On Aug. 24 at 10AM MST Dr. Radz will be providing a live webinar for 1 hour (CE credits available) on composite bonding. The program will focus on successful Class II restorations using new materials and techniques. The program is sponsored by Voco and can be found at www.vocolearning.com. You will need to sign up and “seating” is limited. As of today the course if half full. Hope you can join us.
Dr. Gary Radz Presents: Live Webinar On Composite Bonding
August 18th, 2010New Composite Resin Technology
April 1st, 2010In the April edition of Inside Dentistry I had an article published about a new composite resin technology. The folks at Septodont are using new resin chemistry to create a composite that has some very interesting physical properties and future potential.
This has been a fun one to research as it potentially a big breakthru in composite chemisty…..and Septodont’s restorative materials facility is right here in Colorado. So it’s been fun to work with a local company!
If you like to read more about the new bonding chemistry, go to the below link:
Porcelain Veneer article published in Inside Dentistry
March 31st, 2010http://www.insidedentistry.net/article.php?id=3405
The above link will take you to an article that I just published in April 2010 issue of Inside Dentistry.
The article focuses on the esthetic potential of minimal prep, no prep, and a new concept that I’ve been working on that we call partial prep for porcelain veneers.
The article shows several example of these different options to give the reader a perspective on the options that are available. Also helps to provide the reader with some parameters of case selection……which is key in these conservative cases. I think that there is alot of exciting applications in cosmetic dentistry for these ideas.
I’m always interested in feedback.
Let me know what you think.
Link to article on Digital impressions
January 13th, 2010I just found the below link that will take you to a recent article I published on Digital Impression systems.
It may be of interest to those dentists looking at getting into digital impressions. We’ve had our iTero system for 18 months now and love it. From single unit crowns to 10 units of no prep veneers to bridges, the iTero has been great!
Dentistry Today’s Leaders in Dental Continuing Education
January 5th, 2010In the December issue of Dentistry Today I had the honor of being recognized along with 249 other dental educators. Each year Dentistry Today list the 250 educators in the dental industry to acknowledge their efforts to help pass on knowledge to their peers.
I’m proud that this is the 6th year in a row that Dentistry Today has placed me on this list of my peers and mentors. It is truly an honor.
The below link will take you to the digital issue of the Dentistry Today’s Dec ‘09 issue:
Gary Radz, DDS
Cosmetic Dentistry of Colorado
American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry meeting in Hawaii
May 6th, 2009I have just returned from attending and presenting at the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry’s (AACD) annual meeting.
It was a busy week. I gave three different presentations during the week. The first was a discussion in the corporate symposium venue discussing Septodont’s new composite n’Durance. The second was on the AACD main program reviewing and discussing the topic of Elective Cosmetic Dentistry and Adolescents and Young Adults. This program focused on the many conservative options available to enhance the smiles of this patient demographic. Lastly, I ended the week with a workshop on porcelain veneer preparation skills. In this workshop we discussed and practiced with several variations of porcelain veneer preparation design and how material selection effect the design.
In addition to my speaking responsiblilities I am on the Professional Education Committee (PEC) for the AACD. This committee is responsible for the the annual scientific session, along with other education efforts of the AACD. In Hawaii my duties where minimal and mostly in a support capacity. However, I will be the AACD program chair for the 2011 meeting in Boston. So my work for the AACD and the PEC has just begun.
The AACD is a great organization. It is one of my favorite weeks of the year. A great week of learning, sharing, and seeing many friends.
Oral Health journal cover!
April 16th, 2009I just got in the mail today the April edition of Oral Health. Oral Health is one of the largest dental journals in Canada.
Last year the editor asked that I submit an article for publication to the journal. I sent in two case studies on patients that I had recently completed no prep Venus veneers on. He liked the article so much he requested that I submit a photo of the patients for the cover of the journal…..which I, of course, did.
the following link will take you to the online version of the article: http://www.oralhealthjournal.com/issues/ISarticle.asp?id=209315&story_id=132400142748&issue=04012009&PC=
the article discusses the thought process behind no prep veneers as well as some techniques. importantly for dentists this article was published to demonstrate that it is possible to get great esthetics and great soft tissue response with veneers on unprepared teeth. Given all the negative critiques of Lumineers and other similar products, in this article I tried to disspell some of the myths that are out in the profession.
i welcome comments and other ideas on this subject.
for those interested in pursuing more about this concept of no prep veneers I can refer you to two places:
1. I learn much of this information from Dr. Dennis Wells in Nashville. Dennis provides inoffice courses on this subject. go to: www.musiccityseminars.com for more info…….great course.
2. I’m chairing the 2nd Annual North American Symposium on No Prep Veneers in Cleveland June 5,6. This program brings together many experienced dentists and ceramists to discuss the concept of No Prep veneers. go to: www.acesthetics.com for more info.
Gary Radz, DDS
Chicago MidWinter Dental Meeting – Technology
March 23rd, 2009I recently returned from the Chicago MidWinter Dental meeting. I found a few interesting new technologies that may be of interest, especially on the patient education aspect of a cosmetic dental practice.
First was a new patient education program available thru Schien, called GURU. Very simple to use, has great interfacing with existing software, good/brief/accurate descriptions that will help the patient understand better conditions and treatments we are discussing with them. I’m current doing an in office evaluation of GURU. Our initial impression has been very positive.
Another cool piece of software I found is by Dentsply Prosthetics called TruRx. It is a digital denture prescription. Very helpful for the dentist that does not do alot of removable work. The software will guide you thru how to select the teeth. The most interesting thing about the software is it’s ability to do instant smile imaging. Using a digital photograph of the patient the software perform a smile enhancement instantly on the patients photo to be able to provide the patient with an idea of how their smile can be improved. What I really like about this application is that you can use the imaging on the patient whether you are doing a denture OR doing veneers!
Along these lines Heraeus has an online program available at www.smilebyvenus.com which can allow anyone to upload a digital photo onto the Venus site and the patient can actually do their own imaging! Really cool stuff with lots of potential. Definately makes me glad that I signed up to be a “Venus Provider”. I think this website can certainly draw a few patients to our website and hopefully our office.
All of the above are interesting technologies that are worth a look.
Gary Radz, DDS
Benco National Sales meeting
February 21st, 2009Yesterday I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the Benco National Sales meeting. What a great day! This was a bit different for me….there was not a single dentist in the audience of 500 people. Rather it was the entire sales force of Benco. It was a fun challenge to present to a nondentist group.
What I learned in my preparation and my 3 days participating in their meeting is that this is a great company that’s trying hard to do the right thing. Benco has only recently started expanding West so I really didn’t know that much about the company. Now, knowing them better I’m truly impressed with the goals and the direction of this company! They truly are dedicated to the success of their dentists/clients.
I having a great time here with this group and will leave with a new appreciation for Benco and it’s dedication to our profession.
Shade Taking Technology in Cosmetic Dentistry
February 18th, 2009Recently we have started testing two shade taking devices.
The potential of this technology is very exciting. We have the Vita EasyShade Compact and the Olympus Crystal Eye. If this technology works it will be a huge advantage for dentists trying to do better (and profitable) cosmetic dentistry. The EasyShade, is just that very easy. the Crystal Eye, though easy to use is a far more complex machine. To date we have not done enough evaluation to give a fair opinion on either, but our initial impression is that these can certainly be helpful tools in arrive in the correct color selection.
That being said, it does not appear to be able to completely eliminate the human element of using your own eyes and make informed decisions. Certainly the potential exists to be able to more accurately select the appropriate shade for an anterior bonding case or a porcelain veneer case and even the dreaded single unit anterior crown!!