Guiding Dental Teams Toward Good Decision-Making
Prior to becoming a Dental Product Shopper evaluator, I was aware of other entities reporting to our profession about new and improved dental products. But while helpful and informative, these reviews failed to discuss any negative attributes of the products being tested. So, I was immediately comforted during my first DPS evaluation when I was asked to include both pros and cons of the product being evaluated in my review.
Reading your colleagues’ unbiased professional opinions and clinical experiences with a new dental product can influence your buying decisions. This means that, as a DPS evaluator, I have a unique ability to save dentists from making product decisions that could adversely impact their patients’ comfort, longevity, cosmetics, function, and finances. And, while I never feel compelled to purchase a product that does not meet my own clinical needs, protocols, or style, I trust that reviews from other DPS evaluators reflect their true feelings and opinions and are not mere marketing instruments from manufacturers.
I recently reviewed GC America’s EXAFAST NDS and EXAMIX NDS VPS impression materials for DPS and discovered that both formulas were easy to use, clear to read, and had optimal working and setting times. I also use GC’s EXABITE II NDS, and find it to be much more accurate than other indexing materials I’ve used. It is more rigid and can be carved back to allow the lab to see the accuracy of articulation in the models more readily, while the working time is just long enough for full arches without having to rush or repeat the bite due to poor flow. By sharing my opinion of these products with DPS and their readers, hopefully I can help other dental professionals make informed product purchase decisions.
When a practice decides to make a large investment in high-tech dental equipment like a digital impression system or CBCT imaging unit, being able to access unbiased peer-to-peer reviews of those products is of the utmost value, especially since they cannot be easily returned to the manufacturer. Our practice recently purchased a Medit i500 intraoral scanner, and, thanks to our pre-purchase research, we are quite happy with how easy it is to manipulate the handpiece and capture accurate images.
It is an honor to evaluate products for Dental Product Shopper, which is why I’m excited to introduce this year’s Evaluators’ Choice issue. It will guide readers to the “best of the best” in many product categories. I urge you to spend some time, reading through the key attributes of these peer-awarded products. Doing so will save you time and money, and give you confidence in your selection of dental materials and equipment both now and in the future.