Vote in the third round of greatest dental inventions of all time

Sept. 20, 2012
Will it really be toothbrushes vs. toothpaste in the "championship"? Or do anesthetics, ultrasonic scalers, implants, etc. have something to say about that?

The toothbrush, air-driven handpieces, anesthetics, ultrasonic magnetostrictive scalers, implants, toothpaste, and X-rays rolled to decisive results of 90 percent or above in polling during the second round of the Greatest Dental Invention of All Time bracket on DentistryIQ.com.

It could get crowded in the “final four” of greatest dental inventions. But, first, there’s the third round.

PARTICIPATE:Make your choices for the greatest dental inventions by voting here.

The third round matchups are:

Toothbrushes vs. curettes. Toothbrushes rolled past disposable high-speed handpieces (94% to 6%) and dentures (100% to 0%) in the first two rounds. Curettes faced tougher challenges from saliva ejectors (53% to 47%) and oral cancer diagnostic equipment (67% to 33%).

Air-driven handpieces vs. anesthetics. Anesthetics ganged up on carbide burs (97% to 3%) and electric toothbrushes (93% to 7%) in the first two rounds, setting up a possible showdown against toothbrushes in the final four. Air-driven handpieces was chosen over bleaching/whitening materials and articulators in the first two rounds.

Electric handpieces vs. digital radiography. Electric handpieces was the top vote-getter when matched up against probiotics and xylitol, easily defeating the two preventive dental products. The second round was also not kind to sealants, which failed to supplant digital radiography. Digital radiography also knocked off interdental cleaners in the first round. Not a good first two rounds for several preventive products.

• Composites vs. fluoride. Fluoride coasted through the first rounds, knocking off the intraoral viewer (84% to 16%) and glass ionomers (90% to 10%). Now it’s up against another restorative material (and perhaps the granddaddy of the current generation). Composites have already seen a been-there-done-that with fluoride, outing fluoride rinses in the first round and then curing lights in the second round.

Ultrasonic magnetostrictive scalers vs. implants. After squeaking by disinfectants, of all things, in the first round, the scalers gathered 100% of the votes against electronic health records in the second round. Implants, though, remain a favored invention, surpassing CAD-CAMs and ergonomic seating.

Mirrors vs. orthodontic braces. In perhaps the biggest upset of the second round, mirrors received more votes than impression materials. Orthodontic braces did not face any real challenges in the first two rounds, outpacing TMJ products and cements.

Sterilizers vs. intraoral cameras. Consider this. If mirrors surprised you above, then read this next sentence slowly several times. Sterilizers were selected as the greatest dental invention over floss 80% to 20% in the second round. Seriously. It happened. It was selected over apex locators in the first round. That’s OK … but dental floss? But now sterilizers are matched up against the intraoral camera, and the infection control equipment could just sterilize its way to the final four.

Toothpaste vs. X-rays. Toothpaste still could end up matched against toothbrushes in the championship of greatest dental inventions. Any bets on who would win? But X-rays fared very well against fluoride varnishes (90% to 10%) and sleep apnea devices (77% to 23%) in the first two rounds.