Hoya DELight vs. Biolase waterlase

Hoya seems to have much better visibility
 The DELight delivery system provides unparalled visibility which is essential for erbium laser treatment.   Have done two in vitro(lab) test drives with the Waterlase MD. The delivery system of the DELight still provides better visibility.

Hoya seems to cut faster (able to increase the frequency?)
 No, ignore claims that one laser cuts faster than the other.  Waterlase MD goes up to 8.0 Watts and at that level may be possible that it cuts faster.

Hoya seems to have a much better cable
  Unquestionable.  Have never heard of a DELight user blowing a trunk fiber.

Hoya claims it is more stable as far as mobility from room to room or office to office.
  Not sure about mobility but I have personally experienced:
    Waterlase
       Four blown trunk fibers,  defective pumping chamber, blown flashlamp and burnt out handpiece mirrors.  Spent a bunch of money on repairs.
    DELight
       Minor electrical problem.  No additional money spent on repairs.

Hoya will let you test drive in your office.
   Yes.

Biolase will not let you try out the unit in your office.
   Don’t know.

Biolase seems to have many more users in Long Island.
   No comment.

Biolase will allow for easier water control.
   No.  DELight air/water is easily adjusted just like your high speed handpiece.  I set mine one time to allow proper clearance of cut tooth products, irrigation to prevent charring and to give me the best visibility.  Has never been changed.

Biolase claims to have much better support.
  For what?  In my opinion this is a big NO.

Biolase has a lot of courses in other doctors’ offices while Hoya will send you to laser academies.
  I’ve personally paid to have training by all three of the major erbium laser dental manufacturers in the U.S. dental market.  Rating based on presentation of scientific facts:
  1) HOYA
  2) Lumenis/OpusDent
  3) Biolase

Biolase claims that they own the patent on Hoya’s laser and knows when each one is sold.
   Don’t know.

Biolase has many more tips for its laser.
   Don’t know.  I’m pleased with the variety of tip selection available with my DELight.

Hoya is about &#367000 less expensive.
  Probably true when comparing the original Waterlase to the DELight.

They both will pay the doctor for in office demos.
  No comment and don’t care.

Biolase is very aggressive when it comes to sales.
  No doubt about that but we also have to look at ethic….. OK I’ll stop.

Biolase claims that it’s laser can numb a tooth but Hoya can not.
  It’s doubtful that either of these erbium lasers can “numb” a tooth.  Most likely, the supposed analgesic effects reported by erbium laser users can be explained by the fact that these pulsed lasers are only “ON” for microfractions of a second so that there is minimal heat buildup in the target tissue.

Hoya claims that they have much better hemostasis on soft tissue procedures.
  Really?  That’s usually a Biolase claim related to the 2780nm wavelength which is an insignificantly less 160nm than the water-specific 2940nm DELight.  Erbiums will cut oral tissues well but they don’t do so hot for sealing off capillaries since the wavelength is poorly absorbed by pigmented tissues.  Even if you have an adjustable longer pulse duration erbium like the WaterlaseMD I’d be willing to bet it won’t work as well as a laser in the 800-1064nm range.  There also may be issues with the tips getting messed up – when you work with soft tissue you need to have tips/fibers that can be cleaved like with diodes and Nd:YAGs.

Hoya is much quieter than the waterlase.
  The DELight cooling fan is much quieter than the original Waterlase.  However, I have heard that the fan on the Waterlase can be upgraded to a level of pleasance.  Fan noise from the new WaterlaseMD is neglible.

Ron, The more you use the MD the more you will like it. Having the soft tissue mode is like having a second laser. I would be hard pressed to come up with a reason why someone would want to buy a Er laser and a diode. The MD is the answer.

Has anyone tried Tricaine Blue?

It is awsome! Painless injections 99% of the time.
I bet it would be great for Lasers.

Marc,
Let me just say I performed a pulpotomy on a child today, no anesthetic, Waterlase MD…the soft tissue settings are excellent. Sorry you went to Buffalo, (Just kidding)…anyhow, as far as magnification, I use Designs for Vision 6.0x, most laser users are using 4.5x-6.0x and /0r a operating microscope. I hope to have my scope later this month. I see no reason, pedo or not, (Glenn, chime in please) to use higher magnification. It is ESSENTIAL for efficient laser useage. Understand another thing about the MD…it’s new, and yes, there are always “things” about new products, that being said, Biolase DOES STAND behind their product. I do get paid honorariums from them, so I disclose that, BUT it IS an excellent product, and David Kimmel, who is on this board, has both, you might want to ask his opinion as well…he is as honest as they come.

IF you get the MD, we have our training courses often, just email lisa@waterlasetraining.com for the schedule. IF you get the Hoya, DON’T BE TRAINED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN GLENN! Period! He is truly the best in our field with the Hoya laser.

I have trained many a pedodontist, and we cover extensively how to use the Waterlase and Waterlase MD on both hard and soft tissues….You can, again, email lisa for that information if you need to…Good luck!

Mark

PS Mark…..thanks alot for all your kind words but to be honest I am seeing alot of very good laser dentistry being done by dentists with both lasers. I know guys like Albert, Allen Williams, Andrew, Don McNamara, Jay Nelson, Don Wilson , Norman, and heck even Kimmel (just kidding) are doing stuff that I havent even thought of. Its kind of neat to see the progress from the early days when lasers were laughed at.

Hey speaking of that I have some long term follow ups on some of my most criticized cases…….will try to bump them up to show the healing…….they look good.

THanks again Mark……..really kind words and I do appreciate them.

SHow me some more of your cool crown prep cases!!

Glenn

Hi SOS…..

It was the DeLight laser by Hoya Con Bio……similar to Biolase in what it can do, slightly different wavelength in that it is an Er:YAG.

Settings were 30 Hz and 60 mj (1.8watts) without water with soft tissue tip (200 microns at end) and time was a couple of minutes I guess.

I have no idea of fee but I thought they charged for destruction of scar tissue which was either 250 or 400 depending on the size of it (over 1 cm) and thats Canadian.

Glenn