How well does your curing light perform?

How well does your curing light perform?

How well does your curing light perform?

Your Lights. Your Materials. Your Curing Times.

checkMARC™ from BlueLight Analytics is the only professional spectrometer-based service (NIST standard) that provides evidence-based information to determine the curing time needed based on the curing lights and materials used in your clinic.


  • Fast Facts About Curing

    • Half of all dental income1 relies on the successful use of light-cured dental materials.
    • Every brand and shade of resin composite requires a specific ‘dose’ of blue light to polyerise.
    • Incomplete polymerisation leads to increasing clinical problems2,3 (e.g., fracture, secondary decay, de-bonding, discolouration) and post-op sensitivity.
    • The heat produced from high-powered curing lights can quickly harm soft tissues and tooth pulp2,3

  • Light Curing Improvement Opportunities

    A study4 of 915 curing lights in 422 dental clinics found that 73% of test results identify the need for changes to clinical protocol:

    • 30% delivered less than half of the energy dose required by the selected dental material.
    • 43% used extended curing times (to ensure an adequate cure), unknowingly risking heat damage.
    • Curing times ranged from 3 - 90 seconds, regardless of the material selected by the dentist

    These dentists needed to modify their light-curing protocols, even between operatiories, to reduce recall rates. Some needed at least


More Information

If you are interested in learning more about checkMARC we have a brochure and a special report on curing from the Australasian Dental Practice magazine, available from these links.


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  • 3M is a trademark of 3M. checkMARC™ is trademark of BlueLight Analytics Inc.

    1. American Dental Association. (2007). 2005-06 Survey of Dental Services Rendered. 1–181. American Dental Association (2013). Survey of fees. Retrieved from: http://www.toothnature.com /2013/07/survey-average-fee-charged-bydentists.html ) Dental Revenue in the US (2013). Retrieved from: http://www.statista.com/statistics/296642/revenue-dentists-in-the-us/) 2. American Dental Association. (2013). Professional Product Review: Effective Use of Curing Lights –; A Guide for the Dental Practitioner. 8(2). 3. Canadian Dental Association CDA Essentials. (2014). Light Curing Guidelinesfor Practitioners. 1(6), 22–23. 4. International Association for Dental Research. (2015). Curing Light Outputs,Protocols and Composite Requirements at 422 Dental Offices. #3400.


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