During the ADA Annual Meeting course I led today on Exquisite Provisionals, I was asked what temporary cement I use in my practice. As I answered I realized that my answer was different for the first time in 15 years. I have used the same temporary cement for many years. Recently I had the chance to try a new material and liked it enough that I have switched Read More
Lee Ann Brady DMD
Curing Lights & Photoinitiators
The most common type of dental curing light is an LED. This classic type of light was designed to polymerize a specific photoinitator called camphorquinone (CoQ), which is most effectively polymerized at around 480nm. The light guide is designed to deliver a high concentration of light at this exact wavelength. Int he years since then our resin materials Read More
Testing Your Curing Light
I know we are all familiar with the small testing devices for our curing lights. In truth though I never used one, more because I didn't know how to interpret the data then anything else. The exact number when we test is really not that important. What we watch for is a trend. If the number starts to diminish over time it is an indication that our light or Read More
Light Curing Barrier
One of the things I am picky about int he office is that our light curing units are covered with the protective barrier sleeve. So you are probably thinking, "Of course since it goes in the patients mouth". Making sure we don't transfer germs from one patient to the other is super important. However, the reason I am super picky about this has to do with the Read More