Can I use The Blogging Dentist to promote my product/idea/class?

I get requests to write a guest blog or advertise in some way on The Blogging Dentist quite often. Since this blog is purely for my own amusement, I haven’t really considered this in the past. But now I’m thinking about it.

Why would someone want to use “The Blogging Dentist” to promote their product or idea? I’m not exactly sure. I’m quite certain that my readers are overwhelmingly dental types, so maybe they think that by reaching the people who read this blog they’d be getting their message out a well selected audience. Maybe they figure that it’s a super cheap and low risk way to connect with said “dental types.” They’re probably right on both counts. My promise to my readers is this: I won’t allow cheesy and hollow sales pitches on The Blogging Dentist.

Since I’m the king of this castle, I’m going to lay out my rules.

  1. Ideally, you’re a dentist or dental business that has an idea or product that you think should be shared and talked about. Hopefully you aren’t selling insurance or Amway.
  2. As mentioned, I will allow no “sales pitches.” Blogs are about spreading ideas. That’s what I try to do here. I spread ideas that I’ve had and that I’ve heard about. I can’t stand the bald sales pitch. I understand that it is sometimes necessary, but I rarely react well to it. I need to be romanced. Give me some clever copy. Explain what the problem is and how you fix it. Link to your website if you like, but keep it classy. I don’t endorse products, but I might let you discuss a novel way of doing things that involve a product. It’s about the ideas, not products.
  3. You may not bad mouth your competition on the Blogging Dentist. I’m going to buy a Ford because I think the Ford is a great fit. Not because the Ford sales guy thinks that Dodges suck.
  4. I reserve the right to edit your copy. I won’t put words in your mouth, but I might change your syntax. Sorry…it’s a curse.
  5. Amuse me. This is the most important rule. If I think it’s funny, I’m more likely to share it.
  6. If you have a blog about your ideas or products I’m MUCH more likely to allow you a guest spot. I would enjoy having other bloggers come on board. As long as you’re O.K. with following the above rules.

 

What won’t fly:

  1. If you’re the web guy for some dentist’s website and you send me a generic blog post about the top 10 most cavity causing foods that you didn’t write and you put your client’s name in the byline even though they didn’t write it either…I’m not going to put it up. No chance. If I even think that the copy is written by someone other than who claims to have written it I won’t put it up.
  2. If you have a product you’d like dentists to know about but you’re only willing to share canned content I’m not going to let you guest blog.
  3. Buying ad space. At this point you can’t buy space at the Blogging Dentist. But if you have an interesting idea that you want to share in an amusing and engaging way…I’m happy to help!

If you’re interested on guest blogging about your product, service or idea feel free to email me at: alan@meadfamilydental.com. I’m happy to discuss it with you…as long as you’re willing to follow my rules!

magic impression goo

Let me start by saying I am not on the payroll of any dental company. It’s not like I object to it or anything. I’m sure that I could be bought. Probably cheaply. But I’ve never been paid for my opinion. Yet I still feel compelled to talk about this new stuff I’m using.

I’m a bread and butter dentist. Lots of fillings and crowns, some root canals and extractions and a few implants here and there. So we take lots of impressions. Over the years I’ve come to hate packing cord. It was a necessary evil to get a good impression. I’ve used electrosurgery before with mixed results. I’ve never used a soft tissue laser and I know some clinicians swear by them. The thing that all of these things require is anesthesia on (at least) the palatal or lingual for comfort. If you don’t have some solid gingival anesthesia, you’re cannot use cord, electrosurgery or a laser comfortably. In some cases, this gingival anesthesia is only necessary for tissue retraction. Usually, you can prepare a tooth without it. So, I’ve routinely used my paroject for profound gingival anesthesia and placed cord. Which is the most tedious job in dentistry, I think.

I don’t like placing cord, but I’m O.K. at it. When done well, you get great retraction. Often, it doesn’t do a red hot job with hemostasis without adding some kind of astringent. I’m a fan of Astringident X from Ultradent. I can still hear Dr. Fischer of Ultradent explain, “I could stop bleeding from the aorta with this stuff.” Anyhow, I hate cord. I’ll use it, but I hate it.

So then I hear about this stuff from 3M. The “retraction capsule.” I saw ads for it on DentalTown and thought it looked interesting. But it looked a lot like Expasyl, which I had tried and didn’t think that much of. It needed a special gun and was really tough to rinse off. So I was skeptical. Then a couple friends of mine on Facebook started raving about it and even putting up some case studies. So I thought I’d try it.

The “retraction capsule” fits in any standard composite compule gun. When you dispense the stuff, it comes out quickly. You don’t need to use a lot of pressure like with Expasyl. It doesn’t have a ton of body, but it seems to expand slightly after you dispense it. I think this is where you get the retraction. The tip of the capsule is very thin. Slightly thicker than a periodontal probe, but it slips under the gingiva quite easily. The instructions suggest letting it sit for a couple of minutes. After that, you rinse vigorously (and I mean vigorously). I go into the sulcus with an Ultradent Dento-Infusor tip on a small syringe of isopropyl alcohol for a vigorous rinse and removal of any handpiece oil, etc. What you end up with is a very clean and dry preparation with nicely retracted sulcus.

The impressions are good. Really good. I’m getting marginal flash in places where I never got it before. And better than that…no cord! I’ll place it when I need to, but so far I haven’t had to use it for the better part of a month. Which makes working more fun. Which is pretty much my main concern around here. 

My main problem with this product is the name. “3M retraction capsule” is clearly not sexy enough. I started calling it “paste” at first. Now I just ask for “magic impression goo” and Shelly gets it for me.

I won’t even charge 3M for the name if they want to use it.