DRAKE DENTAL TALKS

After giving a lab tour to a couple of dental students the other day, I caught myself drifting off on the familiar topic of   MAN vs MACHINE... When you see all the shiny moving parts of the scanners, millers and printers, you can't help but to ask the same question as most - "how many people's jobs have these replaced?" And let me tell you how satisfying it is to say  NONE   every time!  If you read one of our previous blogs on digital, we touched on this topic a bit - that technology isn't magic and still needs brainpower to operate it. And that we take pride in not getting rid of old techniques and skills, but up-cycling them into other areas where they can be honed and refined. The same goes for technicians - hand waxers can become CAD/CAM designers with a stylus in hand. As I drifted further, I became curious about other professions and how they may have changed over time. Check out this article  I found and how there was a time when taxi dr...

  Waiting until the last possible second to get your credits in? Dreading committing your weekend / free time for 'work stuff'? We know the feeling. It's just... ONE OF THOSE THINGS... that you don't seem to want to do simply because someone told you that you HAVE to. But it's like waking up early to hit the gym - we all know its not so bad once you get over the initial hump, and just commit! So here ya go! If you need CE hours anytime soon - don't wait until the last second - we think this is a great one for you! Go ahead...COMMIT! The cool thing about this one is that there are a few different options for you to choose from - even knock a couple out at once.  Better yourself; better your business - we can all give a little free time for that!

Part 2 Options for Final Impressions by Drake's on-staff Dentist - Larry R. Holt, DDS, FICD WELCOME BACK! Hopefully by now you have a good understanding of critical edentulous anatomy.  This entry will focus on selecting the correct tray to use for capturing said anatomy.    We all remember dental school and the initial alginate impression with over extended borders; sending that to the lab and having a custom tray fabricated.  This is still a sound method to having an appropriate tray to use, probably the gold standard.  Be sure when you use this work flow that you take some time and draw in your desired borders for the custom tray that is to be fabricated on your overextended model.  I like to have these borders slightly short so there is room to do some border molding. A relatively recent innovation on the market is heat malleable stock trays that are specifically made for edentulous arches.  There are multiple manufacturers ...