Going Above and Beyond to Meet and Exceed Clinical Needs

ERIC FARMER,
DDS

Dr. Eric Farmer
graduated from
the University of
Nebraska College
of Dentistry in 1991
after earning an
undergraduate
degree in biology.
Since then, Dr.
Farmer has taken
more than 2,700
hours of advanced
continuing education
courses and has had
the honor of serving
patients for more
than 30 years at his
Wichita, KS, practice.
He is a gifted teacher
and is involved in the
Ultimate Occlusion
3 and TMD courses
with the Clinical
Mastery Series. He
also lectures to study
clubs and dental
associations. In
addition, Dr. Farmer
is a Fellow with the
American Academy
of Craniofacial Pain.

Going Above and Beyond to Meet and Exceed Clinical Needs

One doctor praises Kettenbach’s reliable and easy-to-use impression and bite registration materials, as well as the company’s open line of communication with doctors

Most of us don’t know how much easier, accurate, and effective certain dental procedures can be until we’re introduced to a technique or product that opens our eyes. Suddenly we realize, for example, that the time we’ve spent trimming and adjusting could have been better spent—for ourselves and our patients. Kettenbach has several products that can be real eye-openers, and I use many of them every day, both in practice and during our courses at The Clinical Mastery Series. Two products in regular rotation with my patients and in the classes we teach are Identium impression material and the Futar family of bite registration materials, including Futar, Futar Clear, and Futar D.

Identium: The Go-To Material

I switched to Identium because I don’t like having a bunch of different products in my office. I want one that’s good for everything. Identium, which is a mix of polyether and polyvinyl, has become my go-to impression material. Its mix of chemistries means it offers the best of both worlds. It’s firm, but it doesn’t have the bad taste associated with many polyethers, which improves the patient experience.

Because Identium’s properties check all the boxes for me, I use it for everything from single-unit crowns to full-arch impressions. The material’s shore hardness makes it perfect for taking implant-coping impressions—I never have to worry about the coping wobbling around in a softer material (Figure 1).

Futar Clear: The MacGyver Material

Futar Clear is a bite registration material that you also can use for the flowable composite injection molding technique when placing direct composite veneers. I call it a MacGyver material. You can light cure through it because it’s clear. I use it to make custom impression copings for implants, so I can use flowable composite instead of bis-acryl material. A light-cured composite is a lot cleaner with less smear layer. You don’t have to clean it off.

And, because you can just go directly to the mouth, you save a ton of time, which is important to achieve a good result. The emergence profile doesn’t shrink up while the temporary or abutment is out of the mouth. Time is of the essence in this situation (Figures 2-5).

Futar D: The Rigid Material

I use Futar D for open bite registrations because of its rigidity, which helps me, but especially the lab, trim accurately. Something a lot of dentists don’t understand is that if the bite registration they get back from the lab isn’t trimmed, the models don’t get articulated correctly as they have too much bounce.

The result is that the dentist might have to do a lot of adjusting. Labs love Futar D because it trims easily with either an acrylic bur or a sharp Bard-Parker blade. (Figures 6 and 7).

Futar: The Time-Saving Material

I use Futar for closed mouth bite registrations. It’s not quite as hard as Futar D, but it still trims easily. The lab can trim it in one piece, which prevents it from falling apart. Using Futar, we get an accurate bite, which translates into better-fitting restorations and less time spent making adjustments (Figure 8).

Kettenbach: A Dental Practice Partner

I love working with Kettenbach. Because the company sells directly to practices, I’ve gotten to know the sales reps well. Over the years, I’ve learned that the company wants to hear from dentists. In fact, they solicit our opinion. I don’t have to go to them with a complaint or suggestion; they come to dentists with questions to find out how different products are working. They want to know what we like and what we think can be improved.

For example, Kettenbach recently asked me to beta test a new Futar bite registration formulation intended to provide users with an easy-to-use material that offers a shorter processing time. I dispensed some of the material onto the countertop and I didn’t think it could possibly stack and stay in place. It felt different from all the other Futar materials. I emailed the Kettenbach team with my negative assessment and went about my day.

Later, when I was with a patient, my assistant unexpectedly handed me the new product, which I didn’t think would work, but it didn’t slump; it stood up on the teeth. I was impressed. While the material was setting up, I ran back to my office and sent a second email praising the material. Although the material was soft on the countertop, taking it to the mouth changes the properties slightly (perhaps in reaction to the heat and humidity in the mouth), which prevents it from slumping. That new product, Futar Easy, is available now.

The Cherry on Top

I don’t shop for price. If I find a product that works well, I’m going to use it no matter the cost. However, not every dentist can afford to do that. So, when you find a product that meets high standards for ease of use, accuracy, and outcomes, and has a price point that doesn’t break the bank, that’s the cherry on top of Kettenbach’s materials. They aid in the delivery of excellent outcomes for patients and they’re affordable.