Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Smart Buys Louis Malcmacher, DDS, MAGD

More by this author (9)
Smart Buys
by Louis Malcmacher, DDS, MAGD
Every quarter, Dr. Louis Malcmacher scours the dental equipment landscape for the latest innovations that will have the greatest impact on dentists and their patients. Dr. Malcmacher studies the trends, responds to peer recommendations and in some cases puts these products to use in his own practice to test their mettle. This month, Dr. Malcmacher turns his focus on products from GC America, Den-Mat, SS White and Discus Dental.
Bite Registration Materials from Kettenbach







Kettenbach is well known in the German market as it has been the number-one company in the bite registrations category for more than 10 years and makes high-quality polyvinylsiloxane impression materials. Kettenbach has secured this number-one spot since 1996 by providing a clear focus on user benefits, high product quality and constant development and integration of innovations in this category.

The interesting thing about bite registration materials is that there is a wide variety of hardness, working time, speed, and other choices that need to be made in this category for your different needs.

Futar is Kettenbach’s original bite registration, which would be a medium texture material. Futar D is clearly one of the hardest bite registration materials that you will find. Futar D bite registration material is not flexible at all once it is cured. I use Futar D because it exhibits minimal resistance when the patient bites together and reproduces the occlusal service detail accurately. The material is very thixotropic and won’t run into any of the interproximal spaces, which makes it very easy to remove.

I have used all kinds of bite registration materials over the years. There are times when you need different textures for different procedures. Primarily, though, I am going to go with a harder bite registration material rather than soft. Why? There are many times I need to change the occlusion, take centric relation bite registrations, and have to open the bite. In these instances, the flimsy bite registration materials are just not adequate in keeping the dimensions right. The lab technicians I have worked with over the years have told me that they find the soft materials useless and don’t even use them, which means I have just wasted my time. Because of its hardness, Futar D completely eliminates the risk of deformation and minimizes the possibility of changes during shipment to the laboratory, even at high or low temperatures. I can literally grind on this material with an acrylic bur or even cut it with a scalpel when modifications are needed. In this way, the dental lab technicians who mount your models can be assured of a correct mounting.

Futar D comes in both a fast and slow set, depending on your preference. Another interesting product in Kettenbach’s Futar line is the Futar Scan. This is specifically designed for current CAD/CAM systems in helping eliminate some of the powder that is needed and it is optimized for optical and laser registration. As that whole market develops, Futar Scan will be the bite registration to use.

Smart Buy Summary: Kettenbach’s Futar line of bite registration materials gives you a nice range of materials for different needs. What you generally look for most in a bite registration material is stability, occlusal accuracy, and the ability to share it with the lab technician. Futar D exceeds these qualifications and is a very good choice for your bite registration material needs.

Dental Marketing Solutions by 1-800-DENTIST

1-800-DENTIST Operator 		Every dental practice needs help with marketing. For some reason, I meet so many dentists who think they are master marketers, when in truth we all stink at it. What you need to market to the American public are two things – consistency of message and the dollars to get the word out there. We, in private dental practices, lack both.

This is where 1-800-DENTIST comes into the picture. 1-800-DENTIST has proven to be a great resource for all stages of our practice growth. This two-time Townie Choice Award Winner for best dental marketing helps thousands of doctors reach their long-term marketing goals.
For my office, 1-800-DENTIST has provided a stream of fee-for-service patients who have been screened for everything from dental needs and payment method to how long it has been since their last appointment. If we are open, they will connect callers directly to our office whenever it is possible so that our staff can immediately appoint them. Contact information is immediately faxed to our office, which saves time and enables us to follow up with these patients as soon as possible.

What I am most impressed with is the way that 1-800-DENTIST trains its operators to talk to patients. A recent patient wrote on her information form that she was referred by Sheila from 1-800-DENTIST, who was so helpful and told her what a wonderful dentist she would be going to. I have never met Sheila from 1-800-DENTIST and I do not know who she is. Their operators know how to instill confidence in the consumers who call. This goes a long way in case presentation and treatment acceptance when the patients arrive already trusting the dentist they are going to see.

I was surprised at the extensive application process 1-800-DENTIST put us through to be able to be part of their program. This included contacting our state board to make sure we were in good standing. They also regularly solicit patient feedback about our office from patients to ensure the highest quality possible.

What sets 1-800-DENTIST apart is its production guarantee. In most areas, members are guaranteed to earn at least what they pay in monthly dues, which really is unheard of in the profession. Many practices report a 5 to 1 return on investment.

The job of 1-800-DENTIST is to get people in your door, sitting in your chairs. At that point, it is up to you and I to work on treatment presentation and case acceptance. 1-800-DENTIST can help you here too, with its excellent internal marketing plan program called Patient Activator. Our office has used Patient Activator since it became available. Patient Activator includes year-round communications with your patients, whether it is full-color newsletters, educational recall cards, and e-communications which are totally customizable to your practice. Our office is able to integrate our logo into the newsletter and all of the communications; this has gone a long way to branding our office to our patients. This keeps our dental practice, The Healthy Smile, at the top of our patients’ minds year round so that are not lured away by other dental advertising.

Smart Buy Summary: When considering your marketing options, I recommend outsourcing to professionals like 1-800-DENTIST. You outsource something that someone else can do faster, easier and better and at a better price than you can do with significantly better results. I then get to do what I am supposed to do and what I love to do which is providing dental services to my patients. Visit www.1800dentist.com for more information.

Vitamins for Teeth – MI Paste Plus by GC America

GC America MI Paste Plus 		There is no question that we live in an amazing world as it relates to dental technology, dental materials, and our ability to treat our patients. The minimally invasive approach to dentistry is certainly here and we practice it every day in my office. How do we take this approach to the next step and go beyond bonding? It has always been my dream to be able to treat diseased tooth structure without having to use invasive techniques.

That dream is here today with remineralization technology. MI Paste Plus by GC America is the first product for professional use to include the amazing technology of fluoride and Recaldent. It is a water-based, sugar-free cream, which is applied topically to the tooth surface. Recaldent is derived from the milk protein casein. Numerous studies have proven the effectiveness of Recaldent (CPP-ACP) in preventing and reversing early carious lesions often seen as white spot lesions. Recaldent is also very effective in occluding open dental tubules to eliminate dental hypersensitivity.
This allows you to treat these precarious lesions medically instead of surgically. This is a major advancement in the minimally invasive treatment of these pre-carious lesions. We now have a huge paradigm shift in the way that we should now be thinking about treating patients with these white spot lesions. We can literally remineralize and repair enamel in the patient’s mouth without resorting to any kind of tooth preparation.

MI Paste Plus has become an integral part of my daily treatment for patients. Let’s take some examples of where I use and dispense MI Paste Plus. We all know that both tray and in-office whitening causes significant sensitivity to patients, even with the best desensitizing formulas of whitening gels. MI Paste Plus is now included with every whitening treatment that I provide to eliminate the sensitivity and also to remineralize the enamel.

The one thing I have always hated about kids going through orthodontic treatment is the spotted straight teeth they end up with because they did not brush. These areas of demineralization have been quite disheartening to the parents in our practice. MI Paste Plus is now a requirement for my orthodontic patients to prevent this and has been widely accepted by my patients.

Many of my patients are undergoing full-mouth reconstructions and smile makeovers. If decay is going to happen, it will be at the margins. If I have a patient who has invested thousands of dollars to restore his oral cavity, I will provide him with longterm protection for his investment. These patients are prime candidates for a custom tray application with MI Paste Plus.

The cost of using this MI Paste Plus custom tray system is easily integrated into the fees of whitening, aesthetic procedures and periodontal procedures. If we make custom fitted trays for dentinal hypersensitivity or to remineralize white spots, our typical fee for this is $75 to $100 for the tray and two tubes of MI Paste Plus. We then provide MI Paste Plus to patients at cost because we believe this is a great service for our patients. In addition to creating beautiful smiles for our patients, we want these smiles to last for a very long time.

Smart Buy Summary: Using MI Paste Plus in a new minimally invasive paradigm can be a terrific addition to current techniques. The success of our clinical cases is not just measured on the day you seat the case but also on what the smile looks like five to 10 years later. MI Paste Plus can help in remineralizing white spots, eliminating dentin hypersensitivity, and insuring long-term wellness are within the realm of today’s dental practice. For more information, please visit www.gcamerica.com.

Pro-Select Platinum by Zila Pharmaceuticals, Inc.






Zila Pharmaceuticals Pro-Select Platinum 		It’s no secret that many of your patients dislike coming into your office for a cleaning. We also know that the reason is their teeth are fairly sensitive because of their own oral hygiene neglect. You can tell that to a patient a thousand times, but they don’t necessarily hear it, let alone understand it.

Here is finally a solution to making your prophylaxis procedures much more comfortable. Zila Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has recently introduced the next generation of ultrasonic scaling technology, the Pro-Select Platinum. The Pro-Select Platinum enhances the overall experience for the clinician and for the patient through its comfort, ease of use and efficiency advantages. This revolutionary new piezo scaler requires only three to five grams of lateral pressure for maximum effectiveness in scaling teeth. This is much different than the older magnetostrictive scaler, which takes about 50-60 grams of lateral pressure. Hand scaling can add up to 20-30 grams of pressure, and obviously, the more pressure, the more discomfort the patient will experience.

I ordered a Pro-Select Platinum for my hygienist, Beth. Beth works hard and we want her to be around for a long time. After a week of using the Pro-Select Platinum, here are some of the things that we noticed: Beth was a lot less fatigued because her hands required much less force to effectively scale teeth. She said that our patients were much less stressed and much more comfortable. Beth has now started using the Pro-Select Platinum for all of her routine prophylaxis procedures as well as scaling and root planing with much less need for anesthesia. She has also found that there is virtually no heat while scaling. One of the biggest challenges in using electronic instruments like this is the amount of water needed to cool the tip and the teeth. The Pro-Select Platinum uses a very light mist for lavage and much less water so Beth has much better visibility. In simple terms, she absolutely loves this unit because it makes her job faster, easier and better.

The Pro-Select Platinum is also a pleasure to use because of the new LED handpiece light attachment, which dramatically illuminates the oral cavity so that Beth can actually see what they are doing! All of its operations are hands free with foot pedal control. Another really nice thing about the Pro-Select Platinum is that it utilizes its unique universal tip technology. All of the tips are round and that means all of the surfaces can be used while scaling; this contrasts other piezo tips, which have sharp edges and limit the accessibility since they cannot be used on all sides. Beth is able to use a single tip for either gross debridement or fine root planing without having to interrupt the procedure.

The Pro-Select Platinum also serves as a periodontal pocket irrigator. Periodontal irrigation is vastly underused in periodontal treatment and with this device, Beth can choose up to three heated irrigation solutions as to whatever their preference may be. The water is also heated as it comes through the machine, which also makes it so much more comfortable for our patients.

Smart Buy Summary: The Pro-Select Platinum is a great new innovation in ultrasonic scaling because of its ease of use, it provides maximum comfort to the clinician and the patient, and you and your hygienist will absolutely fall in love with this machine as my hygienist has done in the first couple of hours that she used it. She noticed instantly how effective it was in making her job easier with a significant reduction of fatigue on her hands at the end of her prophy and scaling procedures. For more information, visit www.zila.com.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
Dentaltown Magazine September 2025 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie Perks
Townie® Poll
Who or what do you turn to for most financial advice regarding your practice?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds Dental News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2025 Dentaltown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450