There remains a growing belief among clinicians that obturation is to blame for endodontic failures. This notion has more recently fallen under scrutiny as researchers have discovered that the most thorough obturation can only reflect the quality of the cleaning and shaping of the canal. In fact, a number of researchers point to the thorough use of irrigants—making sure that the debris, and irrigant itself is lifted completely out of the canal, not forced out the apex—as the most important determinant in the long-term success of an endodontic procedure. The right irrigants, when used properly, eliminate harmful microorganisms and bacteria in the root and tubules, and prevent recontamination, even long after the RCT (root canal therapy) is complete. The recently acknowledged vital role of irrigants stands to reason, as RCT itself was born out of the necessity to treat the infected, and very often painful, dentinal tubules and roots that traditional restorative dentistry couldn't address.

Performing endodontic procedures can be tricky and technique-sensitive—so much so that many clinicians end up referring the work out to a specialist, losing valuable business. Ultradent can help! Here are some guidelines to help you get the most out of your money while performing endodontic procedures in the safest way possible.

During a root canal procedure, it's imperative that clinicians debride and cleanse canals thoroughly with endodontic irrigants—even where instruments can't reach. However, this can prove tricky, as irrigants must reach where they are needed without expressing beyond the apex of the canal. Dr. Dan Fischer says, "The basic concept of irrigation in endodontics is to get the smallest cannula down close to the apex, but shy of the foramen, and to irrigate from the bottom up. It is imperative to start from the bottom to prohibit trapping air in the canal, because it is very difficult to displace an air bubble when you're filling the canal from the top down. However, the deeper the canal, the more difficult it is to get the cannula down to the apical region of the tooth." In addition to the difficulties caused by deep canals, root canals often have curves with sharp turns that make navigating the cannula to the apical region difficult. That's where Ultradent's NaviTip™ tips really stand out against the other endodontic tips on the market, thanks to Ultradent's exclusive flex tip technology.

Your patients are seeing it all over social media, television, and beauty blogs, so no wonder they're demanding whitening treatments that use some kind of light or laser! So, how do you educate them on the reality behind tooth whitening and the effectiveness products that use lights vs. those that do not? Ultradent to the rescue! We sat down with Ultradent's technical manager over whitening, Peter Allred, to discuss how you can talk to and educate your patients about the pros, cons, and gimmicks when it comes to light/laser used in some whitening systems.

In the age of selfies, high-definition cameras, and social media, the demand for high-quality esthetic dentistry has never been greater. For dentists, one thing that can make or break their work is the quality of the composite they choose to use on their patients. With so many options out there, here are five attributes that all dentists should demand from their composite to guarantee esthetics, performance, and quality and ensure patient satisfaction. Yes, it IS possible to have all of the following in one composite.

“The thing about handling when it comes to composite is that you just don’t want to have to think about it,” says Dr. Shea Bess, a full-time practicing dentist and country-wide dental lecturer. “It’s one of those things that you really don’t notice or consider until it’s a problem…and then it’s a big problem. The goal is for the composite you’re using to be so seamlessly workable that you don’t need extra products or tricks to get it to go where you want easily, stay put, not slump, not stick, not crumble, and not drag or pull. You shouldn’t have to worry about those things when you’re with your patient.”

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.

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.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Richard B. Price to discuss curing lights. For those not familiar with Dr. Price and his work, he’s widely considered the dental industry’s premier expert on curing lights and research surrounding dental light curing. In fact, he’s been cited in more than 3,000 peer-reviewed, published research articles in over 140 publications throughout his career, and he shows no sign of slowing down. His innate curiosity for studying the reasons behind common issues that dentists in every field face unexpectedly led him to his chosen field of study. He now finds great satisfaction in mentoring and conducting research with the upcoming generation of dental students, dentists, and dental researchers at Tufts University School of Dentistry and at various dental schools in Canada, Brazil, and Europe.

October is National Dental Hygiene Month, so we wanted to celebrate Carol Jent, Ultradent's Clinical RDH. We recently sat down with Carol to talk about her favorite hygiene products. "The first Ultradent sealant product I used from the company, before I ever even worked here, was UltraSeal XT® plus sealant. The office where I was working at the time had used another sealant product that I didn't like at all—it seemed it was always failing and we were constantly having to redo sealant. "At a trade show we learned about UltraSeal XT plus sealant and decided to give it a try and track the success rate. We were amazed! We weren't having to redo any of our sealants and if we did, it was rare."