In celebration of National Dental Hygiene Month, we decided to follow around a dental hygienist and see how her day unfolds. Not only is Kary Buchanan a registered dental hygienist, but she’s also a wife and mom to four girls! To say that she’s busy would be an understatement. Join us as we take a peek at a typical day in the life of dental hygienist, Kary Buchanan: 7:30 a.m. On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday I work for Dr. Jason Skinner. Mondays and Wednesdays I typically get into the office at 7:45 a.m. My high school kids are usually walking out the door at the same time I do, and my husband gets our other two kids to school.

Neil Jessop, Ultradent's Vice President of Research and Development, recently spoke about the evolution of the VALO curing light. "There's a sense of urgency that I constantly feel to keep an eye on what is right and on staying advanced. It's not a free ride." Ever innovating, Ultradent most recently released the VALO® Grand curing light, which offers a 50% larger lens that measures a whopping 12 mm. This larger lens allows clinicians to cover and cure an entire restoration with the light's highly efficient 395 nm–480 nm LEDs. The story behind the VALO light's development, however, started over two decades ago, in 1997.

Ultradent is proud to announce its endorsement and support of Veterans' Smile Day, an initiative that encourages dentists across the country to offer a day of free dental care and support to our nation's military veterans anytime in the month prior to or after Veteran's Day, which is November 11th. The foundation also encourages offices to host Veterans' Smile Day events around Memorial Day and/or the 4thof July if that better fits their office's schedule and agenda. Ultradent will support the cause this year and in the years to come with digital and public relations support, as well as through dental product donations to dentists across the nation that wish to hold their own Veterans' Smile Day events.

As busy clinicians we're always looking for ways to be more efficient and more effective in our practices. One of the latest categories of dental products brought to the market by numerous manufacturers is retraction paste, which is meant to replace traditional retraction cord for tissue management cases. Ultradent's Ultrapak® retraction cord was tested against popular retraction pastes on the market to surprising results Touted as faster and easier to apply, the concept of a retraction paste seems to check the efficiency box, but is it effective? Ultradent's Vice President of Research and Development, Neil Jessop, devised a means of measuring its effectiveness when compared to cord and the results were surprising.

As we get ready to close out our 40th year in the dental industry, I’ve enjoyed spending some time reflecting on what a wild, fun, incredible, unexpected ride these four decades have been. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined all the things we would experience and accomplish together, but am grateful beyond belief. I often say it this because its true: the truth is stranger than fiction—and in the case of Ultradent, that’s a great thing! As we move into a new decade for the company and march toward our next big milestone, Ultradent’s 50th anniversary in 2028, there are a lot of positive changes and growth I hope to see, but there are some things that I will make sure to never ever change.