COLTENE develops and supplies exceptional-value tools and materials to dentists and specialists, who want to deliver high-quality endodontic treatments.

Pass on the benefits of choosing COLTENE to your patients!

The HyFlex™ EDM file canal preparation system gives flexibility and options for all your cases, even the most complex. Most clinicians only need to use one or two files to complete treatment! Deliver efficient endo, with no compromise to the outcome.

Also available for your non-surgical retreatments is the HyFlex™ REMOVER, to clean away obturation material, with no need for a separate solvent.

With a full range of tools and accessories available, rely on COLTENE for good value, upgraded endodontics.

For more on COLTENE, visit www.coltene.com, or call 0800 254 5115.

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The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD) is renowned across the profession worldwide for delivering an exceptional Conference every year. Not only is this a chance to see friends, connect with the industry and engage with the wider cosmetic dental community, but it’s also a platform to hear from some of the very biggest names in the field.

This year will be no exception, with the BACD proudly welcoming Dr Lincoln Harris – a figurehead in the global dental community. A highly in-demand teacher, lecturer and clinician, Dr Harris is also the CEO of RipeGlobal; a virtual learning platform utilised by professionals around the world.

Dr Harris will be headlining the already impressive speaker line-up at the BACD Annual Conference 2023, entitled “New Horizons”. He will be presenting a hands-on workshop – “Advanced treatment planning bootcamp” – on Thursday and running a full day lecture on Friday – “Building aesthetic foundations”.

Dr Harris considers what he feels are the biggest challenges for clinicians today in achieving aesthetic dental outcomes:

“It is difficult to balance what looks good in the mouth with what is seen on social media platforms like TikTok. There is an artificial expectation among some patients about what their smile could look like and while sometimes you can achieve it, other times you need to make it clear that their ambitions are not realistic. Patients who decide they want to straighten their teeth two weeks before their wedding, for example, are not always going to get what they want because this is simply not possible in many situations.”

Of course, patient expectations of treatment outcomes can influence their satisfaction with the end result. This is just one of the factors that impacts whether cosmetic dentistry may be deemed successful. Dr Harris continues:

“An aesthetic outcome is successful when you as the clinician are truly happy with it, first and foremost, and secondly, when the patient is satisfied as well. Even then, it is only really successful if the patient does not regret undergoing the procedure after five years. Ultimately, success is giving the patient what they want, in an ethical way, without long-term regrets.” 

To achieve consistently successful outcomes for patients, clinicians must ensure meticulous and thorough treatment planning for every case. This should include preparing for the worst scenarios and taking active steps to mitigate the risk of them occurring.

“Planning is incredibly important,” says Dr Harris. “A friend who is a business consultant said that you want to have difficult conversations at the outset of any working relationship, so they don’t happen in the middle of the process. That’s true in aesthetic dentistry too. You want to have all the difficult discussions and ensure the patient understands every possible outcome before you start work. It better prepares the patient and helps to prevent them from feeling disappointed should a complication arise. They also understand what results to expect.”

Dr Harris will discuss all of this in greater detail as part of his hands-on workshop at the BACD Annual Conference. During this advanced treatment planning bootcamp, he will share with delegates the secret to increased case acceptance and confident patient communication.  

During his main session, Dr Harris will explore an array of patient management techniques, such as how to deal with the person who lacks awareness of their own condition. He will consider how to plan complex, multidisciplinary cases efficiently, ethically and effectively, as well as how to sensitivity communicate what can be expensive treatment to patients. He will also share his wealth of expertise with regards to creating restorations that patients will love. If delegates take just one key message away from the session, Dr Harris hopes it will be to ensure the highest attention to detail:

“Never place any ceramics in the patient’s mouth unless you are 100% personally proud of them. Yes, it’s frustrating to send them back to the lab to be fixed, improved or changed in any way. However, it’s far more upsetting to remove 10 emax veneers and start a case again because the patient’s friend said that ‘they seemed a bit crooked’!”

The BACD Annual Conference 2023 is set to be another fantastic event, once again bringing exceptional speakers to UK shores. There will also be a trade show and various social events, ensuring plenty of opportunities to catch up with friends, meet new people and generally have an excellent time.

Dr Harris concludes with some final thoughts about the BACD and its upcoming Conference:

“The BACD has had such amazing speakers in the past that it is an amazing honour to be asked to present here – it’s also a little daunting! I am proud that RipeGlobal is a major sponsor of the event. I love London and the BACD dentists I’ve met so far seem super optimistic, upbeat and enthusiastic. I’m sure there is going to be an amazing vibe at the Conference.”

BACD 19^th Annual Conference 2023

New Horizons

9-11 November

IET Savoy Place, London

www.bacd.com/annual-conference

Everyday habits can cause extrinsic tooth staining – from drinking wine, coffee, tea and soft drinks to eating foods like rich, dark fruits and tomato-based sauces.

Don’t let tooth staining worry your patients, and recommend the Arm & Hammer^™ Advance White^™ Pro toothpaste. This solution helps to whiten teeth by up to 3 shades in 6 weeks, with regular brushing.

Containing 1450ppm of fluoride and baking soda, the formula provides a gentle yet effective clean, removing stains without damaging the enamel. Baking soda also helps to provide an exceptional clean, all the while neutralising odour and promoting a neutral pH in the mouth.

To find out more, get in touch with the team or visit the website today.

For more information about the carefully formulated Arm & Hammer^™ toothpaste range, please visit https://www.armandhammer.co.uk/ or email: ukenquiries@churchdwight.com

Arm & Hammer^™ oral healthcare products can now be purchased from Boots, Amazon, Superdrug, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s, Waitrose & Partners and Ocado.

Writing dental documents can be a very time-consuming task, particularly when they are for the eyes of your patients.

When you use Kiroku to take your notes, you can easily convert them into patient letters, all thanks to Kiroku Docs. This helpful tool gathers all of the information it needs from your clinical notes, translating any dental jargon, to write a personalised, customisable letter – using templates accessible on Kiroku Docs. And, you don’t even have to leave the platform to send your documents, they can be shared directly from Kiroku – saving you even more time.

For more information about how Kiroku Docs can benefit you, contact the team today.

To find out more about Kiroku, or to start your free trial, please visit trykiroku.com

Technology facilitates successful professional-patient communication,^[i] enabling clinicians to better explain treatment, enhance the workflow and help more patients say ‘yes’ to treatment. And the digital equipment, systems and software being developed and produced only continue to improve, tackling many common challenges in dentistry and helping the dental team overcome them. Communication is a vital aspect of care – poor communication can cause a host of issues for the patient and the clinician. How do digital dental systems enhance conversation between clinicians and their patients?

The bedrock of dentistry

Good communication is imperative to safe, ethical and successful treatment. But usually, it is one of the hardest aspects of caring for patients and this is due to a range of reasons. ‘Communicating effectively with patients’ is one of the nine principles in the General Dental Council’s (GDC) Standards, but modern-day life makes communicating efficiently much more challenging. Due to the near-instantaneous access to online information, patients are able to gather information and form preconceptions regarding their desired treatment. While it helps to have patients who are well-informed and have done their research, misinformation is rife on the internet and there is very little that can be done to monitor it. As such, patients may desire a certain treatment pathway, such as a heavily invasive treatment like crowns, without considering what the implications could be further down the line. 

According to the literature, good communication reduces the likelihood that a claim is made against a clinician, in addition to the ultimate success of treatment.^[ii] It forms the bedrock of positive professional-patient relationships, and serves as an incredibly important tool within the clinical workflow.

The age of digital dentistry  

The term ‘digital dentistry’ is broad and encompasses many different avenues of technology, from handheld tools to software, apps and equipment. While effective communication skills are a must as a clinician, these digital systems can help to enhance how clinicians interact, explain and demonstrate things to their patients. Every patient is different and so, for some, even the most thorough explanation of the treatment pathway can lead to misunderstanding – some patients may feel unable to ask questions, or others may feel so inundated by information that they refuse treatment.

In these scenarios, certain digital tools can help to simplify communication while ensuring that everything the patient needs to know is thoroughly communicated. For example, many intraoral scanners (IOS) have allowed clinicians to not only improve certain aspects of the impression taking workflow compared to conventional methods,^[iii] but also involve patients more closely. Patients can view the pictures and videos captured by the IOS and discuss any concerns they may have – it is a brilliant tool for facilitating conversation and questions. With regards to oral health, there can sometimes be a dissonance between what the clinician says and the patient’s own understanding of their health – with digital systems like an IOS, patients can better appreciate the advice being given to them, as they can visualise the information in real-time.^[iv]

More power to patients

Increasingly, clinicians are adopting more digitalised workflows within their practices, enjoying the abundance of benefits that come with it. These workflows allow the clinician to have more flexibility over what work they do in-house and what they send to the dental laboratory. In some cases, utilising an IOS cuts down on the number of treatment steps, and when combined with other digital systems such as design software, work can be designed there and then with input from the patient. Temporaries can then be printed or milled, drastically reducing the length of waiting time for the patient. This example of a digitalised workflow demonstrates how treatment can be streamlined, while maximising communication, as tweaks and changes can be made to the final outcome before any work has even commenced.

With digital systems, treatment can be made much more efficient,^[v] comfortable for the patient^[vi] and also significantly improve how information is communicated.^[vii] As the technologies become more sophisticated, these facets of treatment are only going to continue to improve. Clark Dental is a proud supplier of a range of cutting-edge digital systems, designed to the highest standard of quality. The comprehensive portfolio includes the components of an entire digitalised workflow. Primescan intraoral scanner, Primeprint 3D printer and Primemill milling unit combine into one state-of-the-art process, enabling clinicians to expand their treatment offerings and clinical capabilities. Each system has been intelligently designed to enhance dentistry, improving the experience for the dental team and their patients.

The future looks bright

Innovative digital tools, software and equipment are able to totally transform dental treatment, supplementing the efforts of the clinician to support, educate and communicate effectively with patients. As systems improve over time, the incidences of miscommunication and subsequent complications further down the line will dramatically reduce, promoting a much higher quality of care for patients.  

For more information call Clark Dental on 01268 733 146, email info@clarkdental.co.uk or visit www.clarkdental.co.uk

^[i] Monterubbianesi, R., Tosco, V., Vitiello, F., Orilisi, G., Fraccastoro, F., Putignano, A. and Orsini, G. (2022). Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality in Dentistry: A Narrative Review on the Existing Platforms and Future Challenges. Applied Sciences, [online] 12(2), p.877. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/2/877/htm [Accessed 4 May 2023].

^[ii] Waylen, A. (2017). The Importance of Communication in Dentistry. Dental Update, [online] 44(8), pp.774–780. Available at: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/the-importance-of-communication-in-dentistry [Accessed 5 May 2023].

^[iii] Chochlidakis, K.M., Papaspyridakos, P., Geminiani, A., Chen, C.-J., Feng, I.J. and Ercoli, C. (2016). Digital versus conventional impressions for fixed prosthodontics: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, [online] 116(2), pp.184-190.e12. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002239131600041X [Accessed 5 May 2023].

^[iv] Pentapati, K.-C. and Siddiq, H. (2019). Clinical applications of intraoral camera to increase patient compliance – current perspectives. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dentistry, [online] Volume 11, pp.267–278. Available at: https://www.dovepress.com/clinical-applications-of-intraoral-camera-to-increase-patient-complian-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-CCIDE[Accessed 5 May 2023].

^[v] Kattadiyil, M.T., Jekki, R., Goodacre, C.J. and Baba, N.Z. (2015). Comparison of treatment outcomes in digital and conventional complete removable dental prosthesis fabrications in a predoctoral setting. The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, [online] 114(6), pp.818–825. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022391315004382 [Accessed 5 May 2023].

^[vi] Yilmaz, H. and Aydin, M.N. (2019). Digital versus conventional impression method in children: Comfort, preference and time. International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, [online] 29(6), pp.728–735. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ipd.12566 [Accessed 5 May 2023].

^[vii] Spagnuolo, G. and Sorrentino, R. (2020). The Role of Digital Devices in Dentistry: Clinical Trends and Scientific Evidences. Journal of Clinical Medicine, [online] 9(6), p.1692. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7356564/ [Accessed 5 May 2023].

One of the biggest challenges for dental teams is getting patients to maintain an effective daily dental hygiene routine. Optimised homecare is a crucial line of defence in the prevention of oral disease. But getting people to start, then stick to, a new regime can be hard.

Without engagement, and the opportunity to build relationships, keeping patients motivated may seem a near-impossible task. We know that, for those who rely on NHS dentistry around the UK, access to regular dental examinations and consultations is almost non-existent.^[1] In April, NHS charges in England increased by 8.5%, a hike that would have done nothing to help those struggling to get the care they need.

Today, everything is more expensive than it was a few years ago and this has pushed anything perceived as non-essential – including non-emergency dentistry – down many people’s list of financial priorities. But preventive appointments are high-value and crucial for talking with patients about things like correct brushing and the best products to use. They just need to recognise the importance of this on-going care.

Good patient conversations lead to positive engagement and trust. They help you understand what’s holding them back, whether it’s worries about affording treatment or something else, and they can appreciate that they are in control of their oral health. Ultimately, you want to empower people, by showing them how to have a really clean and healthy mouth, so they need to see you less. This can make it easier to encourage them to try something new.

Good brushing technique is crucial, of course, and the first building block of a daily routine. But for optimal plaque removal, which will significantly lower their risk of disease, interdental cleaning should be performed once a day using a quality tool to make the job easy. Interdental brushes are now a well-established alternative to string floss, which patients often found fiddly.

You will already be telling patients about how billions of bacteria lurking in interdental spaces, even for orally-healthy adults.^[2] You’ll be describing how this bacteria can accumulate if left undisturbed, increasing the risk of caries and halitosis, as well as promoting the development of tooth loss and serious non-oral diseases or systemic health concerns.^[3] So, why is it still so difficult to get patients to clean interdentally?

There is plenty of research out there about the psychology of routines. Lots of ‘new’, positive routines come without instant gratification. When patients elevate their oral care routine with interdental cleaning, the long-term benefits may seem intangible – it is a preventive routine, after all. Ensure you have interdental brushes to hand, to demonstrate how practical they are to hold, and move in and out of spaces with ease. A big misconception about these tools is that they are one-size-fits-all. This is untrue, as high-quality ranges offer different sizes so dentists and DCPs can help each patient choose the appropriate size for them. Sizing therefore becomes key to how willing patients may be to clean interdentally every day. Held at the correct angle, the right-size brush will reduce risk of harm or injury; comfort is maintained too. Give them an interdental brush to try during a routine examination or consultation and they will also discover how they ‘fan out’ to fill the space, unlike string floss. Bacteria and hidden food deposits are swept away, gently and effectively.

Eco-conscious patients may question being recommended a plastic product and leading oral health brands have recognised this. Curaprox, for example, has created an interdental tool where only the brush tip will need replacing, meaning less avoidable waste. Its CPS Prime interdental brush has a unique click handle system, placing the brush head into a reusable angulated holder that helps with positioning while minimising plastic waste. A durable, robust and long-lasting tool, it’s a cost-effective choice too. The brush has fine, long and resilient bristles, with different sizes available each colour-coded for convenience. To help you teach an optimised interdental routine, a chairside box is available, containing a probe to measure spaces, charts to record and share the measurements with patients, plus a selection of samples.

To motivate patients in improving their at-home oral care practises, engagement is crucial. The simple message is that an elevated regime won’t take long, or cost the earth. Teach them how to protect their health, and reduce their risk of disease. Quality products, along with the right technique are key and a demonstration of interdental brushes should be part of routine consultations.

For more information, please visit

^[1] One in ten Britons have performed dentistry on themselves, half in the last two years. YouGov, 22 March 2023. Link: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2023/03/22/one-ten-britons-have-performed-dentistry-themselve (accessed June 2023).

^[2] Bourgeois, D., Bravo, M., Llodra, JC. et al. Calibrated interdental brushing for the prevention of periodontal pathogens infection in young adults – a randomized controlled clinical trial. Sci Rep 9, 15127 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51938-8

^[3] Sci Rep 9, 15127 (2019).