For Dentists
Buying Guides (Page 2).
Buying guides that help dentists compare equipment and materials. These are the guides our editorial team has rewritten and Dr. Sean Myran, DMD has reviewed.
How we rank explains how these product lists are ordered.
Dental Rubber Dam Clamps: How to Choose
How to choose a rubber dam clamp: winged, wingless, Brinker, and serrated clamps from Hu-Friedy, Coltene, and Kulzer.
Dental Glass Ionomer Restoratives: How to Choose
How to choose a glass ionomer restorative: Fuji II LC, EQUIA Forte, packable Fuji IX, and Ketac Silver cermet.
Dental Flowable Composites: How to Choose
How to choose a flowable composite: SDR flow+ 4 mm bases versus Giomer, heavy-flow, and shade-matched liners.
Dental Universal Composites: How to Choose
How to choose a universal composite: shade systems, two bulk fills, and an ORMOCER at 1.2% shrinkage.
Dental Capsule Mixers: How to Choose
How to choose a capsule mixer: Silamat S6, RotoMix, Ultramat 2, and GC CM-II, plus the cover and fork that fail first.
Dental Curing Lights: How to Choose
How to choose a curing light: wavelength, tip size, and how Elipar, Bluephase, and S.P.E.C. 3 differ.
Dental Floss: How to Choose
How to choose dental floss to stock: waxed nylon, PTFE, woven strands, pre-cut appliance floss, and single-use packets.
Dental Prophy Angles: How to Choose
How to choose a disposable prophy angle: cup style, handpiece fit, and splatter across Nupro Freedom, Young Vera, and Pivot.
Dental Fluoride Varnishes: How to Choose
How to choose a fluoride varnish: 5% sodium fluoride unit doses and a 10 ml tube, plus TCP, CPP-ACP, and CXP rows.
Dental Sealants: How to Choose
How to choose a pit-and-fissure sealant: color-change Clinpro, moisture-tolerant Embrace, clear Helioseal, and etch-free BeautiSealant.
Dental Orthodontic Elastomerics: How to Choose
How to choose orthodontic elastomerics: Patterson ligatures, chains, patient elastics, separators, and a color wheel.
Dental Flasks and Presses: How to Choose
How to choose a denture flask, a press, or a pressure pot: Atlas 44 bronze, Handler Big Boy, and Lang Aquapres.
Dental Separators and Foil: How to Choose
How to choose a denture separator: tin-foil substitutes, trial-pack film, real foil, and a debubblizer that is not one.
Dental Lab Porcelain Brushes: How to Choose
How to choose a porcelain brush for the bench: Kolinsky, red sable, and synthetic brushes for build-up, stain, and glaze.
Dental Hand Scalers: How to Choose
How to choose a hand scaler: sickle or curette, the handle, and how Hu-Friedy, American Eagle, and Nordent differ.
Dental Mouth Mirrors: How to Choose
How to choose a mouth mirror head: socket, size, and coating, including rhodium, black-line, magnifying, and Crystal HD.
Dental Periotomes: How to Choose
How to choose a periotome: anterior and posterior blades from Premier, Hu-Friedy, Directa Luxator, TBS, and Nordent.
Dental Composite Instruments: How to Choose
How to choose a composite instrument: XTS contact formers, Goldstein blades, LM-Arte, and XP pluggers by tip and stick.
Dental Waxing Instruments: How to Choose
How to choose a waxing instrument: PK Thomas, LeCron, Roach, Akers, and TiN carvers for crown and partial wax-ups.
Dental Carvers: How to Choose
How to choose a dental carver: Ward, Hollenback, discoid-cleoid, and IPC, plus the PFI and Bliss that place composite.
Dental Alginate: How to Choose
How to choose an alginate: chromatic phases, Jeltrate Plus antimicrobial, AccuDent XD’s two viscosities, and Hydrogum 5’s five-day stability.
Dental Handpieces: How to Choose
How to choose a dental handpiece: air versus electric, high-speed versus slow-speed, and how W&H, NSK, Morita, and Midwest differ.
Dental Endodontic Files: How to Choose
How to choose a NiTi endodontic file: TF Adaptive, K3 versus K3XF, HyFlex CM, and HyFlex EDM by motion and metal.
Dental Apex Locators: How to Choose
How to choose an apex locator: a standalone unit or one built into the endo motor, and how Root ZX, Propex, Apex ID, and CanalPro differ.
Dental Crown and Bridge Temporaries: How to Choose
How to choose a crown temporary: bis-acryl pastes, a light-cured repair syringe, and preformed DirectCrown shells.
Dental Inlay and Onlay Temporaries: How to Choose
How to choose an inlay temporary: IRM, Fermit N, Clip, DuoTEMP, and Tempit, which are not crown bis-acryl pastes.
Dental Burs: How to Choose
How to choose a dental bur: diamond or carbide, friction-grip or latch, and how Meisinger, SS White, and Midwest differ.
Dental Desensitizers: How to Choose
How to choose a tooth desensitizer: HEMA liquids, glutaraldehyde-free, silver diamine fluoride, chlorhexidine varnish, or calcium oxalate.
Dental Resin Cements: How to Choose
How to choose a resin cement: adhesive or self-adhesive, and how Variolink, RelyX, PANAVIA, and NX3 differ.
Dental Etching Gels: How to Choose
How to choose an intraoral etching gel: phosphoric acid from 34% to 40%, including Etch-Rite, Kerr, Scotchbond, and Super Etch.