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Imagine if a dentist could successfully treat a patient's decaying tooth without having to drill into it.
With Icon® Caries Infiltrant from DMG America, dentists and patients alike need no longer simply imagine.
Icon – the name is an abbreviation for "Infiltration concept" – is designed to treat incipient caries that are in stages too advanced for preventive therapies but not yet advanced enough to necessitate traditional restorative treatments. The Icon system uses a revolutionary low-viscosity resin to fill, reinforce, and stabilize demineralized enamel, thus halting the progression of lesions. In cases where Icon is applicable, the need for drilling or anesthesia is completely eliminated, as is the risk of incidental damage to healthy tooth structures.
"Icon represents a new category of dental products," declared Tim Haberstumpf, DMG America's Director of Marketing. "It is the first product to bridge the gap between prevention and caries restoration. Icon's micro-invasive infiltration technology can be used to treat smooth surface and proximal carious legions up to the first third of dentin (D1). In just one patient visit, Icon can arrest the progression of early enamel lesions and remove white spot lesions."
With Icon, a tooth can be treated immediately and in as little as 15 minutes. First, wedges are used to separate the patient's teeth and the afflicted tooth is isolated with a rubber dam. Then the tooth surface is prepared with a special gel consisting of 15% hydrochloric acid, which opens the pores in the lesion body. After that, the tooth is rinsed and then dried by a combination of ethanol and air. Once that has been done, the Icon resin is applied to the lesion with a special applicator and the area is light cured. A second layer of resin and additional light curing is usually recommended. With the exception of the rubber dam, all materials and devices necessary for the treatment process are included in the Icon kit.
Haberstumpf summed up the Icon treatment process as "simple and user friendly." He also noted that its surprising swiftness "saves patients time and frees up additional chairtime," which has the complementary benefits of making a dentist's work desirable to more patients and granting that dentist the additional free time necessary to accept more patients
Icon generally increases the projected lifespans of teeth that are treated with it. Furthermore, the end products of Icon treatments are highly esthetic, as tooth areas remedied with Icon closely simulate the appearance of surrounding enamel.
Icon has been showcased on such television programs as The Doctors, Fox News, and BetterTV. It was also the subject of an article in Popular Science magazine this past February.
"All this recent press coverage has introduced millions of patients to the concept that this type of treatment avoids the pain of the drill that comes with a traditional restoration and, most importantly, it saves tooth structure immediately and in the long run," said Haberstumpf. "Patients really appreciate that!"
Icon kits can be ordered from any authorized DMG America dealer. Where offered, a dentist may also arrange for a demonstration of Icon in his or her practice.
DMG America, formerly known as Zenith Dental, is a New Jersey-based Limited Liability Company. Its mission statement reads: "DMG America is dedicated to helping dental clinicians produce the most realistic and reliable restorations possible." DMG America has earned two of the most stringent certifications – ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 13485:2003 – established by the International Standard Organization. Through its selective partnerships with leading international dental manufacturers, DMG America continually strives to provide North American dentists with a comprehensive range of popular and efficient restorative products.
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