Dental Crowns(2)

Nearly 5% of PFM fail after 10 years, he noted, while many ceramic and composites fail after one.

"When you put a restoration on a patient who is 30, it's going to fail," Dr. Christensen said. "You will replace it."

Then he asked who in the audience had had to cut off a full-zirconia crown. With many hands in the air, he quipped, "You still look tired!"

He dismissed most of the burrs designed for cutting zirconia.

"Our research shows you're better off with a $1 diamond," Dr. Christensen said. "A diamond from Microcopy called Neo is one that continues to prove itself." It comprises extremely sharp diamond pieces leftover from the ring-making process, he explained.

Varnish's 'dirty little secret'

Dr. Christensen also had a specific recommendation for a fluoride varnish.

"My wife and I tested 19 varnishes and found a dirty little secret," he said. "Most of them are made by VarnishAmerica, and they kept the best one for themselves."

While other varnishes tend to leave a brown, yellow, or snow white film on teeth, VarnishAmerica's 5% sodium fluoride varnish is clear, he noted.

Dr. Christensen then turned his attention to patient referrals, noting that with other medical professions referring patients to dentists, there is often a "serious lapse."

"There are two major things that they really screw people up on: heavy chemotherapy and heavy radiation treatment," he said. "Dentists should remove the teeth that won't stand a chance" following those cancer treatments.

Patients who undergo bisphosphonate treatment should also see a dentists prior to beginning treatment for the same reasons, he said.

When it comes to weathering the current economic storm, Dr. Christensen emphasized the need for broader patient education.

"For success, you and I need to educate patients," he said. "Let them know that they need that [treatment] more than a new dress or a new car."

When it comes to potential growth areas in dentistry, dental implants(China dental labor) top the list, according to Dr. Christensen. Aesthetic dentistry is still growing, but differently than in the past.

"It isn't putting 16 PFM veneers on 16-year-olds," he said. "Prior to the recession, there were 48 million crowns placed each year; right now, there are 38 million annually. That's a heck of a difference."

However, he added, this shift is having positive side effects, particularly since dentists are trending back toward conservative dentistry.

"That's a good thing," Dr. Christensen said. "We're getting back to our roots: maintaining the health of the tooth."