Tom you might as well break down and buy a microscope and be done with it!!

I know I am going to get in trouble for this but I have to share because I thought it was interesting. Not that I’m suggesting anything!

I recently received a call from my Hoya rep who required one of my spare laser keys for an office just down the street from me. Turns out that this was the office of one of Vancouver’s top Opthamologists who happens to have set up one of the first excimer laser centres in Canada and has been specializing in the field of refractive surgery. He had just purchased a delight Er:YAG to perform, get this, eye surgery for correcting the need for bifocals in the elderly. Apparently, using a standard 400u tip with NO2 rather than O2 he reshapes the cornea by making 100u depth cuts.

I told him that I thought it interesting that we protect ourselves with laser glasses to prevent damage from the same laser he is putting right on the eye! He had a few comments about that and mentioned doing over 4000 LASIK and over 6000 PRK procedures without any detrimental effect to his eyes, but again, I am not suggesting anything here. Just found it interesting.

Of Course if you get a scope then the filters are much easier to attach than clip-ons onto loops. At least that is how it looks at Glenn’s office.

Welcome to the forum Tom

(Edited by drnewitt at 11:46 pm on Feb. 7, 2005)

I did my first apthous ulcer soft tissue procedure on a pt who I have seen before for the same problem “BL” before laser.  He is an auctioneer in the Las Vegas area, he came in to get another prescription.

Well, the procedure went as smooth as butter.   I used my DeLight laser on a soft tissue setting.  3-10 hz and and 80-100mj.  The patient was amazed and stupified at my ability to relieve him of his pain within a few seconds.  I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures (sorry).  The patient was so grateful he wanted to buy us dinner. It’s results  like this that make my day and dentistry worth it.

I’m having so much fun with my DeLight!

Thanks for your suggestion Dave.

As soon as I get into the office tomorrow I will try the settings on the back of my hand. That’s nice to know and a great tip!

I did a Zoom bleaching on a pt that developed apthous ulcerations (2) on the mand lingual attached gingiva. I guess we didn’t isolate the area well enough. So the next go-round will be tomorrow.

There aren’t too many dentists in Las vegas with the laser and word has definetly gotten out about me. I’m proud :big grin:.

After a couple hundred restorations, I’ve actually starting to learn a thing or two on my own. With all of the generous help I’ve gotten here from you guys, it’s time to share a little of what I’ve learned.

While this is not a novel concept, it came as a bit of an epiphany to me yesterday as I was opening yet another “stained groove” which turned into a BIG hole (I REALLY need to get a Diagnodent!) It occurred to me that, with the increase in magnification that I’ve been using since getting the lasers, things look really BIG. Hey, I told you it wasn’t a novel concept.

Anyway, I realized that most of my preps were too conservative. I thought I was making rather generous “toilet bowl” preps to allow complete removal of decay, only to find that they needed to be bigger. I finally looked AROUND my loupes to discover that what I thought were rather large preps were actually quite small by my unmagnified standards.

Knowing that, I need to concentrate on making my access preps even larger than I have been to allow better access. Having taken a look without magnification made me realize that even seemingly large preps under magnification are actually quite modest. I guess that’s the hazard of using two or three different levels of magnification during a day’s work.

I hope that helps fellow newbies and saves some frustration.

— Don McNamara