BK-Medent has developed an innovative line of products for technicians in the wax and ceramic areas of the dental laboratory - each product offers unique characteristics while remaining competitively priced.

Their newest advancement has been with their M-Series Mixing Palettes and Heating Clear Waxing Unit. Their line also includes porcelain mixing palettes, porcelain sculpturing instruments, porcelain brushes, waxing equipment and other tools that allow technicians to create the most life-like restorations.

You can view the entire BK-Medent line of products on our website, download their most recent catalog or download the brochure on their recently released Heating Clear wax instrument heater.

With users in over 60 countries BK-Medent products have been designed to offer performance, ergonomics and quality - now Vacalon is happy to introduce their complete line to the United States.

With a particular focus on helping technicians achieve a comfortable and productive working technique, BK-Medent conducts extensive research before beginning the design of a new product. They draw on their experience, while also cooperating with pilot laboratories around the world. This insight has allowed BK-Medent to gain patents for their Auto-Mixing Plates and also to be awarded Registration of Design for 11 of their products.

We are excited to bring these products to dental laboratories across the United State. We believe dental technicians will appreciate the uncompromising manner in which BK-Medent designs their products. From their new M-Series Auto-Mixing Plates to their Heating Clear wax instrument heater, all of the BK-Medent products deliver the highest possible quality, at a realistic price, leaving you with the absolute best impression.

We'll have much more information and details in the coming weeks, but for now be sure to check out the entire BK-Medent line.

Our Schick Certified Repair Center is your source in the USA for repairs of Schick equipment. Our facility repairs all equipment manufactured by Schick Dental, including handpieces that don't actually carry the Schick name. In fact, it is very possible that you might have a handpiece built by Schick and not even know it.

Schick handpieces are built to last, and with proper maintenance they can run for well over 20 years. However, it is important that the maintenance is carried out by a technician that has been properly trained to handle Schick handpieces. These handpieces require special tools, as well as special knowledge, to insure that the handpiece is disassembled and reassembled properly. If certain procedures are not followed your handpiece can end up out of balance and require the costly procedure of re-balancing the shaft to get it running true.

When business is slow often you might put off repairs, but how much does this cost you in downtime and in the long run? Don't let a small problem become a much more expensive one. Take care of your investment and have it serviced by our professionals. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Do you have a Schick handpiece?




Send it in for a free repair estimate and getting it running like new! We offer loaner handpieces so you don't miss a beat. Be sure to get more information or download our Service Request Form here.

As the weather starts to warm up, and the humidity rises, do your casting results change? Ever wonder why this happens? Well investments are made from natural materials, and these materials can react to changes in environment. For example, when temperatures are too hot where investing takes place expansion can be lost and castings will come out fitting tight.

This is why it is so important to store and use your investments in a controlled environment where the temperatures remain between 68°F - 72°F. Keeping a consistent environment in your laboratory is a major key to keeping consistency in your casting results.

If your dental lab is setup in such a way that makes it difficult to control the temperature in your casting area, then utilizing temperature controlled storage equipment could be the answer for you. The best environmental control unit is one that can heat and cool to keep the environment within the cabinet at a constant temperature in summer and in winter. However, these can be quite expensive and often times unnecessary depending on how much the environment in the laboratory is controlled.

In most areas in North America the problems are typically more prone to happen during summer months, when laboratories tend to heat up and get humid. To help with this scenario a more practical device would be one that keeps investments at a temperature around 68°F during the summer months. We've found that a simple solution can be using a small, compact refrigerator and integrating a low cost Ranco thermostat type device.

We strongly discourage the use of devices that can actually lead to heating investments. We've seen companies sell units that direct you to set the temperature anywhere up to 10°F higher than room temperature. These units only heat, they don't cool, which can lead to major problems.

If your powder and liquid are already at temperatures above what is recommended then you will loose expansion, working time and have other problems. Just try a simple test and use some hot water to mix up your investment. You will find that the investment sets up much quicker and it will be difficult to pour into the ring. If you took it one step further and cast a coping with a heated mix, you will find the fit to be tight due to the lost expansion.

So as we move towards the summer months, and things start to heat up, remember that all investments are prone to problems if things get too hot. So make sure you do your best to keep the lab cool or look into some type of device that will allow you to store your investment at constant temperature of around 68°F. This will allow you to achieve the most consistent results throughout the entire year.

The current H1N1 flu virus outbreak shows us all just how important infection prevention procedures are in the dental laboratory. But not only should dental laboratories be concerned with protecting themselves from infection, as health care professionals it is important to keep in mind that they are a critical part of preventing the spread of viruses.

Participating in infection prevention courses and having well planned disinfection procedures is the first step, but keeping up to date with the latest recommended procedures is another important tool. For instance, many organizations recently recommended that disinfection procedures be upgraded due to the H1n1 outbreak.

As they say "Knowledge is power", so here are a few websites that can be extremely useful for dental laboratories and offices.

One of the best resources available for the dental industry regarding infection prevention is the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures, or OSAP. You can find OSAP's current resources on the H1n1 flu virus here, or visit the OSAP home page at www.osap.org.

The ADA recently released updated information regarding the H1n1 flu virus and it is located at www.ada.org/goto/h1n1. Or you can visit the ADA home page at www.ada.org.

For a broad overview, the CDC has a wealth of resources that can be found at their website www.cdc.gov. The CDC also has an abundance of information specific to infection prevention in the dental field and it can be found at the CDC's "Infection Control in Dental Settings" portion of their Oral Health Website.

One last interesting fact is regarding the government's recommendations for staff who are involved in the process of preparing and taking impressions. As these people are often times in direct contact with bodily fluids, they advocate being immunized against diphtheria, hepatitis B, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, rubella, TB and tetanus.

Our ProLine Sculpturing Waxes are designed to offer outstanding handling characteristics, whether using electronic or traditional waxing techniques. They are manufactured using the finest raw materials, enabling technicians to design precise wax patterns.

We've developed our sculpturing wax line to meet the needs of any dental technician. With three levels of firmness - soft, medium and firm - plus multiple colors and even opaque colors, ProLine Sculpturing Waxes are the only modeling wax you'll ever need.

Not sure which wax is right for you? Then just head over to our sample request page and sign up to receive one of our Wax Sample Kits. It includes a variety of our different waxes, including our sculpturing, margin, diagnostic and sticky waxes. It allows you to try out the different types of waxes we offer and find the one, or two, that are right for you.