If you’ve ever had a toothache you know it can affect everything you do, causing substantial pain and constant irritation. Lack of dental health can impair the physical and mental state in even the strongest people. Now imagine that level of pain coupled with your dentist not having a solution, or a solution not good enough to provide relief. That is what life was like before Centrix invented the tiny but powerful AccuDose® Tubes and Pugs and the first-ever C/R (composite resin) Syringes in 1970.
Restorative materials began as the most basic and rudimentary amalgams and silver fillings, dating back to as far as A.D. 659 in the Tang Dynasty. These materials provided some relief but were clunky to place and not visually appealing. In 1960, resin composites started to appear on the dental scene, complete with their own unique challenges, but still a welcomed advancement. Zinc phosphate cement was a commonly used material but came with a very complex preparation process allowing much room for error. The mixing process had to be flawless to get an ideal filling, beginning with a glass mixing slab to maintain the correct temperature, slowly blending powder and liquid components together while moving the mixture to different large areas on the slab to keep the temperature in the right range; all before applying the material into the prep with a spatula. Bis-GMA, a thermoset resin complex, developed 1962, relieved some of the frustration as it consisted of two pastes to be mixed together, providing a more consistent combination.
The problem remained in the application to the prep. Hand mixing with a spatula, or spatulation, often resulted in inaccurate proportions, incomplete mixtures, air bubbles trapped in the mixture, premature setting of materials prior to application due to tight time constraints, and wasted product that stuck to the mixing surface. After the material was mixed, hopefully sufficiently, the mixture was spatulated into the prep from the top down often leaving voids in the restoration. These voids were weak spots which sometimes led to pain from restoration failures.
In 1970, Centrix MADE DENTISTRY EASIER by releasing the AccuDose Tube and Plug paired with our Mark I Syringe. These tubes were easily backfilled with the material, plugged and loaded into the syringe. With a simple squeeze or pushing motion, the dentist could extrude the material through the narrow tip and directly into the prep … from the bottom up, eliminating porosities, micro-spaces and voids left by the spatulation process! An added bonus was that the direct-to-prep delivery saved time by eliminating the constant pad-to-mouth motion.
Centrix still sells our original AccuDose® Tubes and Plugs today, over 50 years later! AccuDose® now comes in multiple models to best suit your procedure and varying levels of material viscosity. The unit-dose disposable tubes offer the most sanitary delivery with no risk of cross-contamination and no need for the barrier required with multiple use syringes. Another impressive feature that Centrix added to their tube lineup is the addition of the orange PhotoBloc™ tint that blocks light and extends the life of light-activated materials. Material deliver have come a long way 50 years due to Centrix’ dedication to their mission of Making Dentistry Easier!
For more information, visit, centrixdental.com.
