WAMkey is designed to remove cemented crowns rapidly and painlessly without risk of fracture or ligament injury.
An evalutor with more than 32 years of experience in dentistry said his favorite feature of Golden Dental Solutions? WAMkey is the potential to reuse the removed crown if desired. This same evaluator went on to call WAMkey ?somewhat better? than similar products offered by other manufacturers.
WAMkey is designed to remove a crown from the vertical axis of the supporting tooth and reduces unwanted stress on both the tooth and prosthesis. This results in quick and pain-free crown removal, and prevents the lateral movements to adjacent teeth that are ordinarily generated when the crown is split with other types of instruments. Because the crown is not split and the margins are unaltered, the dentist may choose to use it again, either permanently or temporarily.
WAMkey is a 3-instrument set with differing sizes. This allows clinicians to use the smallest instrument necessary to remove the crown, while keeping preparation to a minimum.
Patient Comfort
Manufacturer Description: WAMkey is designed to rapidly remove cemented crowns without pain, pressure, or risk of fracture or ligament injury.
Evaluator Feedback: When the 10 dentists who evaluated WAMkey 1 reported ?very little vibration? and another described it as ?a great atraumatic tool that is beneficial to be aware of.?
Ease of Use
Manufacturer Description: WAMkey enables crown removal in only 2 minutes.
Evaluator Feedback: One evaluator suggested ?an easier way to determine the right level to drill the slot? and another noted that it?s ?sometimes hard to estimate where to make the bur hole.? One dentist would have liked ?larger handles for a better grip? and another, who called it ?very well made,? suggested ?an angled tool for better posterior access.?
Another evaluator who commented on access said he ?spent too much time trying to get the right access through the crown,? acknowledging that ?maybe I need more crowns/practice.? A Washington dentist who rated WAMkey as very good said, ?I didn?t find it quicker than what I currently use, but I think my speed would increase with different burs for the initial slot preparation.?
One of 4 dentists who mentioned a learning curve said, ?It took several unsuccessful attempts but once I removed 1 [crown] I continued to have success.? Another of these evaluators, who rated the product as excellent, said she ?guessed wrong on the thickness of one gold crown and created a hole in the occlusal. Another crown didn?t pop off even after it was sectioned in 2, and further drilling was needed.? This same evaluator went on to say, ?Wow! Most of the crowns I removed popped off. It was very quick and easy to use. I was extremely impressed.?
?Once the cut was made, the crown came off easily,? said a dentist in practice for 28 years. ?It was fast and very easy to use,? noted a dentist who rated all features as excellent.
Crown Preservation
Manufacturer Description: Atraumatic removal with WAMkey gives removed crowns a ?second life.?
Evaluator Feedback: An evaluator who called it ?a nice adjunct for crown removal? said, ?I would have rated it higher for preservation of restoration except the porcelain frequently unbonded as I applied the WamKey.?
?The only drawback to using this type of product is that it can only be used on metal or metal/ceramic crowns that are conventionally cemented,? said a dentist who rated WAMkey as good. ?That being said, I think this is a wonderful product to remove metal crowns, especially on molars, but reusing the removed crowns is more difficult than [with] my current system because WAMkey requires a fair amount of crown material removal to work.?
One of the 4 dentists who cited crown preservation as the feature that they liked most called it a ?nice idea?small access to remove crowns in ideal situations.?
Overall Satisfaction
Seven evaluators called WAMkey much or somewhat better than similar products and 8 said they would definitely or probably recommend it to colleagues.
?I can?t see how you can improve it,? said 1 evaluator. ?Great product?fast and very easy to use. I?m very pleased with it,? noted a Wisconsin dentist who said he would definitely recommend and purchase WAMkey.
