Google Glass Goes "Out and About" at Foundation Fighting Blindness in San Francisco

I've been absolutely salivating over the idea of PC, Smartphone, or whatever in a pair of glasses for over a decade now. I even blogged about Google's foray into this era just a little while back.

Now it appears that the leaks from the Googleplex are more than PR pie in the sky. Otherwise, why would co-founder Sergey Brinn be wearing a prototype at a public fund raiser for blindness recently.

This is all part of Project Glass which the link will provide details of.

I want to get my hands and or temples and or eyeballs on one of these asap

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Dentsply Caulk Updates SureFil SDR Flow

The success of SureFil SDR Flow has been pretty amazing in dentistry. The product has gained wide acceptance and has been used for over 10 million applications worldwide.

While this is obviously a reason for celebration by the folks at Caulk, they haven't just sat back and rested. They've continued to look at ways in the lab to make the product even better.

To that end, I've received word from Dentsply that there have been some improvements to this already outstanding product. They are as follows:

• SureFil SDR Flow is now available in syringe delivery as well as compile delivery
• The product can now be used as a pit and fissure sealant
• It can be used as not just a base, but as a complete restorative material for Class I restorations
• Filling of defects and undercuts in crown, inlay, and only preparations (Core Build Up)

You can check out the website for more info and to also request a free sample of the product in the new syringe delivery.

Beam Brush Sends Toothbrushing Stats to Your Smartphone

Here is the marriage between home dental care and high tech, at least in some ways.

The Beam Brush is a Bluetooth enabled device that will send information from the brush to a Beam Brush app on your Android powered smartphone. This enables the owner of the pone to track brushing times and habits. It appears from the website that multiple brushes can be paired with a single phone so that mom or dad can keep up with the bruising of an entire household.

The app even features a timer that appears on the screen of the phone to let you see how long you've been brushing. The app can also provide educational modules from "top professional resources" although the actual resources were not mentioned. However, the feature I was most interested in is the ability of the app to email brushing info to the dentist. That info could then be saved and added to the patient's digital chart helping us discover ways to improve home care!

The app and brush communicate so the app will alert you when it is time to replace the brushed which should cost about the amount of a normal toothbrush.

The device is not a powered toothbrush, it is your run of the mill "normal" hand operated model. I'm not sure what the price is, but if it is affordable enough, I could see this being a nice adjunct to patent home care.

I can see this being handy for a busy family who really needs to check up on their kids & their bruising habits. Although, the range of BlueTooth is only 10 meters so the phone is going to have to be in fairly close proximity to the brush while it is being used.

At first glance (although I've been wrong before) this seems like a 1/2 way point between a true manual brush and a powered one such as SoniCare or Oral-B.

I'm going to contact the company and see if I can get more info or samples. If so, I'll definitely report back on this.

Could Raspberry Pi Really Change Computing as We Know It?

A tip 0' the old electron to my pal Paul Hinman for the idea behind today's post.

I believe it was Scott McNeally (although I could be wrong about that) who, in the late 90's said "the network *is* the computer".

At the time, that statement was a little too early. We hadn't really gotten high speed data connections to proliferate yet and computing power was still lacking in lots of places. However, the penetration we are now seeing of people using The Cloud, I think that statement is playing out now all around us. Using someone else's computer to host blogs, travel data, calendars, email, you name it, is now so common some of us don't even realize we're doing it.

So if we're really just using a lot of our computers as terminals to access the cloud, do we really need those powerful computers all around us anymore? Enter the idea of Raspberry Pi, a small and affordable computer that may be all you need in the future. I can definitely see something like this taking hold & growing rapidly. When you think about it, most of us with newer smartphones are doing a lot of this already. Raspberry Pi just makes it a ton more affordable and leaves out the phone.

The idea is a tiny computer that costs $25 that can do most of the things you need to have done. Does this mean the desktop is dead? Maybe not, but it may mean the desktop isn't nearly as relevant as it once was.

Here is a bit of an overview from an article on TechRepublic:

In the last 60 years the computer has evolved from a machine that filled an entire room to a device that can fit in your pocket. And just as the electronics have shrunk, so has the price � opening up the prospect of cheap and pervasive computing.

One of the machines at the vanguard of the low-cost computing revolution is the Raspberry Pi, a $25 Linux box that will go on sale before the end of February. Despite its budget price the Raspberry Pi still packs a punch, with the multi-media capabilities of an original Xbox console, 1080p video playback, and general processing power of a Pentium II/III. Specs-wise the credit card-sized computer is powered by a 700MHz ARM chip inside a Broadcom BCM2835 has a single USB port and 128MB of memory, with an additional $10 buying a souped-up version with two USB ports, 10/100 ethernet and 256MB of memory.

Eben Upton, director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the Cambridge-based charitable body set up to produce the machine, predicts that Raspberry Pi will be the first of many $25 machines.

�In a year�s time everybody will be doing this. It�s not loss making, there�s money in it. I think there�s enough value that once we�ve proven that it�s doable a lot of people are going to jump in,� he told TechRepublic.

So does that have you intrigued? I sure has me considering some differing options. I'll probably be jumping in to get one, just to play. For the full article from TechRepublic, click here.

Studying and Improving Your Sleep with Lark

Sleep is important to one's overall health. It's as much a part of that as eating right, exercising, and not smoking. I mean, think about it� you spend about 1/3 of your life asleep� it's got to be important right?

Yet, we in healthcare are just now beginning to understand & appreciate exactly how important sleep is to the overall health of the human body. Different disciplines are approaching it from different aspects and in the last 5 years, dentistry has really begun to make a concerted effort to help improve sleep by means of oral appliances that help open the patient's airway.

In dentistry, this is a rapidly expanding area of interest for many practitioners. The unfortunate part for both practitioners and patients is that most of the knowledge that is acquired to treat sleep apnea must be done in postgraduate continuing education courses. As this post by my buddy Marty Jablow demonstrates, there just isn't a lot of time spent on sleep disorders in current dental school curriculums.

I won't go into great detail about sleep disorders and sleep apnea in this post, as that is a subject that would require much more detail than I have time for right now. However I can tell you that no matter whether a patient can benefit from a CPAP or in oral appliance, the 1st step is a properly done sleep study. These studies are done in a sleep lab where multiple areas of the patient's functions and physiology are studied while the patient sleeps for the night. Sleep studies are necessary, but can be difficult for the patient as they require spending the night in a sleep lab and being carefully monitored with lots of electronics attached to the body. For some individuals simply getting to a sleep lab is difficult and for some sleeping under sleep lab conditions can be very hard to do.

That's why I was excited when I came across a device called The Lark. While at this point it is in no way, shape, or form equivalent or even close to providing the amount of information gleaned from a properly done sleep study, I feel that the future for this type of device and software is bright. The evolution of devices such as The Lark could make obtaining data on patients suffering from sleep apnea easy to receive and easy to share, in addition to the potential for at home sleep studies future generations of products such as these could also help doctors treating sleep apnea to monitor patients on a nightly basis to see if therapy is working and to help modify therapy as needed to improve patient outcomes.

As I previously stated, this device is not currently capable of sleep studies or of generating that type of information, however I do see a device like this becoming important to treatment in the future. Here is some information about the current version of The Lark direct from the company website. I'm giving serious consideration to purchasing one of these devices myself and taking it for a test drive. Read on for more information:

Meet Your Coach

Designed by leading sleep experts and a pro-sports sleep coach, LARK Personal Sleep coach brings you cutting edge sleep tracking and training.

Start with the 7-Day Sleep Assessment. After a week of sleeping with LARK, your Personal Sleep Coach unveils your Sleep Type and provide an action plan tailored to your specific Sleep Type.

Get real-time feedback on how healthy your sleep is and discover what helps you sleep better. Your Personal Sleep Coach tracks your improvement and pushes you to improve with words of encouragement, a little tough love, and a lot of personalized attention.

For a richer set of coaching tools and unlimited 7-Day Sleep Assessments for a year, upgrade to Pro.

Seize Your Potential

Don�t sleep for sleep�s sake. Sleep so you can improve what matters to you most: your health, happiness and performance. Every day, use the real-time feedback and tailored sleep plan from your Personal Sleep Coach and Silent Alarm Clock to improve your life.

Wake your potential (not your partner) with LARK.

The Joy of Portable Books... and I Mean *Very* Portable

I've been a Kindle user for several years now. My original Kindle is big and klunky, but it still works well and I'm glad that I jumped on the Kindle bandwagon early (thanks Ben!)

One of the great things about that particular early adopter moment is that it got me on the electronic book train before it ever really left the station. By doing that, I was able to really be part of the swell of e-books before the first wave ever really formed.

For the record, I completely, totally, and madly love reading books electronically. The process is easy to use and easy on the eyes. I don't ever want to go back to paper again.

Now we're seeing what I consider to be the next generation of the ebook which is not to say the newest offerings from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, but instead, the development of apps that will allow for true "cross platform" reading.

What I'm seeing is that many of us who have been ebook readers for some time now no longer need to be convinced of the concept. No, what we need are the ways to grab our books wherever we need them. Example: I'll readily admit I'm hooked on the whole "Kindle Concept" even though I haven't picked up my Kindle in over a month. How can I be a KIndle diehard & not even use it? I'll explain that in a moment. First let me explain the "hooked on the concept" part.

The idea of a small device that holds all my books and goes anywhere with me is a tremendous idea. Amazon was the early winner in the category even though they were not the first to market. Their agreements with publishers gave them a huge library of books that were formatted to their device the day it went on sale. I have bought and read more books in the time that I've had my Kindle than in perhaps the 5 years previous combined.

Here's a prime example: Last year I was at a meeting and I was sitting pool side with one of my really good friends in dentistry, Dr. Bob Lowe. He and I travel quite a bit for our lecturing and as such we end up with time on our hands that can be often made less stressful by reading a good book. Bob mentioned 3 good mysteries he had read recently. I just flipped out my Kindle searched on the books, purchased, and downloaded while we sat by the pool. I had the books in a couple of minutes and I never even had to get out of my chair!

This scenario happens a lot with me where someone will mention a good book and I buy it right then and there. Amazon has sold me a lot of books that I would never have purchased if I had to go to a store or even go to a website and then wait for UPS to bring it. Having books available in almost real time is a huge advantage.

Now we get to the part of why I don't use my Kindle. To put it succinctly... I don't need it anymore. Amazon has done a wonderful job of designing & distributing apps that work on a variety of devices. I have an iPad, a Motorola Xoom Android tablet, and 2 Android phones. All of them have Kindle apps that allow me to do everything that I can do on the Kindle and the keep all of my books synchronized with each other!!! Open a book on my iPad and read a few pages then close it. Open the same book on my Xoom a few minutes later and the app asks me if I want to sync to the last page read on the iPad. Tap "Yes" and it automatically jumpst to that page while keeping all of my bookmarks, highlights, etc synced as well. Now Amazon has also introduced their Cloud Reader that keeps your books in the Cloud as well and allows you to read from any device that has an Internet connection.

While I don't read much on my phone, I can if I want to and it can be quite handy in a pinch.

I don't have much experience with the Nook from B&N but I've got to figure it's a similar experience. All said, I can't imagine going back to paper. The ebook experience is just too good. While I do enjoy the "feel" of a good book in my hands, I can't imagine giving up the convenience and the instant gratification that comes with "go anywhere" reading.k

PalodentPlus Sectional Matrix System HIts the Market - Your Contacts Will *Never* be the Same

In a move to upgrade and improve the Palodent sectional matrix system, Dentsply Caulk has announced the arrival of the PalodentPlus Sectional Matrix System.

The system is designed to deliver easy, predictable contact creation by utilizing optimized ring, band, and wedge technology to consistently provide you with accurate contacts.

System Benefits:

Consistently accurate, tight contacts. Rings are made with nickel-titanium to create a consistent force to separate teeth, and then return to their original shape after use, helping to deliver a tight gingival seal and anatomically-shaped restoration.

Wide applications for sectional matrix system use. Ring tine design helps the system remain stable on significantly damaged teeth. Rings are stackable for multiple restorations at once.

Minimized flash and finishing. Ring tines maintain a fit on the tooth that complements the wedge and works with the matrix to seal and shape the restoration, minimizing required finishing.

Wedge compatibility and performance. The V-shape of the tines accommodates the wedge from both sides. Fine wave-shaped wings compress and flare for easy placement and minimize impingement of soft tissue.

Take the stress out of Class II restorations. Use a combination of Palodent^� Plus and SureFil^� SDR^�flow Posterior Bulk Fill Flowable Base. It can be bulk filled up to 4mm and provides excellent cavity adaption and reduced polymerization stress.

If you are familiar with or currently using the Triodent V3 sectional matrix system, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The PalodentPlus system is being OEM'ed by Triodent exclusively for Dentsply Caulk.