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ePaper created 2017-04-26, 10:52:36 | version 1.38.0
Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition | 4/2017 SCIENCE & PRACTICE 09 “The silent assistant for efficient relative isolation for nearly all indications” Using the OptraGate lip and cheek retractor in daily dental practice An interview with Dr Patrick Dipsche, Germany When it comes to successful dental treatment, it is not only important to use solutions that facilitate the dentist’s work; physical comfort of the patient is equally important. With OptraGate, dental manufac- turer Ivoclar Vivadent has intro- duced a lip and cheek retractor that considerably facilitates isolation of the treatment area in a multitude of dental procedures while being gentle and comfortable to wear for the patient. In the following inter- procedure, I automatically work faster. This generally has a favour- able effect on my treatment re- sults. Is this not the deinition of eficiency? The output is the same at least, if not better, while the use of resources is optimised. In this context, my resource is time and my output is the treatment result. I would say that I save about 5 min- utes per patient on average. What do your patients tell you after they have been treated with it? Well, no patient ever likes wearing a retractor. However, Do you feel that your patients ind it comfortable to wear OptraGate? I deinitely feel that they tol- erate OptraGate better than rigid retractors, because it is made of soft material and lexibly adapts to movements. However, subjec- tive perceptions of comfort have to be taken with a grain of salt. All patients prefer not to be restricted in their movements. Compared with the existing alternatives, however, OptraGate always elicits a positive reaction from my pa- tients. away somewhat abruptly with a mirror. Such occurrences are clearly reduced with OptraGate because the mouth stays wide open without active involvement of the muscles, allowing the pa- tient to rest against OptraGate. As the tissue is retracted evenly throughout the treatment, spon- taneous protective movements of the patient can be avoided. Is it easy to place in the patient’s mouth? Yes, in most cases. At irst, it takes a bit of time to get used to “I definitely feel that they [patients] tolerate OptraGate better than rigid retractors.” view, German orthodontist Dr Pat- rick Dipsche speaks about the ben- eits of the product for both pa- tients and practitioners. In which treatment situations do you especially like using OptraGate? Dr Patrick Dipsche: As an orthodontist, I particularly like using OptraGate for intra-oral scanning and indirect bonding of lingual brackets. My assistants like to use it in the provision of prophylactic care, as they often perform these tasks alone and ap- preciate the effective retraction of the lips and cheeks that this de- vice offers. In your opinion, what are the key advantages of the product? Although it may not seem so at irst, OptraGate can actually be positioned easily and quickly in the patient’s mouth. This is some- thing I greatly value. An auxiliary such as a lip and cheek retractor must be easy and quick to use in order to be integrated into regular treatment procedures. How does OptraGate help you in your worklow? I would say that the gentle and effective retraction of the lips and cheeks is the most helpful feature and this feature also makes it con- siderably easier to achieve relative isolation. I do not have to move the tissues out of the way with the mirror all the time and I can con- centrate more intensely on the ac- tual treatment. Would you say that OptraGate al- lows you to work more eficiently? Yes. As I can concentrate more intensely on the actual treatment The oral device can be used for a wide range of applications, including intra-oral scanning, the placement of indirect resto- rations, orthodontic treatment and paediatric dentistry. bruxism patients, who tend to suffer from muscular tension in the jaw, often tell me that OptraGate has made it easier for them to keep their mouths open. It allows them to rest against the device and relax their muscles. This eliminates the need for them to actively keep their mouths open. Some of these patients would not want to be treated without OptraGate. This is, of course, fantastic for us. Are there fewer interfering move- ments of the lips and jaws when the OptraGate retractor is worn? Yes, I feel that, on the whole, the treatment goes more smoothly. Usually, one has to constantly re- mind patients to keep their mouths open during treatment, as they tend to reduce their mouth opening after a while to relax their muscles. Additionally, some- times a protective reaction is in- advertently elicited from the pa- tient when the tissue is moved the handling technique. However, one quickly gets the hang of it. After that, placement is easy and quick. I would say it takes me less than 1 minute, normally just a few seconds. With some practice, pa- tients could even place it them- selves. Only in patients with a very lat gingivobuccal fold in the lower labial area, placement may some- times be a tad less straightfor- ward. Such cases, however, are re- Dr Patrick Dipsche lated to speciic anatomical char- acteristics and considered the ex- ception. Do you have any placement tricks? The most important step is choosing the correct size. Sur- prisingly, an OptraGate that is too small appears to be more dif- icult to insert than one that is slightly too large. Once the two lateral tabs have been posi- tioned, it is also important to ask the patient to slightly close his or her mouth to allow the soft tissue to relax. In this way, OptraGate can easily be slipped into the upper and lower vesti- bules. If the correct size has been chosen, it pops into the correct position almost by itself. How do you select the appropriate size for the patient? So far, this has been a matter of judgement because the manu- facturer did not previously pro- vide speciic instructions in this respect. However, the new blue and pink variations include an ori- entation aid printed on the pack- aging to assist in choosing the cor- rect size. In my opinion, this scale works really well. One simply esti- mates the distance between the corners of the mouth (taking the slight curve of the lip into ac- count) and then selects the most suitable size with the help of the guide marks. How would you describe OptraGate in one sentence? Hmm…the silent assistant for eficient relative isolation for nearly all indications. I really like the product. Par- ticularly when I have no assis- tant on hand to help out, it is an exceptionally useful auxiliary for which there is no real alterna- tive. Once one has got the hang of it, one would not want to do without it. Thank you very much for the inter- view.