Hi folks : Just got off the plane and a TON of emails and posts to go through since I left.

I was at the ADA from Oct 23-26th in San Francisco and had some interesting times and saw some interesting things.

First off , I have been testing a new laser for Ivoclar for the last two months but they released it officially this weekend at the ADA, so I can officially tell you about it after the NDA has now ended (Non Diclosure Agreement). I have been accused as being supportive of only one laser in the past , perhaps with some justification but I have attempted to tone down the rhetoric in the last few month, despite the fact that I still do hold certain opinions as dear to my heart. The fervor and venom that comes from discussions about some topics is beyond what I have time for or the energy for. It is draining and this weekend was at times an example of that.

So with the above in mind I will tell you a little about my weekend and what was happening at the ADA with respect to lasers.

First off the meeting was huge with 45000 signed up for the meeting, far larger than the most recent ones but not as large as one ADA several years ago in Orlando where it will be next year Sept, 30-Oct 3.

The fervor around lasers was incredible, and there were so many things happening . IF you looked at lasers in the book there were huge numbers of distributors and some new guys like Deka ( with their CO2 and their recently cleared Er Yag with FDA clearance on Friday). I didnt get a chance to talk to my buddy Sonny at the booth but he was quite pleased with the booth traffic and with peoples questions. I have seen the lasers before they got clearance and the are sleek looking that is for sure.

Ivoclar released its new product which is the laser I have been testing for a while now and it is a super small 810 nm diode which weighs around 5 pounds and has a retractable fiber that is controlled by a motor on a spool. It is very simple to use , with two settings being either Continous or Pulsed at 10Hz with a 50 percent duty cycle. It is clean and goes from .1 watts to 5 watts in increments of .1watt.

I have done some clinical cases and will post one at the end for you to see……..it competes with other diodes including but not limited to …….

The diodes from Biolase, Hoya, Zap, Opus, ADT (now owned by Biolase), and the 980 nm wavelength from Biolitec which is a diode but not the same wavelength.

It is a soft tissue only laser, and has many of the features for soft tissue procedures that other diodes or in some respects that an Nd Yag will have although there are some differences.

It sells for between 11-12000 US dollars.

Next off Biolase had a great big booth with lots of traffic and lots of interest. I attended the Biolase party courtesy of Mark Colonna who was playing with Kim Kutsch in the band ……..cant remember the name though (GRIN).

It was an eventful night for many reasons some of which I cant go into, but most left with tshirts and glowsticks and a big smile on their face.

There was both a lecture and hands on workshop for lasers given by Dr. Joel White from UCSF who is someone with TONS of research experience in lasers particularly diodes and ndyags and apparently according to some people I talked to there was close to 1000 in attendance for the lectures and I dont know how the hands on were.

I got a chance to have dinner with Millenium Dental Lasers who produce the Periolase specifically for periodontal pocket treatment, and I had a great dinner with Del (one of the co owners) , and a very open minded periodontist from Kentucky , who I admire for his interest. Please keep your eyes open for this laser as it has some unique features to it and some of the research that they are doing is quite interesting……….

Thanks to Del , Ralph, and Rusty for a great dinner.

I spent some time with Hoya and their lasers and there was again quite a bit of interest in what lasers can do, how they work , and what benefits they can bring to the dental practice, which is really exciting to see how much excitement there is to this technology. The market is exploding now with interest and laser sales and education will definitely be on the rise in the next year.

In closing, perhaps the greatest enjoyment I had was sitting down with Mark Colonna for the first time, and talking about the present nature of the laser and magnification industries. Mark, for those of you who have not met him is a kind, honest, and wonderful clinician who has a passion for teaching, educating and inspiring others to follow in his footsteps. I watched from the Global Microscope booth as he lectured and there was a big audience in the Biolase booth listening to him discuss how he uses the laser for a variety of both hard and soft tissue procedures , including crowns and bridges.

For me, the opportunity to talk to Mark about lasers , regardless of brand was refreshing, and exciting and I encourage any of you who havent had the chance to do so to listen to him when you have a chance.

Well thats my recap of the ADA where I lectured three times on magnification alternatives for the dental practice and now turn my attention to the next item.

It was as always, a real eye opening meeting where one of the big buzzes was really lasers, the interest in all booths was high and the questions about the technology were multiple .

Take care and off to look at my emails, and to all of those of you that I ran into from companies and to the dentists I hope you had a safe trip home.

Here is the case, a simple frenectomy shown in the first two collages and then the 5 day healing , then the collage of the Odyssey laser with a picture of that laser versus the 980 diode from Biolitec (another good diode).
Settings for the treatment were 1 watt Continuous wave.

Hope that helps and for more information regarding the Odyssey laser look at their web site……..

Ivoclar.

All the best,

Glenn