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Do New Dental Materials
Live Up to Their Hype?
CHICAGO (November 8, 2004) - (HealthNewsDigest.com)...It is common
knowledge that most consumer markets are saturated with duplicate products
that often offer the same benefits with use. Manufacturers who are in
competition for shelf space employ savvy marketing tactics to generate
buzz and entice consumers to buy one choice over another.
Recently, the dental materials market has mirrored the consumer products
market with a proliferation of new products. Patient demand for perfect
white teeth, an increase in esthetic treatment, and marketing that
sometimes outpaces research has complicated the market for dental
materials, according to an article in the November 2004 issue of AGD
Impact, the newsmagazine of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).
Dental products have undergone a revolution in development and marketing.
“Dentistry is a microcosm of society in general and everything is more
complicated today,” says Michael Miller, DDS, president of Reality
Publishing, an independent dental products reviewer. Dr. Miller believes
that the vast majority of dental products companies are well meaning;
however, sales pressure influences marketing.
According to Dr. Miller, “the chemists in the labs developing the products
are not dentists… they are often ill-equipped to really know whether a
product they are developing is going to actually benefit a dentist.”
Dentists are alarmed by what is seen as an increase in the use of
manipulated and biased literature to support claims for dental materials.
Richard Simonsen, DDS - who formerly worked for dental products
manufacturer 3M Dental - says, “…it is best to assume that those marketing
instruments and materials in dentistry are, much of the time, at best
exaggerating and at worst simply lying in order to enhance sales.”
Dr. Simonsen believes although there are many fine manufacturers of dental
materials, “there are some who are willing to place untested materials on
the dental market…with little regard for the efficacy of the material or
the effect it may have on patients and on the reputation of the dentist.”
Karl Leinfelder, DDS, a noted dental materials researcher at the
University of North Carolina, wrote in the Journal of Esthetic and
Restorative Dentistry (Spring 2001) that “presentations at local and
national dental meetings dealing with dental materials has increased
substantially…(however presentations) related to the science of materials
and justification for their use has correspondingly diminished.”
Despite the unnecessary and ineffective materials available today, there
are products that have been, and are being, introduced that have evolved
treatment options. Dentists must be more skeptical and questioning of new
products to prevent costly replacements for patients and decreased
confidence in dentists’ capabilities. Decisions to use new materials
should be preceded by discussions with the manufacturer about material
applications and abilities, evaluation of research and independent studies
on the material, and thorough examination of instructions to ensure proper
use.
Dental materials experts agree that dentists are ultimately responsible
for the materials used to treat patients. The best protection is to be
adequately informed about new products before adopting them into your
practice.
According to Dr. Simonsen, dentists - who are not accustomed to dealing
with the concept of “something on the market that’s not going to work” -
must become better consumers in this new age of dentistry.
www.HealthNewsDigest.com
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Last Updated October 2004
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