While in the service, one of my friends, a senior officer/dentist, once told me that if you practice long enough, you’ll learn techniques that you wished you learned in dental school. Being a long-time dental educator, I have taken my friend’s advice to heart by making sure I provide my students with what I refer to as “problem solvers”. You know, those pearls that you pick up in CE courses or when you are chewing the fat with another dentist about a problem you had, and lo and behold, they had a solution. In fact, I call these problems solvers that I send to the students “Hints from Howard” (Clever, don’t you think?). About once a week I send out a Powerpoint presentation to my students with a problem solver in response to a topic students don’t know or understand. If this information was presented as part of their core lectures, it would probably be forgotten because it is not connected to a real-life experience. The technique or concept would seem to be a throwaway, and not be a question on their final exam. Well, these are not throwaways, so here goes…
Is the tooth numb?
Loose bridge, how do you check?
of the bridge abutment easily, but the patient has a history of pain when chewing on the bridge and you are suspicious that one or more of the abutments are loose, dry the abutment crown that you think is uncemented (Figure 1). Push on the crown with a gloved finger or just occlude on the restoration. If the crown is loose, you will usually see bubbles around some of the margins of the crown as the saliva that has seeped into and under the crown is pushed out by the force of seating the crown under pressure (Figure 2). You may need to repeat this test to be certain, but it works most of the time.
Marking highly polished metal or glazed porcelain when checking occlusion. 
an extremely thin metal foil for checking the final occlusion. To use shim stock, you take a piece before trying in the indirect restoration to find opposing teeth in occlusal contact. I hold the shim stock with a hemostat, have the patient bite down and if the shim stock tape cannot be pulled out, it is being held by the occlusion of the teeth. Now place the restoration onto the preparation and recheck the occlusion with the shim stock with the teeth you just checked. If you can pull the shim stock out from between the teeth, the restoration is “high” in occlusion and needs adjustment. For highly polished metal and glazed porcelain, fine articulating marking ribbons don’t mark this very smooth and polished surface well. To get the Accufilm II to mark the occlusal surface, I take a Bend-A-Brush (any disposable brush will do, but not a microbrush) and I paint a thin film of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on the articulating ribbon (Figure 3). Now, when the patient bites down on the Vaseline-coated ribbon, it will mark the occlusal surface in maximum intercuspation and in excursive movements (Figure 4). This technique works really well.
Howard E. Strassler, DMD, FADM, FAGD is a professor and Director of Operative Dentistry in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the University of Maryland Dental School. His practice is located in Pikesville, Maryland. 
Benco Dental's comprehensive catalog, The Dentist's Desk Reference, with over 1,000 pages of products, equipment and services is now available online in a creative, interactive format!
BALTIMORE, MD (June 3, 2010) – Benco Dental, the nation’s fastest growing distributor of dental products and equipment, in conjunction with the National Museum of Dentistry, is proud to announce the grand opening a new museum exhibit entitled The Operatory of the Future on Friday, June 4, 2010.
The Operatory of the Future, made possible through the support of Benco Dental, showcases many of the dental industry’s most technologically advanced treatment systems, tools and applications in a clean, thorough, educational display. The National Museum of Dentistry is a federally recognized affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, providing an ideal venue for the The Operatory of the Future. Each of the exhibit’s high-tech elements, ranging from a digital impression device to a 3D cone beam imaging unit, are designed to improve the quality of procedures while simultaneously reducing chair time and improving overall oral health.
“It was an honor being selected to assemble The Operatory of the Future for the National Museum of Dentistry,” said Benco Dental President Charles Cohen. “It’s an exciting venture, bringing dental technology to the general public.”
The Operatory of the Future is a fitting complement to the museum’s adjacent exhibits as visitors will have the unique opportunity to stroll through dentistry’s past and take a unique look into its future. The galleries of the National Museum of Dentistry range from hand-forged iron tools of horseback American dentists to the 19th-century office of G.V. Black, the Father of Modern Dentistry. Now, through the support of Benco Dental, the museum also includes a look at the cutting-edge dental equipment available to present-day dentists, displaying how dental care has evolved over the course of centuries.
“The Operatory of the Future gives us an opportunity to feature some of the latest advances in dental care, showing how far the techniques of modern dentistry have come and their positive impact on the public,” said National Museum of Dentistry Executive Director Jonathan Landers.
For a complete listing of products in The Operatory of the Future, click here.
