Avoiding confusion with shade guides

What seems logical to you when you write things down can often be taken in a totally different way by the person reading. We've all experienced that haven't we? You write an email/letter and get a response back that you weren't expecting, only to realise it was the way the email/letter was interpreted.

Here's an example with shades.

Answer this question... "If you saw a shade written down that said A4++, is that lighter or darker than A4?"

Most people would say that A4++ is darker.

What about this?

This shade came in to the lab today, so if A4++ is darker than A4, is A1++ lighter or darker than A1?

I know the dentist wants lighter... but surely lighter than A1 is 'A1--'?

So, be careful what you write on lab prescriptions and make sure it is not open to ambiguous interpretation... you may just get what you ask for!

Anti Snoring Appliance Patient Referral Scheme

How many of your patients suffer from snoring?

The chances are that 60% of the men in your practice suffer from snoring… or should that be their partners suffer with their snoring!

Curing snoring with an Anti-Snoring Appliance is a simple piece of dentistry; most of the noises produced by snoring are generated by bottlenecks or even complete obstruction of the airways, especially when the patient lies on their back.

The SILENSOR Anti-Snoring Appliance makes use of the fact that the pharyngeal space is enlarged when the lower jaw is displaced in an anterior direction.

The SILENSOR consists of two separate clear splints made in either hard or soft materials which fit over the upper and lower arches. The splints are connected by two lateral rotating connectors which gently pull the lower jaw forward. Any further opening of the mouth increases the anterior displacement of the lower jaw.


All it involves on your part is upper and lower impressions, a centric bite and a note as to whether the patient requires hard or soft splints. The device can be returned within 10 working days with no interim appointments needed. The lab fee for this is £167.

Now here's the good bit...

Patient referral scheme
As part of our value added service to dentists in the UK we offer a referral service for patients looking for a snoring appliance. We run a Google Adwords & Facebook campaign encouraging patients to visit our patient anti snoring page, from here they give us their details and we provide them with the details of a dentist local to them, would you like to be on this list?

We launched this scheme on Friday 12th Feb, over the weekend we have had 3 patients contact us already looking for a dentist to provide an anti snoring appliance.

The only way to be part of this scheme and receive these referrals is to be a client of SBO, so please call Mark on 01707 663293 to find out how we can make this happen today, or email mark@sbodentallaboratory.co.uk

Getting a Smile Design RIGHT

This is a little tip for ensuring smile designs go right first time, and it involves an accurate impression of the palate at pre-op impression stage... let me explain.

When we do diagnostic wax ups for crowns or veneers we make 2 matrices to help with the preps, one shows buccal reduction and one show incisal reduction. The key point here is that the incisal reduction matrix often only locates on the palate, especially when posteriors are also being included in the smile design.

After you have prepared the veneers/crowns and we come to make the definitive restorations we use this matrix to build the restorations in to, this ensures we position the incisal edges in exactly the right place. Once again this matrix often locates on the palate only, so if the impressions of the palates from the original diagnostic and the definitive preps don't match then we are not always able to transfer this matrix.... possibilities for errors creep in!

So, although the impression of the teeth and preps is vital, for complete reliability and to reduce the chance of uncertainty, we need an accurate impression of the palate on both the original diagnostic and the final prep impressions.