May 2018

In preparation for writing this month’s cover story, 3D Printing: What You Need to Know, I attended a program on 3D printing technology in the medical and dental fields. While printing is poised for growth in dentistry,...

3D printing technology has been around for more than three decades in a variety of industries. Here are some of the highlights of its storied history:

1980: Dr. Hideo Kodama of Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute is credited with being the first to describe a rapid prototyping technique...

Just as 3D printing technology revolutionized the hearing aid industry—95% of hearing aids are now printed—it’s poised to transform fabrication processes in our profession. LMT shares experiences, challenges and advice from early-adopter lab owners and managers who’ve successfully...

3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanner users can now send a patient’s digital impressions via the TRIOS Communicate™ cloud directly to SomnoMed for the manufacture of its sleep and bruxism devices. 

“3Shape is very excited to work with SomnoMed to create a digital workflow that makes sleep...

90 minutes

Research suggests working in 90-minute intervals maximizes productivity.

64 seconds

It takes an average of 64 seconds to recover every time we’re interrupted by an email. Turn off distracting email alerts and block set times to check and respond to email rather than replying immediately to each. 

In the Fall, the ADA issued a policy statement addressing the dentist’s role in sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD). Emphasizing that dentists are the only healthcare provider with the knowledge and expertise to provide oral appliance therapy (OAT), the policy outlines dentists’ responsibilities...

Productivity Myth: It’s best to stand while you work.

Fact: It’s better to change your position throughout the day, in a regular cycle of sitting, standing and moving around. Among other things, this variety helps bring more blood to your brain, improving your cognition and therefore your...

Futudent’s new proCam is a miniature camera that can capture video and high-quality photos without interrupting dental procedures; it’s designed to be mounted on loupes, chair lights or other surfaces. The company’s new microCam is a lightweight camera designed for easy loupe-mounted...

Dental Team: Dr. Joris Kloster and Markus Stork, MDT, from Wiesloch and Braunschweig, Germany respectively. 

Restorative Challenge: The 33-year-old patient first presented with no systemic conditions, except for an allergy to penicillin. A few years earlier, she had been diagnosed with...

One of the tenets of maximizing productivity is to focus on what you do best and outsourcing or finding resources for the rest. With that thought in mind, LMT has compiled a list of low- or no-cost online tools for your business needs, including:

Graphic design: Need some simple design expertise? Check...

Famed businessman Peter Drucker once said, “Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings, the better.”

Meetings eat up the most valuable resource your team has—time—and when they’re unfocused or unproductive they can also drain team members’ energy,...

The Houston-based Center for Craniofacial & Dental Sleep Medicine has received FDA clearance for its Meridian PM oral appliance for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. 

“By holding the lower jaw in a more comfortable position, the Meridian PM eliminates the potential jaw pain and...

qii is touted as the first drink for oral health and can reduce up to 52% of dental plaque, according to DoseBiome, a Toronto start-up focused on oral microbiome research. qii is made with organic tea and XyVita™, a xylitol-containing formulation that works by reducing acidity and the risk of tooth...

Northpass Immersive, a medical technology manufacturer, recently launched BELLA VR, an intuitive Virtual Reality platform that helps patients cope with pain and anxiety by escaping with virtual experiences. Lightweight and compact, it has no wires and no controller and is easy to strap on and use. Patients...

Two technicians need reviews, you’re running low on zirconia, an irate dentist is waiting for your call back and your scanner is on the fritz—again. Feeling overwhelmed with all you have to accomplish this week? 

Consider prioritizing your daily tasks keeping the 85/10/5 rule in mind:...

There are several types of printing technologies and their capacity, accuracy, speed and prices vary. These are some of the most common technologies used in the laboratory: 

SLA (Stereolithography)—widely recognized as the first 3D printing process to be developed—is a laser-based process....

Between 2014-2017, diagnoses of sleep apnea in rural America increased from 0.2% of all medical claims to 1.98%; in urban America, they rose from 0.13% to 1.24%, according to a study done by FAIR Health, a national, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare...

True or false: People who are good multitaskers get more done. 

False: Multitasking can negatively affect clarity, make us less efficient and reduce productivity by up to 40%. Research shows that people get more done if they concentrate on one task at a time.

While it’s usually not realistic...

A study by the UCLA School of Nursing found significant clinical differences between the brains of women and men diagnosed with sleep apnea, helping to emphasize the need for different treatment approaches.

Using MRI scans, the study compared the cortex thicknesses of 12 women and 36 men with mild to...