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Spear Digest Dental Articles

New From Dr. Frank Spear: The Spear Model

New From Dr. Frank Spear: The Spear Model

One of the greatest challenges for all clinicians is maintaining their passion for dentistry over a career that could last 20, 30 or even...

| 10 years ago
Endodontics: Advocating Smaller Canal Preps

Endodontics: Advocating Smaller Canal Preps

In July of this year, I posted a Digest article in which I posited that removing tooth structure accidentally, or perhaps, needlessly, as some advocate...

| 10 years ago
Ankylosis Part IV:  The Use of Decoronation
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Ankylosis Part IV: The Use of Decoronation

Typically when managing ankylosis in permanent teeth in children, it is advisable to remove the ankylosed tooth prior to significant growth so that the...

| 10 years ago
What Every Dentist Needs to Know About Setting Goals

What Every Dentist Needs to Know About Setting Goals

Everybody likes the idea of seeing improvement in their life, and many people are genuinely committed to working hard to make things better. But I have...

| 10 years ago
Ceramic Restorations: Why Do They Break?
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Ceramic Restorations: Why Do They Break?

All ceramic restorations can break, even IPS e.max lithium disilicate, which has a flexural strength of 400 mPa. The two most common reasons for ceramic...

| 10 years ago
Is Dental Education Like a Smart Phone?

Is Dental Education Like a Smart Phone?

I remember when I bought my first portable phone. Notice I said portable – not smart. It was hardly smart. But it allowed me to not be tied down to...

| 10 years ago
Impression Materials: Pesky Air-inhibited Layer!
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Impression Materials: Pesky Air-inhibited Layer!

Here's a tip I learned the hard way—twice! Before I used preparation guides and reduction guides for veneer and crown preparations I would make my provisionals before...

| 10 years ago
Mood Maintenance: An Exercise in Mind Control
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Mood Maintenance: An Exercise in Mind Control

You are having an argument with your spouse, or your son or daughter, and things are getting heated. You can feel the anger taking hold. Then your phone...

| 10 years ago
New Course Added on Pressure Units in the Practice

New Course Added on Pressure Units in the Practice

Pressure units and vacuum units for forming thermoplastics have a long history in dentistry. Their use to create preparation guides, formers for temporary...

| 10 years ago
Great Dentists Are Educators
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Great Dentists Are Educators

This is a picture of me doing what I love to do most. It was taken at a recent Faculty Club event where, once again, I got the opportunity to get in front...

| 10 years ago
Fifty Shades of Gray: Matching Single Centrals
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Fifty Shades of Gray: Matching Single Centrals

Not the book – and hopefully not that single central you are trying to match. However, we do occasionally have to shade a single central with a...

| 10 years ago
The Hygiene Exam: Are You and Your Patients Getting Full Value?
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The Hygiene Exam: Are You and Your Patients Getting Full Value?

Hygiene visits are still often under-appreciated - both by patients and dentists. Patients tend to think of them as cleanings, which makes it sound...

| 10 years ago