chairside efficiency for the patient and the dental team.

Recently, a patient came into our practice for a restorative implant crown. After we introduced her to the Isolite Systems isolation and placement, she expressed her gratitude for what she described as an easy and quick appointment.

These are her words: “I love that device. This was so much better than I thought it was going to be and to be able to just sit back and not have to concentrate on holding open was great.” Not only do we pride ourselves on quality care and efficiency at our practice, but also exceeding the patient’s expectations, which often happens when we use Isolite Systems.

We now have Isolite Systems in each of our operatories, ready for use with all of our clinical and hygiene procedures. This system retracts and protects the cheek and tongue, providing an added measure of safety for our patients.

After carefully selecting the size of the patient’s opening from pedo, small, medium or large, we then introduce this tool to our patients as one of dentistry’s greatest inventions, allowing them to see and feel the mouthpiece.

 that this system is latex-free and is able to protect their cheek and tongue from any instruments, as well as provide illumination that enables us to see much more while we work. 

 also features a soft, comfortable biteblock that helps to gently hold the patient open, as well as dual suction on top and bottom to illuminate water pooling at the back of the throat. Talking to our patients about these features helps to reduce anxiety because they know what to do and what to expect while the clinician is working in the mouth.

Our patients enjoy hearing that Isolite Systems reduces their time in the chair because that means they can get in and out of their appointment and then go about their business for the day. 

For the assistant or hygienist, this system is a valuable tool that acts as our third arm when there isn’t a teammate available to help retract and suction.

As a clinical assistant, there have been many times that I have been grateful for the illumination, suction and retraction this system provides while packing cord and controlling homostasis at the same time, while our hygienist is using the system for scaling and root planing in the operatory.

 for helping dental teams to provide optimal care with flare!

Watch this video on the Isolite Dryfield Illuminator: 

Isolite Systems Dental Isolation: Better isolation for better dentistry 

			One dental assistant on why she loves Isolite Systems Dental Isolation.			Written by: Tina Calloway, CDA			Isolite Systems Dental Isolation			Date published: 07/26/2013			5 / 5 stars

Articles

Product Review: Better isolation for better dentistry

How often does a new patient come into your practice for an emergency appointment with a specific concern, such as a toothache, and with this excruciating pain the patient’s self diagnosis is the tooth must be extracted?

This might happen often, but with today’s communication skills, we are able to help patients realize the value of their complete oral care with one thought provoking question during the new patient consultation:

“Mr. Smith, I am not trying to be smart with you, but the question I would like to ask is would you like to keep your teeth for the rest of your life?”

When asked this question the patient usually stops to think for a moment, with a look of perplexity as if surely this dentist must be joking, and then says, “of course I do doctor.”  

With this remarkable yet simple question, we have now opened the door to ask, “do we have permission to share any changes with you that we may see during this examination?” To date we have not had a patient say “No.”


	When this scenario happened most recently, we listened to the patient’s concerns regarding his obviously abscessed tooth and showed further changes with the intraoral camera. This real-time video showed profound wear on both maxillary and mandibular. The patient admitted that it had been more than 10 years since his last dental visit. He also said he was embarrassed by his smile and that his previous dentist told him he would eventually need dentures. Learning that the patient was prepared for dentures as the next step in his dental care, we knew we must discuss other possibilities, such as crowns.   

After carefully considering the pros and cons of each treatment, the patient agreed to crowns though he couldn’t afford them right away. While he got his finances in order, we followed a few simple steps of traditional impression taking, bite registrations, digital photography and lab scripts for a Snap-On Smile from DenMat for him to wear in the mean time.

By using Snap-On Smile, a remarkable temporary innovation, we helped him envision a possible future. Using Snap-On Smile was important to our complex case, as it allowed him to test drive the opening and vertical dimension of occlusion, esthetics and phonetics for a few months. With Snap-On Smile the patient can eat and drink as normal. He also was given proper instructions on cleaning the appliance. This allowed him to see there is hope for a beautiful smile, which made an impossible solution seem possible.


	We’ve been using Snap-On Smile for about a year and a half. Dr. Mark Hyman first saw Snap-On Smile featured at a dental conference. He became interested and decided to implement it into the practice to see if it would work as a temporary solution for patients who needed it.

And it has. We had a senior citizen who had financial issues but wanted a beautiful smile. She gave us a picture from 20 years ago and said she wanted that smile again. Unfortunately to do that costs thousands of dollars and she couldn’t afford it. But Snap-On Smile served as a temporary solution while she got her finances in order to accomplish that. It’s a transitional appliance for patients like this one who can’t get optimal care yet. We’ve used it for patients who are having implants done. Instead of making traditional temporaries we can use Snap-On. We had a woman whose partial was eaten by her dog right before her wedding, so Snap-On was a quick fix for her before she headed to Vegas to get married. We had a hospice patient who always wanted a beautiful smile, and one way to do that quickly for her was Snap-On Smile. There are just so many examples of patients who have benefited from a Snap-On Smile. It just gives people hope and lets them know there are possibilities.

How DenMat's Snap-On Smile benefits dental patients


	Year after year, survey after survey, DPR’s readers affirm that when it comes to choosing products for their practices, colleague recommendations are vital. Here, we provide space for dental professionals-like you and your team-to reflect on the products they
	see making a difference.

One thing I appreciate about the dental industry is that there are so many innovative ideas from innovative minds-someone out there is always thinking and ahead of the game.

I always get a rush walking through the halls of a dental convention. Once through the double doors I’m filled with an overwhelming sense of excitement and anticipation over where to begin. In that moment, I always feel especially proud to be a dental assistant.

There are many ways that clinical assistants and their teams can rove the aisles of exhibit halls to best use their time. Some assistants map out booth visits a week before the convention (others the night before) to check out the newest products available. Many of these products have been researched by assistants ahead of time through dental magazines, newsletters, websites, marketing materials or colleague recommendations.

In this column, I hope to share some of the “finds” that have helped make my time chairside more productive or the patient experience more enjoyable. Most recently, I encountered OnSet by Onpharma Inc., invented by Dr. Mic Falkel, founder and Chief Medical Officer for the company. Designed to enhance patient comfort and ease, this mixing pen is used to reduce the acidity level in anesthetic carpules prior to injection.

After listening to the research behind OnSet, my dentist, Dr. Mark E. Hyman, decided this was something worth trying in our practice. If there is one thing we are committed to in our practice, it is applying new technologies to improve patient satisfaction and internal efficiency.
	
	“As an expanded functions dental assistant, I have to satisfy both the patient and the dentist, however patient satisfaction is the priority, after all where would we be without our patients,” shared fellow dental assistant Mary R. Hahn. “With this thought in mind, OnSet takes how we care for patients to a new level.”

When it comes to integrating new products into a practice, implementation often falls into the hands of a fellow teammate-assistant or hygienist. As our clinical assisting team eagerly watched the video and explanation on how to use OnSet, the mixing pen seemed easy to assemble. After the anesthetic carpule is attached to the mixing pen, the clinician turns the dispensing dial to the desired level of sodium bicarbonate to be mixed with local anesthetic. This will reduce the acidity level to a neutral level without compromising the effect of the anesthetic to the patient. After the solution is mixed, the carpule is ready to be transferred to the syringe in less than 10 seconds.

Onset provides rapid onset of “Analgesia” with less injection pain for the patient. Most patients are numb in 90 seconds, making the anesthesia experience more predictable while enhancing the patients’ experience.

With this being a new product, our team did have some skepticism. With our dentist already known for gentle injections, we wondered if we would truly see a difference in patient reaction. Since incorporating OnSet into our daily procedures, our patients have been pleasantly surprised and tell us there is no longer a slight sting from the injection and that the anesthetic does seem to work faster. They expressed thanks that our team is always looking for something better so they can look forward to upcoming visits without fear. With positive statements like this, we know products do more than make our lives easier. They can make our patients’ lives better. To me, this makes our profession even more exciting to explore.

The purpose Year after year, survey after survey, DPR’s readers affirm that when it comes to choosing products for their practices, colleague recommendations are vital. Here, we provide space for dental professionals-like you and your team-to reflect on the products they see making a difference.