daily AAE New Orleans April 26, 2017

12 E X H I BI TOR S Endo Tribune U.S. Edition | April 26, 2017 The story of Munce Discovery Burs By C. John Munce, DDS, FICD From the time I completed my residency in 1988, and even into the early 2000s, no long/stiff/ narrow-shafted troughing bur existed. To meet this ongoing need for a troughing bur, I began modifying the shafts of existing latch-type, slow-speed round carbide burs by necking them down at the chairside as needed for a spe- cific clinical case (Figs. 1 and 2). At the pre-session meeting of the 2005 AAE Annual Session in Dallas with nearly 1,000 endodontists in the room, I dem- onstrated in clinical videos how these unique long/stiff/narrow-shafted round troughing burs were made at the chair- side using both high- and slow-speed handpieces operating simultaneously from the same foot control in right and left hands to “hand-mill” the shaft to a 1 mm diameter, and I suggested that col- leagues should do the same. To ensure interested colleagues would be able to see and test these fledgling troughing burs, and then make the burs themselves as demonstrated, I had 1,000 of them manufactured (Fig. 3) and hand- ed to attendees as they exited the hall. To that point, it had never been my in- tent to venture into the bur design and manufacturing arena, but during the next year, at meetings, in phone con- versations or in other encounters, I was told by colleagues who had been at that meeting in Dallas that they still had that sample bur, and sometimes they would pull it from a pocket to prove it. They would explain how they jeal- ously guarded the bur from clinical staff members on the fear that it could be misplaced, leaving them seriously handi- capped, and they begged me to manu- facture these burs for them because, they confessed, they were never going to make them at the chairside as I had dem- onstrated in Dallas. I already had a small clinical products company, CJM Engineering, which manu- factured and distributed the Root Canal Projectors (no longer available), and so, in early 2006, after trying to literally “give” the troughing bur idea to several bur manufacturing companies without suc- cess — in one instance, the new products committee of a large dental bur company concluded there was simply no market for such a bur — I decided to begin man- ufacturing and distributing these burs myself through CJM Engineering (Fig. 4), still the manufacturer and exclusive worldwide distributor of Munce Discov- ery Burs today. Below is a rough timeline of the in- troduction of significant features of the Figs. 1, 2: At left, the lack of a long/stiff/ narrow-shafted troughing bur led to chairside fabrication to meet the need. Photos/Provided by Dr. C. John Munce Fig. 3: Below left, the sketch from which samples were made that were handed out at the 2005 AAE Pre-Session Meeting in Dallas. Fig. 4: Below right, the first ad (2006) announcing the release of Munce Discovery Burs in four head sizes (#1/2, #1, #2 and #4) and one length (34 mm). Root Canal Projectors are no longer available. Munce Discovery Bur line since its incep- tion. Each of the modifications was born of my own experience in applying these burs in diverse clinical circumstances and of the freely offered — and fully ap- preciated — suggestions and requests for modifications from colleagues. 2006 • A knowledgeable friend in the den- tal instrument manufacturing business, Lonnie Graybill of Integra-Miltex, coined the name, Munce Discovery Burs, and it stuck. • The Munce Discovery Bur line start- ed with 34-mm-long burs only, and in only four head sizes: #1/2, #1, #2 and #4 (Fig. 4). Here in New Orleans To learn more about CJM Engineering and Munce Discovery Burs — and to get a peek at the soon-to- be-released TruGrit TroughRefiner — visit booth No. 518, call (805) 962-5532 or visit www.cjm engineering.com. • At that time, we only produced the 1 mm diameter shaft on all four head sizes. 2007 • We added the 31-mm-long Shallow Troughers to the line. • To distinguish the two different lengths, we began referring to the burs as Munce Discovery Bur Deep and Shallow Troughers. • We added our tiniest head size, #1/4, (with a head diameter equal to tip of a #50 K-file), and a #3 head size, to both Deeps and Shallows. • We added 3 mm “sounding” rings on the Deeps. • We also introduced the 31-mm-long #6 Endodontic Cariesectomy Bur. • Although “troughing” as an endo- specific operation associated with ul- trasonic tips was already beginning to develop its own vocabulary within the endodontic community, the specific ver- ” See MUNCE, page 14

daily AAE New Orleans April 26, 2017

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