Schedule of VBT Congres | USA All Day!

Root canals are not what they used to be.
This is true as root canal treatments have changed over the decades. Getting up to speed with the latest techniques and technologies is important to keep up with the changing times.

1. To understand how endodontics has changed in the past two decades.
2. To understand the new advancements in the field of endodontics.
3. Help recent graduates and dentists apply these concepts in a more circumferential manner and have a better comprehension of what a well-done root canal can accomplish for their patient.
4. Have a more thorough understanding of diagnosis, access, instrumentation, and obturation.
5. To understand future advancements.

Cigarettes and water pipes have been used for many decades all over the world, in spite of many known health risks. In 2003, Hon Lik, a Chinese researcher patented an Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (also known as electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or e-cigs), a battery-operated device that delivers a heated mixture of nicotine, glycerol (and/or propylene glycol), and flavor with each puff as a smoking cessation aid. They also are popularly used in places where smoking is not permitted. The effects of e-cigarettes on the lungs and heart have received much attention, especially due to the recent news that many individuals who got infected with SARS-CoV2 virus were vapers. However, the mouth, where the heated aerosol is first delivered, is where it all begins. As the gateway to the body, this is an environment that has highly specialized defense systems, one of which is a protective layer of bacteria that protect the mouth and prevent disease-causing bacteria from gaining a foothold in the mouth or elsewhere in the body. This presentation will discuss the impact of these habits on oral health.

Tooth preparation for conservative CAD/CAM restorations.

For many clinical situations, full coverage crowns are no longer the best choice for treating posterior teeth. Thanks to CAD/CAM technology, high quality bonded indirect restorations can be fabricated in-office in one patient visit.  This evidence-based course will present a protocol for conservative posterior tooth preparations that lead to better clinical outcomes for CAD/CAM restorations, are more fun to do and most importantly, prevent enamel cruelty! 

Course Objectives:

1. Describe how conservative tooth preparations can lead to better restorations and long-term tooth health
2. Synthesize a tooth preparation process to yield the most conservative restoration for a given tooth condition
3. Discuss how a CAD/CAM design system can be used as a quality check for conservative tooth preparations

Vergeet niet onze standhouders te bezoeken, mede dank zij hun sponsoring is het mogelijk geweest om dit congres te organiseren. 

Continuation of the course - Part 2

The mouth’s connection to the rest of the body goes way beyond chewing, swallowing and digesting food. The power of the oral microbiome is such that keeping it healthy doesn’t just involve maintaining clean teeth and strong gums. The mouth contains energy-efficient bacteria, and the environment they live in, which is rich with blood vessels, enables constant communication between the bacteria and the cells and proteins of the immune system. The mouth is the gateway to the body, and guards the rest of the body from the environment. However, as a part of the body, it is impacted by events that happen in the body. As dentists, it is important for us to put the mouth back into the body, and understand how our treatment of oral diseases is impacted by the patient's overall health, and how our treatment, in turn, can positively contribute to improving systemic health. This presentation will discuss our research and discoveries in this arena.

Geniet als afsluiter van de eerste dag van een spetterende cocktailparty!

Graag inschrijven indien u aanwezig wenst te zijn aub.

The current state of dental adhesives and composites presents the practitioner with many material options having a broad range of physical properties and handling characteristics. The current materials have evolved based on the needs and requests of dental practitioners desiring materials capable of being used in more extensive applications, and with greater ease of use, such as universal adhesives, flowable and bulk fill composites, and single shade composite restoratives. Perhaps one of the least understood and most underappreciated aspects with respect to the use of these materials is the photoactivation process, which must be optimized to ensure that the materials attain adequate curing to maximize bonding and physical properties.

The rapid development of materials and technologies for direct placed resin-based dental restorations shows no sign of abating, and the future is expected to bring many innovative material formulations designed to produce longer lasting and more successful restorations. Despite the high quality of current materials, evidence suggests that directly placed composites have limited lifespans averaging less than ten years, with the main causes for replacement being recurrent caries and material fracture. Recurrent caries is believed to be a result of a combination of factors, including stress producing shrinkage that challenges the interfacial seal interface, lack of bond stability, and degradation of the material due to exposure to salivary and bacterial enzymes and chemicals. The need for improved materials remains.

This course will describe currently available systems for achieving adhesion to tooth structure, and compare their properties and clinical performance when used with dental composites. The evolution of resin-based adhesives, and the critical aspects to be concerned with when using them to produce well-bonded and sealed restorations will be addressed. The different systems will be compared based on formulation, application and clinical outcomes.

Dental composites will be presented in terms of the different types of materials on the market and how their formulation affects their physical and optical properties. The introduction of materials with reduced polymerization shrinkage and shrinkage stress, and enhanced depth of cure for use as bulk-fill restoratives will be explained.

This topic will include a full discussion of dental light curing procedures, with an explanation of common terminology and a brief introduction to the chemical and physical principles that underlie the photoinitiation and polymerization processes. The different types of available curing lights will be compared and the many myths and truths that surround their use will be explored. Proper curing technique will be presented.

The advances in future materials development will be presented as they relate to dental composites, including new materials that are considered to be “bioactive”, self-adhesive, and capable of self-repair. The concept of “bioactivity” and what it may mean for dental biomaterials will be explained, as will the means of producing formulations that adhere to tooth structure without separate adhesives, and materials with increased longevity due to internal additives that heal existing cracks to avoid fracture.

Continuation of the course - Part 2

Vergeet niet onze standhouders te bezoeken, mede dank zij hun sponsoring is het mogelijk geweest om dit congres te organiseren. 

Antibiotic stewardship has taken on new importance with the emergence of superbugs and the decline in effective and available oral antibiotics. Prof. Baker will update the dental team on recent developments in dental antibiotic prescribing and outline strategies for prescribing to ensure therapeutic success with minimum risk. 

Difficult questions about antibiotic prophylaxis will be examined and all relevant guidelines and decision tools will be included. Opioid prescribing remains controversial, especially in young, opioid naive patients. We will explore alternatives and strategies that benefit patients and reflect positively on your practice.

At the conclusion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Select regimens for odontogenic infections based on allergies, intolerances, effectiveness, Black Box Warnings, and guidelines
• Prescribe antibiotic premedication for certain patients with a variety of implants including cardiac and orthopedic devices
• Discuss the pros and cons of prophylactic antibiotics for implant placement, tooth extractions, and other surgical procedures
• Examine the role of dental opioid prescribing in contributing to the opioid epidemic
• Explain the relative effectiveness of non-opioid and opioid agents in acute pain
• Discuss benefits vs. risks of specific pain control regimens for effective dental analgesia

Lasers are increasingly being used in dentistry for soft tissue surgery. The benefit of laser use for soft tissue treatment and management is that the treatments are often less invasive, less painful and bloody. Commonly used soft tissue lasers include Neodymium YAG (Nd:YAG) and diode lasers. These lasers may be used as a component of periodontal treatment and have the ability to kill bacteria and activate the re-growth of tissues. Laser technology has many clinical benefits in clinical dentistry. The lecture will present the pros and cons of soft tissue surgery using different laser wavelengths. Clinical examples in oral surgery and periodontology will highlight the advantages of this technology and discuss the potential risks and complications.

Lasers are increasingly being applied as a monotherapy or adjunct to surgical and nonsurgical therapy in the treatment of periodontitis and peri-implantitis. The therapeutic goals of using lasers, or specific laser wavelengths, as a monotherapy or adjunct to traditional therapies, include root surface debridement and detoxification, reduction in specific or overall subgingival bacterial composition, subgingival curettage, suppression of inflammation, biostimulation, and periodontal regeneration. The laser indication in nonsurgical and surgical periodontal therapy as well as options of peri-implantitis therapy using various laser wavelengths will be elaborated in this presentation. Preclinical studies providing explanation about the advantages of this technology and the long-term successful clinical outcomes will be presented with multiple case presentations.

Is nano-hydroxyapatite better than fluoride? Is charcoal the best whitener? Why is my oral tissue sloughing after product use? What works fastest and best for sensitivity? 

How can I get some relief from this dry mouth and the bad breath that goes with it? 

Patients ask you questions about home use dental products more frequently than they ask about any other oral health subject. They need your professional guidance now more than ever in making the best choices based on their unique set of circumstances. 

Prof. Baker will compare manufacturer claims and objective clinical data concerning chemotherapeutic products for gingivitis, detoxification, remineralization and calculus reduction. Both mechanical and chemical products for halitosis treatment will be listed and evaluated.

Toothpastes claiming everything from enamel restoration to "five shades whiter" will be listed in detailed tables to be used as a chairside reference when questions arise. The safety and effectiveness of controversial ingredients such as activated charcoal, antioxidants, polyphenols, xylitol, ozone, nano-hydroxyapatite, edathamil, melaleuca, and oil pulling will be reviewed. 

Product selection strategies based on patient-specific risks and benefits will be emphasized for every product category.  

At the conclusion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Recommend a mouth rinse based on patient factors such as xerostomia and caries risk
• Select a dentifrice for a specific patient based on caries risk, gingivitis or calculus reduction, sensitivity reduction, abrasiveness, cleaning ability, staining and safety with chronic use
• Choose the most effective mechanical and chemical treatments for halitosis
• Select an "alternative" homecare product line based on effective ingredients and reasonable manufacturer claims