If you wish to ignore my blather, simply read the article on the link below. I couldn’t help but reflect on the past year in dentistry. There is no question technology is elevating the service mix of the profession; however, is all technology reflective of positive change. If this article was on the revolutionary/evolutionary/cult creation – Damon brackets – how many would salute, how many would “raspberry”.
We were told that in spite of breakage, NiTi instruments were the future of endodontics; we’re now told that one file in a gyromatic reciprocation motion is better, without of course being told better than what. We’re into the VIIth generation of adhesives only to find that the materials from 3 or 4 generations back made more sense.
We were told that Cerec I was amazing, Cerec II awesome, Cerec III otherworldy and now Cerec IV answers all the problems of the other three. Back off placing implants, because tooth replacement is looming on the horizon. All those implants that went in and had bone die-back to the first thread, we figured it out, we can once again jury rig the platform and the connection rather than radically redesigning the entire structure and voila, new age single tooth replacement.
Orthodontists, who needs them….all you need is alginate and dental stone and a CAD/CAM computer at the other end of a FedEx package…and on and on it goes………add more and more players, let them swamp the shores like flotsam and jetsam from a ship that broke up on rocky shoals and of course, let the grey market hold sway, after all there are 256 shades of grey and once more VIOLA, sorry, I meant VOILA, but was thinking of Viola Davis in HELP the movie, not the song.
Veneers and bleaching make the world go white and round….we look like the Kardashians, all we need is the entourage, the personal trainer, the stylist, the PR person and you too can be on the next reality show…….whatever happened to form and function…….
Now read the article……..who’s paying for all these new and marvelous toys, who’s doing the science, the long term studies on efficacy…..who indeed……the companies, grant funding, nope…….you are which means your patients are…….it’s the classic example of six degrees of separation in retrograde. Back to the future is a fun thing if you’re talking about interactivity, not so fun if you’re talking about unproven and untested – think industrial grade silicone in breast implants………..tis time to go back to the fundamentals…………..now read the article again…
