ok my turn,,,
I believe Biolase may be the only profitable dental laser company on the Market( I wouldnt swear but I believe)

I am a waterlase and lasersmile user. Here is my take on
the 10 items mentioned.

1.The only profitable publicly traded dental laser company. Hoya, not publicly traded, Lumenis losing money,Kavo, not yet FDA approved, Biolase profitable for two years.

2.I never heard any public derisions of other lasers.

3.Perhaps what is meant is that there are many more procedures that are FDA approved .

4.I believe that the ER/YAGS pay Biolase a fee, since Biolase bought ADT and its patents.

5.I believe the lasers are technique sensitive. Each operator proceeds at his own pace, depending on skill, and patient. Why they chose this wavelength, I suppose only the grand mufties at Biolase know.

6.see 5.

7. After fibromas( I have done maybe 10) bleeding has never been a problem. If bleeding was a problem, I would probably turn on the diode, if the waterlase didn’t do the job. So far that issue hasn’t come up.

8.diodes and ND/YAGS are probably better for soft tissue than YSGG.

9. see 8.

10. I would not attempt to remove calculus on root surface in a pocket with YSGG for fear of damaging cementum. Piezoscaler, cavitron or currette still instrument of choice.

I agree with Jeff. No one laser can do it all. It is easy to get trapped in the, “my laser is better than your laser ” feud…don’t! They all work with proper training. Most of us using a laser, regardless of the manufacturer, loves it.

Robert

Hi guys: sitting in my hotel getting ready to go to the airport at Palm Springs after a fun but tiring ALD meeting.

I encourage all of you not there this year to block of April first week next year for New Orleans and the 13th annual meeting.

Paul, I cannot speak for Stewart and I know he is a staunch advocate for Biolase and wears his colors on his sleeve. I can say though that in all of the State meetings or the ADA meeting (this meeting in Vancouver was the Canadian Dental Association annual meeting and the British Columbia provincial meeting all in one this year) that the organizations frown upon promotion of a single product. It is assumed that you will mention one time the product that you use but that additional promotional material in the lecture of a product is to be avoided. I know that at the ADA this is something that has been explicitly mentioned and I am quite sure that the contract would be very similar for the Canadian Dental Association.

Last year I lectured at the BC dental meeting and I know that it was again mentioned in that contract that it was to be as brand non specific as possible.

I think that in any sales meeting that is held by a particular company that you of course will receive a slant towards that particular company and you know that going into the lecture, it is totally understandable. The lectures held at large conferences of which I do attend and speak at quite a few, are in my experience not a venue for repeated sales pitch.

I dont think this issue is restricted to one company or product but something that everyone must remember when they are out on the road speaking at different venues.

In closing, I just spent three days lecturing and attending meetings here in Palm Springs and in both our hands on workshop where Biolase kindly contributed a laser for our attendees and during the lecture itself where I mentioned my use of the DeLight once initially and showed the machine, I mentioned that the clinical tips I was offering where transferrable to all machines that were in the Erbium family.

I think that this forum thrives because of the variety of users on it and that much is to be learned from Biolase, Opus , and Delight users who post here and offer the clinical insights.

From personal experience I have seen that you are providing a study club that is also attended by many different brand users and the flavour that brings to each meeting is exciting and educational.

I hope that my insights into what is expected of the speaker to provide an unbiased viewpoint when they do lecture at most of these state meetings is taken for what it is.

Finally, it may be that Biolase specifically sponsored Stewarts event and paid both his travel expenses and honorarium and that none of the costs was defrayed by either the CDA or the BC dental surgeons. If this is the case then that disclosure should have been made extensively clear prior to the lecture so all that were in attendance would be aware of the speakers inherent bias.

Its no shame to have a bias , but disclosure of affiliations to companies should be made inherently clear prior to and sometime during the lecture in my opinion.

I have been accused of being ” on the payroll” of one laser and scope company. I have tried to become as balanced and unbiased as possible, respecting the uniqueness of all particular brands within the marketplace. I have found it to be alot less controversial and alot more professional.

Take my 02 cents for what it is worth.

All the best and off to the airport.

Glenn

Paul, where ever you go these days to learn about lasers there seems to be four things you can count on-

1. Hostility- witnessed this at least twice at ALD and it seems to stem from the fact that anytime someone offers an opinion that something about a particular laser could be better, the manufacturer response is hostilitity instead of using a valuble opportunity to show why they believe their product is better. The other source of hostility comes from those not willing to make an investment in lasers and are threatened by them.

2.Opinions offered as fact- many times , because a user
has a protocol that works well for them, they present that protocol or results as a fact.

3. Lots of outright mis-information- this week alone I saw math miscalculations, statements that one wavelength could accomplish everything another could, companies admitting that  they purposely stay away from presenting science because the majority of their users don’t care how the laser works.

4. some great, honest, and helpful laser dentists that will go the extra mile to help you learn and avoid the mistakes they made.

My advice is to gear your study club to the #4’s of this world , ignore the 1’s and 3’s, and don’t be afraid to respectfully question the number 2’s  

Paul: that is discouraging news indeed to hear that people will not join because the local rep here for Biolase feels that the information provided is not applicable to all laser users.

In fact we have one dentist who owns the Biolase laser and he is an excellent clinician, excited to be using his laser, and has contributed alot to our first couple of meetings.

I have learned in past of my mistakes, and corrected them……….

This particular rep is still choosing to act immature and has no idea of what material I present.

Perhaps one of these days we should invite her to a meeting so she can see first hand what an unbiased lecture (and study group) looks like.

ah enough already………

I have vented , and feel better already!!

Grin

glenn