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John C. Wiltrout, the founder of R-Tech Dental, wrote an article titled “The Truth About The Independent Dealer”. He describes what it is like to be a small independent dental service company growing in an environment where large corporate competitors play and manufacturers limit who can and cannot ...
“The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upheld the SUSPENSION of a dentist who failed to conduct and record weekly spore testing…” QUOTED ARTICLE CDC recommends sterilizers are tested at least weekly with a biological indicator and every pack with an internal and external chemical indicator. ...
Until recently the failure of an Electric High Speed Handpiece attachment has meant two to eight weeks of down time and repair costs in the area of $600.00. This was caused by the tight control of parts and tools by the handpiece manufacturers. The manufacturers typically replace all internal parts ...
If you are looking for a good way to test your dental unit waterlines to determine if they meet CDC guidelines of less than 500 Colony Forming Units / mL then look no further. We have the solution for you!
Have you seen the other end of your patient chair recently? You know, the end of the chair that your patient’s feet come to rest upon? Most dental patient chairs have a clear plastic cover that protects the fabric of the chair from the dirt, grime, water, and snow that is tracked in by your ...
We are happy to announce that the Red Wing Dental Care Clinic, with our help, opened on May 26th 2011. They have a total of three operatories and digital X-Ray capabilities. They are treating the underpriveledged. The clinic is grateful for the leadership of the Administrative Director – Neela ...
How do I stop my saliva ejector tip from falling off?”, the hygienist looked irritated, “Everytime I bend the saliva ejector straw even slightly the rubber tip comes off with it and the valve lands on the ground. Then I have to stop and disinfect the valve! What can I do to stop this?”
One of our doctors is looking for a used triad curing unit. If you have one that you are no longer using, we may have a home for it. Please contact Mike at 800-826-8704, mention that you have a used Triad light cure unit for sale. (NOMREB)
Our comprehensive, high-quality, family oriented general dentistry office is looking for an associate to cover a maternity leave, leading to a full-time position once the senior dentist returns. For the right doctor, this will become a buy-in opportunity very quickly.
Flexible part-time Dentist needed to care for the underserved children ages 14 and under. It is a great opportunity to help the underserved community of Rochester and surrounding communities. If you are interested in joining our non-profit organization please contact Kristine Billman, Executive ...
Dr. Jerome Appledoorn, of Professional Drive Dental in Northfield, MN is again planning his next foreign mission trip. He is presently in need of an amalgamator for his next trip. So if you have a spare amalgamator that is just eating up space in the basement, contact Dr. Appledoorn at ...
Westwood Dental Arts (Dr. Bruce Dumke) in Mankato, MN is looking for a full or part-time dentist. Just this year they have moved from South Broad Street to their new modern office location. The office has six operatories and is equipped with digital X-Rays as well as other modern amenities. If you ...
I was up in Stillwater, MN at Dr. Matthew Grau’s office, Land Of Lakes Endodontics, PA, and noticed that he had a neat way of keeping his foot pedals handy. The piece of wood had been routed out to perfectly fit each of his foot pedals. Sometimes between the handpiece, the cavitron, the prophy jet, ...
WANTED OLD & UNUSED HANDPIECES
They thoroughly and totally pervade our lives. We eat them, we breathe them, they live in our bodies, and we can not live without them. They have been found miles deep in the earth and at the bottom of the deepest ocean. In the wrong place with the wrong kind they can cause you to sicken and even ...
Matt Wiltrout is our upholstery specialist. What Matt can do to fix up a chair is more like art than anything else. The finished product looks better than it did when it came new from the factory. Almost everyone is aware that we do reupholstery of chairs at the shop. What you may not know however ...
Just to make it as easy as possible for all of our clients, I’m constantly updating our X-Ray Calibration Section of our website, which is located under the R-Tech Services Tab. It is chock full of MDH documents, record sheets, bulletins, calibration records, shielding forms, and contact ...
Although, I don’t personally do any repair work on computer systems installed in dental offices, I am well versed in their use. I have seen both good installs and installs that leave you shocked in total disbelief that the office actually paid someone to have them done. For years I have looked for ...
Q: I have been told that a DC type x-ray machine is better for taking digital x-rays than the AC type machine. What is the difference between a DC machine and an AC machine?
The foot control of your dental unit is a critical component in the proper operation of your operatory. While we are all aware that this round silver disk allows us to control the speed of the handpiece it is less commonly known the part it plays in proper handpiece water control. The foot control ...
A couple weeks ago I received an excellent question that I thought I would share with everyone.
Have you ever wondered what is going on in your x-ray machine when it makes x-rays? Here is a brief and general explanation that you canuse to answer the questions of the young scientists that sit in your chair. The control box of the x-ray machine does two things. It takes the electrical power ...
Effective April 2006, SciCan strongly recommends the water reservoir filter become a part of all Statim maintenance and repairs.
The highspeed dental handpiece has been a work in progress since it was first introduced several decades ago. I was a young man when my dentist got his first Borden Highspeed handpiece. It was a shiny steel box with a black cord and slim handpiece that mounted to the tray arm of his Ritter (Gas ...
Remind your staff to be conscious of squeaks and unusual noises in your chairs, lights and x-ray equipment. If caught early most problems are easy to fix. If they are ignored however you run the risk of needing expensive parts or the prospect of mechanical failure and possible injury to you, your ...
Your office sterilizer is one of the key pieces of equipment in your office. Keeping it clean and in proper working order is a real challenge because of the constant stream of chemicals through its chamber as well as the constant range of temperatures through which it must operate. Here are some ...
We repair a lot of handpieces. One of the most common complaints with the highspeeds is that the bur is slipping from the chuck. This of course is annoying and dangerous. Often this occurs in relatively new turbines that would otherwise have a good deal of life left in them. I want to recommend ...
Several of my clients are putting in new electric handpiece systems and investing lots of money into the attachments that fit onto them. Most of these electric handpiece systems use attachments that are referred to as “E-type attachments”. Today I was in an office where two of their electric ...
Today, one of my clients reminded me that I had promised to write about ultrasonic cleaners and how they should be tested. So here goes:
“How do I stop my saliva ejector tip from falling off?”, the hygienist looked irritated, “Everytime I bend the saliva ejector straw even slightly the rubber tip comes off with it and the valve lands on the ground. Then I have to stop and disinfect the valve! What can I do to stop this?”
Today we completed installation of all of the operatory equipment for Dr. Darrin King’s new office in Faribault, MN location and he is now open for business. King Orthodontics actually consists of three office locations, Faribault, Owatonna, and Rochester. I am grateful to Dr. King for entrusting ...
“How long can water sit in a bottle when it has been treated with an A-dec ICX or a Confirm Monitoring’s Blu-tab water tablet?”
Today, Michael & Stephanie Sawyer and their staff opened the doors to their new office in Rochester. This was a Sullivan-Schein project headed by Shawn Bengtson and Sam Lyga. I am happy that Dr. Sawyer decided to go this way. The end product is absolutely stunning. The new office incorporates ...
On September 25th, 2006 Southern Heights Dental Group moved into their new location. I wanted to take some time to congratulate them on this move and thank them for allowing me to supply and install the vacuum system that powers this large facility. Southern Heights Dental Group’s website is ...
One of my clients calls me every couple of years and tells me, “Well Mike, I’ve acquired another office and I need you to come bid on the used equipment and haul it away.” The last time he called, I decided to ask him why it was that he was acquiring so many offices and never using any of the old ...
Recently we have had some interesting developments relating to pan and ceph installations that have fixed exposure buttons outside in a hallway. Many of these remote exposure button locations are installed prior to our arrival by electricians who may not have any concept on where they should really ...
The practice of Dr. Roland W. Pardun, DDS in Cochrane, WI is for sale. Please contact him for more information.
R-Tech Dental of MN will be closed for a week during the month of July. I’m taking my wife to Alaska to make up for all of the years without a real vacation and to give her the honeymoon in Alaska that she never got. We will be gone from July 16th (Sunday) until July 25th (Tuesday).
Join us in Welcoming Dr. Melissa McCulloch to our staff!
Dr. Tony Lund has a dental office space available in Rochester, MN. The space is located directly above the offices of Dr. Truax and Dr. Praska (orthodontists). It is across the street from Lourdes high school at 15 NW 7th Ave. The space includes 5 operatories complete with chairs, lights, delivery ...
We are making some changes to our newsletter that we hope will be exciting and make this area even more functional for our customers. You will notice now at the end of each of our newsletter articles is a comment and email buttton.
Dental Hygienist Kris Billman of Byron, MN opened the doors of Children’s Dental Health Services on Feb 1, 2006. She provides dental services for children from ages 1-5 without dental insurance. Her office is located within the United Way building and her office hours are 8AM – 5PM Monday through ...
Heat can damage your compressor and vacuum systems. If you have a small utility room that has no ventilation it can get extremely hot in there. To avoid problems with the room getting too hot, you may want to consider adding some ventilation. This means either having a vent and a return installed ...
Dr. Charles D. Hawk of St. Charles, MN is looking to sell his practice. Please contact his office at (507) 932-4530 for further information. His office is located here:
Today, Penny, from Dr. Tim Flor’s office in Waseca, told me that she attended a seminar where they suggested that all units be checked to make sure that the handpiece hoses have check valves installed to prevent retraction of liquids from the patients mouth.
Birch Lake Dental is relocating. Their new address is as follows: Birch Lake Dental 4641 White Bear Parkway White Bear Lake, MN 55110 (651) 429-0404 View Map Our congratulations go out to Geetha J. Damodaran, D.D.S. and her staff.
Due to the fact that many offices are going to a complete digital setup, there has become an increasing number of good quality non-digital pan and pan/ceph units that are available. Below is a list of some of the more recent machines that are available and the doctors that would like to sell them:
Bleach and various other cleaning chemicals (including some acidic vacuum line enzymatic cleaners) are NOT your vacuum system’s friend. It amazes me how much damage can be done by the wrong types of cleaners. To give you just a little taste of what I’m talking about, here is a picture of a brass ...
Yesterday, I was working at Dental Health Affiliates, the office of Dr. Charlie Smith, in Rochester, MN. I noticed something that I have not seen in any other offices. They have taken the time to have plastic signs engraved with all of the various OSHA compliance labeling. In many offices this ...
I understand that when your operatory has a clean water bottle system that it can be frustrating when that bottle runs out. Consequently, many assistants have had a tendency to fill their water bottles all the way to the top before screwing them onto the clean water systems. Clean water systems are ...
Today we finished moving Dr. Starr into his new office. Wow! What a nice upgrade for him, his staff, and his patients. We wish Dr. Starr and his staff well in their new location and want to thank him for the chance to be a part of this relocation.
At R-Tech Dental, we would like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We also want to let all of you know that R-Tech Dental of MN will be closed the last week of December this year (December 24th – January 1st). R-Tech Dental of MN will re-open on Monday, January 2nd. ...
I have seen many assistants improperly using a lead vest while trying to take a panoramic X-ray. The rotation of a panoramic tube head usually starts on one side of the patient, rotates around the back of the patient’s head, and ends on the opposite side of the patient’s head. Does placing a lead ...
Inspection of cassettes for good film screen contact is an often overlooked yet important quality control procedure. Poor film/screen contact can be the reason for areas of increased density, reduced density and blurring. The film that you install into your cassette is not exposed solely by ...
This question was posed by a doctor that had a bunch of Peri-Pro chemistry in the basement that he wanted to use up. He was hoping to avoid having to buy cases of full-size processor chemistry.
Today I was at Professional Drive Dental doing routine service work, when one of the hygienists mentioned to me that she was having trouble with her X-ray arm drifting.
We have been supplying the above water testers to anyone that has a Statim sterilizer. The Statim works by injecting distilled water under pressure into a very small boiler. This boiler immediately turns the water into steam. Within this boiler is a small temperature sensor (thermocouple) that ...
Hmmm…. Good question. First off, here is the MSDS sheet for Vapo-Steril: https://www.rtechdental.com/documents/vaposterile.pdf
I had two doctors, Dr. Klampe and Dr. Lesch, ask me this question today. Both were concerned about costly changes to their X-ray systems that might be required by law. This question stemmed from their reading of Sullivan-Schein’s “Sidekick” Autumn 2005 edition. Below are some of the quotes from the ...
Well, first off, most manufacturers of this type of vacuum system, will specifically state that their warranties are null and void if hard water is used in their products. Example:
The assistant looked concerned as she posed this question to me. You see, she was pregnant and visibly worried about it. I explained that my understanding was that it is NOT required, but is HIGHLY recommended. I told her that if I were pregnant I would not work in an operatory that did not ...
This question was posed to me today. Here’s the exact wording that OSHA has to answer that, as well as text from the CDC and the AAMI:
Effective September 26, 2005 Minnesota Department of Health is relocating. The new address and phone number for the MDH section of Radiation Control is as follows:
Byron Dental Group is in search of an associate. They are looking for a dentist to help fill the space of their most recent associate, Valerie, who recently had a baby and has moved out of the area. If you are a dentist that is looking for work, or if you know of someone who could fill this void, ...
There are times when I’m simply impressed by the resourcefulness of my clients. This was one of those times. On August 29th, Dr. Rohrer’s office contacted me and requested that I come over and fix a processor rack that was broken. I scheduled a time for the next day, the 30th. As the need for a ...
We want to congratulate Dr. Kellogg and her staff on their beautiful new office at 2717 Superior Dr. NW in Rochester, MN.
Last month I talked about replacing the plastic pieces on a Gendex X-Ray. One of you spoke out and asked the question, “What about the metal?” What can you do to make the metal of your X-Ray unit or your patient light look better? Here is our answer: Contact Bernie at (507) 282-5951. He runs a ...
We have available now a new Hilux handheld curelight gun that fascillitates LEDs. It is a cordless light with output levels over 1,000 mw/cm2. It is a cordless light with a long battery life that will deliver 750 five second cures with an overnight charge. The gun uses standard “Demetron style” ...
Gendex 770 X-Ray units have a set of white plastic pieces that cover all of the critical parts of the X-Ray. It turns out that the plastic Gendex used in many of their earlier Gendex 770s would yellow when exposed to light over long periods of time. This tended to make the X-Ray unit look old and ...
Recently it seems, we have had quite a few sterilizer service calls. Most of these calls could have been avoided if the office staff had been changing the sterilizer seals on a quarterly basis. Due to the heating and cooling, most sterilizer seals become hard and actually shrink in size. This makes ...
We are saddened by the loss of Dr. Stephen R. Springmeyer, a dentist from Southern Heights Dental Group in Faribault, MN. He died unexpectedly on Monday, July 18, 2005 at his home.
Today we received a call from a doctor who was expressing a concern. He had noted that the ingredient list of a mouthwash that was available from his supplier matched the ingredient list of Mint-A-Kleen. His concern stemmed from a price difference between the two products. We contacted Anodia ...
My heart aches when I think about the people of London having to cope with their recent losses. A cold chill runs down my spine when I think about people who care so little about their own lives, that they are willing to die, just to inflict so much pain, suffering, and death on so many innocent ...
From time to time I get a call from an office who has been told by SPS Medical or some other spore testing laboratory that the sterilizer in their office has failed a spore test. They are then told not to discontinue use of that sterilizer until it has been re-tested and passed. That wait can be ...
If you are planning on going on a foreign mission trip to some remote place abroad and you need the tools to perform dentistry, please give us a call. We work with a company called DNTLworks. They produce delivery systems that are built into a tackle box.
I’ll bet that you spend a large part of your day sitting. That’s not to say that you are not working, but you do sit. Your stool rolls on the floor constantly. The stool’s casters rack up the miles and they wear out. So what do you do when your stool doesn’t roll the way it should anymore? You call ...
Family Dentist Tree in Rochester, MN is looking for a Certified Registered Dental Assistant (CRDA) starting at the end of this month. If you have interest, please contact Lori Stackhouse, their office manager, at (507) 288-1188.
About 2 weeks ago, I had a SciCan statim sterilizer that had a check valve that had failed. The check valve’s job is to prevent steam from getting into the air compressor. During the drying cycle, this air compressor turns on and pumps air through the check valve, the boiler, and the cassette ...
The 92nd Southeastern District Dental Society has its annual meeting on Friday, August 26th, 2005 at Mississippi National Golf Links in Historic Red Wing, MN.
Kasson Dental is looking for a new dentist for their practice. If you or someone you know has interest, contact Dr. Scott Winkle, D.D.S. at (507) 634-6421.
I was asked about instrument re-tipping today. It is a subject that I really don’t know too much about. Aside from repairing old Rx Honing machines that help keep instrument tips sharp, I usually don’t have anything to do with general hand instruments. There is a local company that does specialize ...
Today is the theatrical release of “Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith”. I’m a science fiction nut, so I just could not resist mentioning it. May the force be with you.
Just as a reminer to everyone that we have all types of processor racks available for replacement if you are having any problems with dirty films, sluggish processing, or racks that have lost a few too many teeth. 🙂
Today I spoke with Al Dubé, the local rep for SolmeteX amalgam separators. I had two questions for him.
MDA’s Star of the North meeting is this weekend. I will be busy working on Friday while everyone is away and as I am a RYSA soccer coach, I will be busy Saturday making sure that my players kick the ball into the right goal. I hope that everyone has a good meeting and enjoys checking out all of the ...
We have been receiving multiple calls from people about handpiece lubricants that are no longer available. First Clavesafe by DCI was no longer available and now most recently, Phase Change has been reported to not be available. Both of these are very good and widely used handpiece lubricants. I ...
Dentistry for Children and Adolescents, Ltd. had their open house this evening at their new location on 2743 Superior Dr. NW in Rochester, MN, and it was wonderful. We congratulate Dr. Robyn Loewen, Dr. Candy Mensing, and staff on their beautiful new office and we wish them well.
Happy Tax Day everyone! I’m presently ducking as people throw things at me. 🙂
Several people recently have asked me who I recommend for OSHA and Radiation training for the staff. For many years, I have referred my clients to Sharon Ballin. Sharon provides an excellent service that complements the X-Ray calibration services that I am able to provide. Her presentations are ...
Southern Cities Community Health in Faribault, MN is looking for a dentist that is interested in working about 1 day a week. Contact Wanda at 507-333-2028 for more details.
We want to take time to thank John Determan of The OGC Group for his hard work putting this site together. We would recommend him highly to anyone who wants to establish a presence on the web.
Welcome to the new home for R-Tech Dental on the web! We are very excited about our new site. Although there is much work to be done to make it a more useful place for our clients, we are continually moving in the right direction. This website will be filled with a wealth of our knowledge of dental ...
Many offices are having us install new SolmeteX Amalgam separators. These separators work exceptionally well. They do have one weakness though. Vacuum line cleaners that have a pH less than 4 can cause the Kylex inside of the filter cartridge to plug up. If you have any question whether you are ...
We have come up with a neat way to keep handpiece hoses out of the way! This tends to only work well with 12 o’clock delivery units. We mount a keychain recoil device (pictured below) to the cabinet and then tie the end of the recoil cord to the bottom of the handpiece hose. When you pull the ...
At the request of many of our clients, R-Tech Dental of MN now accepts Master Card and Visa. We know that you all like those airline miles! So, now you can pay for the same great R-Tech service and not have to lift a pen to write a check. We can setup your account to always charge to your credit ...