THISA AND THATA

A monthly informational column written by Dr. Anthony Romanazzi.

Gizmos, Gadgets and Gimmicks

  We all have one somewhere. Be it in our home, office or workshop. That is a drawer full of discarded "stuff" that did not do the assigned task well enough or not at all. A "device" that would make a tedious job "easy" or one that would require reasonable skill to accomplish a "no brainer". Virtually every endeavor has a device such as this. Dentistry is no exception. Every time I pick up my copy of "Dental Products Report" I can't help but to think of my "junk drawer". No offense to the publication.

 One time at the Yankee Dental Convention in Boston some years ago, I noticed an item that was to "guarantee" picture perfect crown preps. Always out to improve my personal skills, I could not help but to investigate. Without a picture, I will do my best to describe this "device" to you. The item was attached to teeth on the opposite side of the arch where a tooth being prepped for a crown or bridge abutment is located. It fastened to the opposite teeth via two hinged arms similar to a parallelogram with a holder for a handpiece on the other end. The object of the device was to hold a your handpiece for you in such a manner so that it would cut virtually perfect parallel walls on your crown preps. It was designed to take out the "human error" of crown preparation. A dental handpiece is nothing more than a "pocket milling machine". A milling machine is a machine that holds a spinning drill bit of any shape in a stationary vertical or horizontal position and cuts a material by moving the subject material into the cutting surface of the drill bit. Tooth preparation in C&B is similar to this process but the drill bit moves by your hand and the subject material (patient's tooth) stays stationary (sometimes).

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