Inside My Practice with Bob Margeas

Dear Colleague,
In my dental practice, I choose products whenever possible from manufacturers that have a reputation and a track record of integrity, high quality, and innovation. Three such companies are presented here, with examples of their products that help me practice at the highest level to provide excellent clinical care and ensure patient satisfaction.

By showing what I use in my practice and what advantages each product has, I hope this column continues to be a valuable resource.

For questions or comments about any of the products I discuss in my column, please email me at rmargeas@aegiscomm.com.
Best,
Bob Margeas, DDS

Sofreliner Tough

Tokuyama

Sofreliner Tough is a silicone-based soft denture reliner that is a very convenient product to use because it comes in an automix gun like an impression material. The automix delivery is great because there is no powder and liquid to measure and mix. I like the consistency—it adapts very well to the inside of the partial or denture and it’s incredibly durable. Sofreliner is not something you can grind out very easily. It’s almost like a laboratory soft reline.

My relining protocol is to roughen up an area with a round bur on the inside of the acrylic. If I need a little bit more thickness for the lining, I go around the edge of the denture or the partial to give myself a little more room for a border. Then I rinse and dry, apply a primer, and inject the Sofreliner paste along the surface where the primer is applied. After letting it set in the patient’s mouth, I then take it out and trim off the excess. It’s convenient to use and provides a strong but soft reline.

Septocaine

Septodont

When Septocaine came out, I switched from 2% lidocaine. It has been my go-to anesthetic for the past 15 years or so. Before Septocaine, if I was working on a lower tooth, normally a bicuspid forward, I may have had to do a mandibular block. Now I can do an infiltration on the side of the tooth from the bicuspids forward and I can avoid a mandibular block but still give profound anesthesia. Even if I’m doing a crown prep, Septocaine makes it faster for me, because I can inject around the tooth and there’s usually a pretty fast onset.

Septocaine has had some negative press in the past regarding inferior alveolar nerve block, because some of the literature says it can sometimes cause paresthesia. I use it for everything, and I really believe that instances of paresthesia come down to technique, not necessarily the anesthetic. In my practice, I have personally never had a paresthesia case associated with Septocaine for inferior alveolar nerve block. It’s a fast, effective anesthetic that I rely on every day.

Planmeca ProMax 3D

Planmeca

I’ve had my Planmeca machine for over a decade. I like that upgrading is easy and affordable. You can go from a digital panorex to cone beam and not have to pay for a brand-new machine. They put new internal parts into the same unit so you can upgrade at a very reasonable price. They are also extremely dependable. I’ve never had a problem with my machine since I bought it in 2003.

Before I had cone beam in my office, I never realized what I was missing. The first day after my upgrade to cone beam, I had a patient who had endodontics that was failing, and I felt initially that he could maybe be retreated. But the cone beam showed so much bone loss that was not evident on the radiograph. I realized there was probably a crack, and more endo would not be the right thing to do. Cone beam is definitely going to be the standard of care. Some insurance companies won’t pay for them right now, but the benefit of having one outweighs the reimbursement issues.