Wishlist: 5 Things Dr Anoop Maini Couldn’t Work Without

1. Carestream CS 3600 intraoral scanner
The CS 3600 is a highly accurate and affordable intraoral scanner with HD video graphics and excellent scanning speeds. It’s licence free and fully open-platform, so I can send the scans to any laboratory or integrate with any open software.

The CS 3600 uses autoclavable tips, which come in three sizes for those difficult-to-get-to areas. I’m virtually impression free now, and using a scanner has increased my restorative accuracy and reduced my laboratory bills. It has opened up new digital workflows to increase my efficiency, particularly in implant dentistry, and with smile design simulation software it has helped to increase my case acceptance rates.

2. Carestream CS 3100 milling unit
This unit is designed specifically for chairside milling and one-appointment restorative CAD/CAM dentistry. It’s a four-axis wet mill with four bur sizes on its spindle; the smallest bur size is 0.4mm, so the surface finishing, margins and anatomy created are exquisite. The CS 3100 is capability of milling glass ceramics, lithium disilicates, hybrid ceramics, zirconium and titanium. Milling times are circa 12–20 minutes, depending on the material being milled.

The CS 3100 integrates fully with the CS 3600 using Exocad Chairside software, which is easy to use; I am able to design inlays, crowns and bridges in just a few minutes with excellent design proposals, which also have been automatically virtually articulated for a better dynamic occlusion.

3. Quicklase 6W Dual diode laser
I’ve used diode lasers in my clinic for more than 10 years for a multitude of clinical procedures, including ablation, coagulation, photobiostimulation and disinfection. One of my favourite procedures is tissue troughing, to allow for the excellent exposure of preparation margins with complete haemostasis and avoiding the need for retraction cord.

The Quicklase Dual delivers 810nm and 980nm wavelengths simultaneously, which makes it excellent for both soft tissue removal and heamostasis. It’s probably one of the best-priced diode lasers on the market.

4. Formlabs Form 2 3D printer
Having a 3D printer lets me print night guards, models for retainers, and in-house orthodontic aligners for straightforward cases, and it also allows me to print implant surgical guides that I’ve designed in surgical planning software such as Blue Sky Bio or Exocad’s Exoplan software. This has saved me significant costs; for example, a surgical guide can cost me just £20 to design and print.

The printer is easy to use—this model is literally plug-and-play—and uses fully biocompatible dental clear and surgical guide resins.

5. Smile Lynx smile design software
With this easy-to-use software, using just two photos I can create a smile design by importing options from a library and customizing the smile to the fit the patient. I can then show the patient a before-and-possible-after to help in communication of patient expectations and to assist with case acceptance in smile makeover cases.

The software has the ability to import an STL 3D model file from an intraoral scanner, to combine with the 2D photographic images, to create a 3D smile design that can be 3D printed so that via silicone template I can deliver a trial mock-up that can be placed in the patient’s mouth for him or her to see directly what the outcome could be. This can be very motivational.