Solventum’s Filtek™ Composite Warmer Wins 2026 Red Dot Award

 

As regular readers know, I'm a huge fan of warm composite.  Even 3M (before renaming the dental division Solventum)  came out publicly with a downloadable pdf titled :  Busted!  6 Myths of Composite Warming.  I remember reading it when it was first available and being happy that a company with such a good reputation was in support of the concept.

I also wondered at the time how long it would be before the company came out with a warming device.  The concept of warm composite has been around for at least two decades and there are several products on the market created to warm composite.  Addent, a small company in Danbury, CT has sold the Calset device for a long time... in fact they were the reason I started using warm composite all those years ago.  The concept has even expanded into composite delivery devices.  Addent also sells the Compex HD dispensing gun and Vista Apex Solutions  has two products, the Therma-Flow composite warming system as well as a dispenser gun called Phasor.  I've tested and used all of those products and they work well.

The one point I want to get across is that warming composite has a lot of benefits, both in handling during placement and long term by providing better polymerization of the material.

Today I want to let you know that Solventum has brought a warmer to market as well.  It's called the Filtek™ Composite Warmer and should be available now.  Read on for all of the info that Solventum has provided in its press release:

Solventum has officially been awarded the prestigious 2026 Red Dot Award for Product Design for its groundbreaking Filtek™ Composite Warmer.  Celebrated for its human-centered design that helps simplify composite warming in everyday dental workflows. 

The Clinical Problem:

Dental restoratives offer a flexible solution to help clinicians enhance the natural beauty of their patients’ smiles with ease and precision, whether they require a touch-up or a comprehensive restoration.  

Composite warming during direct restoration reduces the viscosity of dental restorative materials, helping improve flow, enhance adaptation and decrease the extrusion force required during application. Solventum offers the first dental composite cleared by the FDA for warming.

The Solution:

• Rapid Warming : Achieves a full system heat-up in 10 minutes. From there, it warms composite capsules in just two minutes and flowable syringes in five minutes—lowering viscosity to deliver better flow1,2,less air inclusion3, and superior adaptation3.
• True Point-of-Care Mobility: Features a first-of-its-kind removable holder. Instead of forcing clinicians or assistants to walk back and forth to a stationary heating base, the holder can be brought directly to the chairside to streamline treatment.
• High-Capacity Staging: Simultaneously accommodates up to six capsules and one flowable syringe to keep multi-step procedures moving smoothly.
• Infection Control & Safety: Includes a heat-safe silicone sleeve to protect fingers during handling. The entire top portion is completely autoclavable to easily integrate with standard clinical sterilization protocols.

"This recognition reflects what's possible when our R&D teams design around the realities clinicians face every day," said Ellen Bosl, Vice President of R&D for Dental Solutions at Solventum. "We started by listening to the everyday challenges in restorative workflows, then engineered a solution that addresses those clinical needs.”

Episode 47 - Dr. Bill Simon

 

One of the things I really enjoy about doing The Technology Evangelist Podcast is the unexpected turns many of the conversations have.  It's fairly common for the conversation to take off in a direction I hadn't anticipated and those conversations are often some of the best.  That was definitely that case with Dr. Bill Simon.  I've known Bill through his work with the Chicago MidWinter meeting and we've gotten to have some nice conversations in the past... but nothing like we had for the podcast.

My original plan was to discuss how meetings and continuing education are changing in dentistry, but what I got from Bill was more... much more. His journey in the profession has had more twists and turns than a road through the Swiss Alps, and it made for an amazing conversation.

Starting out in any profession can be daunting, especially in the field of dentistry where the stakes are high, and the learning curve is steep. In this brief summation, I'll delve a bit into the journey of Dr. Bill Simon, an incredibly successful practitioner, who shares his experiences, challenges, and insights for younger professionals navigating their careers in dentistry.  If you are a younger dentist and are looking for someone to mentor you through the profession, I *highly recommend* contacting Dr. Simon!!!

About Dr. Bill Simon

Dr. Bill Simon has spent years building a successful dental practice in Chicago. With a background in both biology and dentistry, his journey is chock full of valuable lessons learned from both successes and obstacles. His experience makes him a credible figure in the field, and his insights are particularly helpful for new dentists. Add to this that he also works to mentor younger dentists needing career guidance.

The Early Decisions: Choosing Dentistry

Like many of us, Dr. Simon's career began with a tough choice during high school—whether to pursue accounting, a field he excelled in, or follow his passion for biology and helping people through dentistry. He recalls, "I decided to go down the biology route, thinking it would provide more opportunities to work with and help people." This decision ultimately shaped his career path, leading him to dental school at Southern Illinois University. As a little sidelight, I love SIU's mascot, the Salukis!

Learning Through Challenges

One of the most significant hurdles Dr. Simon faced early on was navigating the complexities of dental practice ownership. After graduation he decided to work in a practice owned by an older dentist. Shortly into his professional career, he was stunned to receive a letter from the dental board telling him the office owner didn't have a license and he found himself under investigation for aiding unlicensed practice. This experience taught him a crucial lesson: "You don't learn a lot from your successes; you learn more from your challenges and failures."

When faced with the decision to either buy the practice, clean up the litigation, or leave, Dr. Simon chose to establish his own practice just four doors down. "I built out a two-operatory clinic in the dark of night. The next week, I opened with my entire patient schedule filled," he recalls. This daring move not only salvaged his career but also laid the foundation for his future success.

Resilience in Crisis: The Fire Incident

In 2002, tragedy struck when Dr. Simon's practice suffered a fire. He vividly describes driving down the highway, hearing the news on the radio that the street to his office was closed due to a major fire. "I pulled up to find fire trucks outside my building, and we were essentially burned out of our space," he recounts.

Despite this setback, Dr. Simon showed remarkable resilience. He and his team adapted quickly, sharing space with other dental practices and continuing to serve their patients. This experience taught him about the importance of networking and community, as he connected with other dentists who had faced challenges and were willing to help him continue to see patients and recover from the disaster.

It also shows a lot about Dr. Simon as an employer. During the process of working from multiple locations his dedication to his employees fueled their dedication to him and the practice. What for many might be a business ending tragedy, fueled their desire to support each other while continuing to help their patients. They came out of the situation even stronger... as an office and a team.

Key Takeaways for Aspiring Dentists

• Follow Your Passion: Choosing a career path aligned with your interests can lead to greater satisfaction and success.
• Learn from Challenges: Embrace failures as learning opportunities; they often teach you more than successes.
• Be Resilient: Adaptability is crucial in overcoming unexpected hurdles.
• Build a Network: Connecting with others in your field can provide support and resources in difficult times.

Conclusion

Dr. Bill Simon's journey is a testament to the power of resilience, adaptability, and passion in the world of dentistry. His experiences remind aspiring dentists that while the road may be fraught with challenges, it is also filled with opportunities for growth and success. For those looking to embark on a similar path, remember to embrace your journey, learn from your experiences, and connect with your community.

Oh, and we did actually discuss continuing education as well. His insights will give you a look at where the world of professional conferences is headed.

Want to hear the whole story from Dr. Simon? Listen to the complete episode (Episode 47) of the Technology Evangelist Podcast for deeper insights!

The Pearl Oral Health Index Delivers the First Radiographic Census of the American Mouth

 

Today's post is to let you know that Pearl has released their Pearl Oral Health Index.  I normally try and give a bit of a sneak peak in my intro paragraph(s) when I post things like this, but today is different.  There's a lot to be gleaned from this info.  So instead of a lengthy setup, I'll just let you get right to it.  Scroll down and you'll see some pretty incredible insights.

• The Index analyzes 737 million teeth across 15 million patients and 26 million dental x-rays
• Reveals America’s cavity problem is 4.5x worse than government data indicate
• Identifies and quantifies the impact in America’s “dental deserts” where the tooth-loss gap exceeds 40 percent

Pearl, the global leader in dental AI solutions, today released the Pearl Oral Health Index, unlocking key insights across age, location, gender, and more in the most comprehensive radiographic census of American oral health ever produced. Using its FDA-cleared AI platform to read dental x-rays at scale, Pearl analyzed more than 26 million dental x-rays across 15 million unique patients, and 737 million individual teeth. This represents a dataset so vast it has, for the first time in history, made the collective reality of the American mouth legible. The data both reveals and challenges assumptions about who gets sick, who gets treated, and why.

Until now, dental research has largely relied on small-sample surveys. X-rays, which are the single richest source of oral health information, have been locked away in tens of millions of isolated patient files, impossible to aggregate or compare. Pearl is the first dental AI platform to read, analyze, and measure them at population scale.

“For the first time, we can see what's actually happening inside the mouths of America, not through a survey, not through a sample, but through the raw radiographic truth of tens of millions of visits,” said Ophir Tanz, founder and CEO, Pearl. “The picture is dramatically different from what the public data has told us for decades. There is more disease, more inequality, and more variability in care than anyone realized. AI didn't create this problem, but it finally let us measure it.”

Key Findings

The X-Ray Gap: America's cavity problem is at least 4.5 times worse than federal data suggests

The CDC's NHANES, the gold-standard U.S. government oral health survey of just 25,000 participants, uses mirrors and probes in mobile clinics and estimates that roughly 21 percent of American adults have untreated decay. Pearl's AI, reading radiographs of 15 million participants, finds the real figure is at least 4.5 times higher.

• Decayed teeth per patient: Pearl 6.07 vs. NHANES 0.7. This reflects an 8.7x gap in detected decay.
• Missing teeth per patient: Pearl 2.16 vs. NHANES 2.0. This near-perfect match gives credence to Pearl's methodology, since empty sockets are visible to both a probe and an x-ray.
• Restored teeth per patient: Pearl 7.01 vs. NHANES 6.0. Like missing teeth, restorations are generally visible to the naked eye, so the near-alignment here likewise supports Pearl’s methodology.

X-rays can reveal demineralization at 30–60 percent mineral loss, which is well before a cavity is visible to the eye. The difference is not a methodological quirk; it is the cost of measuring the nation's oral health with instruments that were state-of-the-art in the 19th century. Of note, everyone in Pearl's dataset was already in a dental chair, meaning the true spread in the general population is likely even higher.

Young adults have the most neglected mouths; older adults have the most managed

• Ages 18–24: 52 percent or more than half of all dental disease in young adults is untreated. These are the most neglected mouths in the dataset.
• Crossover between ages 35–44: Fillings finally overtake untreated decay. This is when most people evolve from neglect to managing their oral health.
• Ages 75+: The number of teeth showing signs of decay, loss, or restoration rises to 19.14 out of 28 teeth, meaning over two thirds of teeth have had an issue. Only 28 percent of that damage is untreated. By the time a person hits 75 years old, their mouth is not healthier, but it is more managed.

The Geography of the American Mouth

Where a person lives shapes not just whether they get sick, but what happens when they do. A look at the states with the best and worst oral health include:

• Lowest disease burden: Hawaii (9.63 teeth showing signs of decay, loss, or restoration; lowest calculus at 45.0 percent; fewest extractions).
• Highest disease burden: Delaware (14.22 showing signs of decay, loss, or restoration; calculus 62.6 percent).
• Highest tartar buildup: New Jersey (67.7 percent of patients). This is a 23-point spread vs. Hawaii on a single hygiene indicator.
• Highest rate of extraction: Kansas, where nearly 1 in 10 affected teeth was extracted rather than restored.

The Dentist Lottery: A 4x gap in what two offices on the same block may diagnose

Across 282 dental offices each seeing 200+ adult patients, the 10th-percentile practice finds 3.1 affected teeth per patient, while the 90th-percentile practice finds 12.4 — a 4x gap. Within single zip codes, Pearl identified a 9.2 percentage-point average spread in D-Load (the share of decay left untreated) between neighboring offices, with the top 10 percent of zip codes showing spreads of 17.8 points. Pearl's AI analyzed every x-ray; what varied was how practices responded to what it found. This is not a disease gap, rather it is a training, awareness, and diagnostic consistency gap.

Dental Deserts: Patients in zip codes with zero dentists lose 40 percent more teeth

Pearl matched zip-code data against the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry of 180,974 U.S. dental practices and 295,509 dentists. In zip codes with zero dentists, 20.8 percent of affected teeth have been extracted. In zip codes with 51+ dentists, only 14.9 percent are extracted, which marks a 40 percent higher rate of tooth loss in so-called dental deserts. Patients in these communities are not going untreated longer; when they finally receive care, they lose the tooth entirely, which often comes down to affordability. In many cases prevention and treatment comes at a higher cost than extraction.

The Access Signal: American women are 28 percent more likely to visit a dentist than men

In the U.S. dataset, women make up 56.2 percent of patients and men 43.8 percent. Under the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS), the split is exactly 50/50. Once men and women are in the chair, their clinical numbers are remarkably similar (e.g. female’s untreated rate of 31.4 percent vs. male 33.9 percent). The real gap is not in the mouth — though men do have a higher rate of calculus (1.99 vs. 1.67), or teeth with tartar build up, whereas women tend to have more fillings (7.97 vs. 7.37) — it’s in who makes it through the door.

Two Countries, Two Dental Systems, Two Completely Different Mouths

The data shows that when disease is found, Americans restore and the British extract:

• U.S. patients average 2.16 missing teeth. U.K. patients average 6.36 — roughly 3x more.
• In the U.S. the share of affected teeth extracted sits at 14.5 percent whereas in the U.K. that number’s ~31 percent.

U.S. fee-for-service insurance incentivizes restoration; in the U.K., NHS budget constraints make extraction the more accessible option when a tooth is severely compromised. Neither is objectively superior. But the radiographic evidence shows the two systems produce fundamentally different outcomes in peoples’ mouths.

Why This Matters Now

Oral health is among the last corners of American medicine to be digitized, standardized, and studied at scale. The Pearl Oral Health Index closes that gap in a single step. By applying a consistent, FDA-cleared AI detection model to this volume of x-rays, Pearl has produced the first objective, comparable, population-level picture of what is actually happening inside millions of mouths and how various dental systems respond to it.

The Index's findings have immediate implications for public-health policy, insurer quality metrics, dental-school curricula, and patient expectations. And it establishes a new baseline against which every future change, including new therapies, new policies, and expanded access, can be measured.

About the Data

The Pearl Oral Health Index draws on two complementary datasets, both covering adults 18+, all 51 U.S. states (including D.C.) and the U.K., using a 28-tooth universe (excluding wisdom teeth) across April 2024 to March 2026:

FMX Series Dataset: 1.49 million patients with complete full-mouth x-ray series analyzed by Pearl. This is the authoritative source for DMF (average 15.24 of 28 teeth affected, composed of 6.07 decayed, 2.16 missing and 7.01 filled). Its missing-teeth figure matches NHANES almost exactly, validating the methodology.

Expanded Encounters Dataset: 14.8 million patients and 26 million tooth-level dental encounters, powering state-level analyses, gender comparisons, tooth-by-tooth vulnerability timelines, and 4.26 million longitudinal tooth transitions.

You can access the full version of the Pearl Oral Health Index here: https://hellopearl.com/oral-health-index

About Pearl

Pearl is a dental AI company committed to enhancing how patient care is delivered. Founded in 2019 by a team with decades of experience developing successful, enterprise-grade computer vision solutions, Pearl introduced the first-ever FDA-cleared AI capable of reading and instantly identifying diseases in dental x-rays. With regulatory clearance in 120 countries, Pearl's AI assists dentists in making precise clinical decisions and effectively communicating with patients, thereby transforming the dental care experience worldwide. As dentistry’s global AI leader, Pearl is committed to the ongoing innovation of robust, accessible AI tools that improve patient health outcomes and build greater trust in dental medicine. To request a demo, please visit hellopearl.com/demo

Osteoporosis and Periodontitis: Two-Way Epidemiological and Mechanistic Evidence

 The profession is learning more and more about "the oral-systemic connection".  For lay folks, that basically means that the mouth and body are connected.  The human oral cavity is an advanced organ system  (part of the digestive tract) and can affect the rest of the body in many ways... and not all of them are good.  Lots of research is being done on ways that the mouth can impact the health of the entire body and, conversely, how the body can impact the health of the oral cavity.  Information is being assembled constantly.

In fact, I recently interviewed my friend Dr. Ed Zuckerberg about this very topic on "The Technology Evangelist Podcast".  The episode is Episode 46:  Dr. Ed Zuckerberg on the Oral Systemic Connection and Periodontal Disease Research and is available to stream by following the link.  Ed is one of the profession's most knowledgeable experts on this topic and the episode is fascinating.

However, today's post isn't just about the episode.  As I said above, lots of research is being done on this broad topic and some of the findings definitely bear bringing your attention to.  A recent article published in The Journal of Periodontal Research takes a look at the link between osteoporosis and periodontitis.  

The article titled "Osteoporosis and Periodontitis:  "Two-Way Epidemiological and Mechanistic Evidence" states:

 Strong epidemiological evidence shows an association between the two diseases, in which osteoporosis patients have an increased risk of periodontitis, specifically in postmenopausal women.  

As most of us already know, osteoporosis and periodontal disease are both disease processes that can affect a wide variety of people and can cause significant problems.  Not the least of which is loss of quality of life.  Our medical science is growing exponentially and because of that people are living much, much longer than in previous generations.  However, I'll state that life without quality isn't the goal we all have in mind.  That applies both to the general population and those of us in healthcare.  Osteoporosis and periodontitis are highly prevalent, chronic inflammatory diseases that constitute a major global health burden.   We need to find better methodologies to deal with them.

This study concludes:  Our review found abundant clinical evidence that osteoporosis is linked to a notably higher risk of severe periodontitis, likely due to estrogen deficiency affecting bone metabolism. Clinical data on how periodontitis impacts the prevalence and progression of osteoporosis remain limited, although some studies suggest an association between periodontitis and osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal women.

This is definitely a subject that the profession needs to be aware of.  I advise giving the study an objective read and to bear the info in mind as you perform your patient interviews and examinations.  The study can be found with this link.