The effects of clinical issues on dentists and dental staff can be significant, especially when it comes to determining the root cause of a problem and finding a solution. A recent story encountered by Bluelight highlights this issue.

Even great lights from solid companies can exhibit less than favorable curing results due to a multitude of factors. But how can you verify this? Many of the curing lights available today come with a radiometer to check their power output, but similar to the actual lights themselves, they are not always extremely accurate. Light cure materials need a certain amount of light energy to initiate the chemical reaction causing them to polymerize fully. If that light energy is not adequate or not delivered accurately, the risk of an under-cured restoration becomes very real. Frequent testing is recommended to ensure that lights don’t experience a deleterious power drop and that patients aren’t left with mushy restorations bound for early failure.

It's a new year and plenty of people have resolved to get into shape. What better way to start 2024 than by ensuring that all your clinical curing lights are also in shape?

You have heard us talk about the importance of light testing until we are blue (pun intended) in the face, but what you may not know is how important proper training is to the entire process of light-curing.

Did you know that 1-in-4 curing lights do NOT output the energy (within a range of +-20%) that the light manufacturer says it should? With an average of 4 lights per clinic, that’s at least 25% of your DSO’s light-cured procedures at risk for under/over-curing.

With 1000s of curing lights to choose from these days, especially those available online, there are some important things to consider to ensure you’re maximizing your investment.

After sharing the details of our latest curing light challenge with Dr. Gary Glassman from dentalcorp, we received more than a few questions about our patient simulator, so we figured it was a great time for all of you to meet MARC!

The age-old saying “time is money” is certainly true for any dental practice, especially with respect to how long you cure your composites. Since 50% of a clinic’s revenue comes from procedures that require light-curing, if performed incorrectly, you’ll see it on your books in the form of emergency post-op visits and no-charge rework.

20-seconds is not a lot of time, but in restorative dentistry, that quick burst of blue from your curing light is 20 seconds that can make the difference between a fabulous or failed filling. It’s just as important as learning how to properly freeze a nerve or drill a tooth, yet there’s little to no focus on it.

Whether you’re replacing a few broken lights or bulk buying brand new curing lights for all your clinics, there are several things to consider when choosing from the hundreds of options that are available on the market today.

The beauty of using Bluelight to test your curing lights is that we identify the ones that are not performing at their best AND help you troubleshoot some easy fixes.

Check out the great new Curing Advisor features that just launched.