Protrusive Dental Podcast

Jaz Gulati
  • 4.7 (20)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

The Forward Thinking Dental Podcast

  1. 1d ago

    The Art and Science of Complete Denture Success - PDP282

    Complete Dentures That Actually Work: Impressions, CR & Adaptation You don’t have to suck at complete dentures — there’s a science to them, and an art you gather with experience. Why do complete dentures feel so unpredictable — when a crown prep or an endo doesn’t? What’s the number-one impression mistake dentists make — and the tissue-conditioning step most of us skip? And when a new denture comes back painful — is it the extension, or the occlusion? This one is a whistle-stop tour of complete dentures with Dr Leif Stromberg — a Dallas general dentist who learned removable prosthodontics directly from the legendary Earl Pound and has taught it for decades. Recently nominated for the Texas AGD’s 2026 Texas Dentist of the Year™ Award, Dr. Stromberg brings a wealth of clinical experience, leadership and mentorship to the profession. Rather than drilling into a single appointment, Jaz put a stack of Protrusive Guidance community questions to him and covered the whole arc, from choosing the right patient to troubleshooting a painful denture at delivery. Expect breadth over depth — a lot of ground, a little from each stage — with plenty of technique, nuance and communication tips to take back to the chair. Protrusive Dental Pearl: Pick the Patient Before the Denture You don’t have to treat everyone. Before promising anything, work out whether you can meet the patient’s expectations — because you can build the world’s best denture and they still may not adapt to it. The single strongest predictor of success is the patient’s own adaptation, not the technical quality of the prosthesis. So read the markers of adaptation. The patient who has worn a technically poor, flimsy denture happily for years — and only needs a new one because the old one is worn out — is a home run: improve the retention and stability and they’ll do brilliantly, because their neuromuscular adaptation is already proven. The patient who has hated every set they’ve owned is the warning sign. Assess adaptation right from the first appointment; it matters more than the articulator you own. What You’ll Take From This Episode Pick the patient, not just the denture — the markers of adaptation that predict success before you start.Where the teeth actually go — Pound’s lingual control lines, and why “lingual” means stable.The number-one impression mistake — coverage versus overextension, plus pre-impression tissue conditioning.Records without the wobble — recording centric relation with a gothic arch tracer, and why the facebow ranks low.A painful denture at delivery — how to tell overextension from occlusal overload, and what to do about each. Highlights of This Episode From the Guest Dr. Stromberg teaches  the fundamentals of predictable complete dentures through a run of CE courses on Dentaltown — a five-part written series and a video series that walk through the exam, impressions, records, try-in and delivery. 👉  Stromberg’s “Keys to Complete Denture Success” CE courses on Dentaltown Learn more at: https://www.strombergdentistry.com/articles Want more? If you enjoyed this episode, check out: Occlusion for Complete Dentures – PDP162 Tags #PDPMainEpisodes #ProsthoPerio #Communication  Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 0.75 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcomes C AGD Subject Code: 670 Removable Prosthodontics. Aim & Learning Outcomes Aim: To give clinicians a predictable, appointment-by-appointment approach to complete dentures — patient selection and adaptation, accurate records, functional tooth position, and troubleshooting at delivery. Learning Outcomes — by the end of this episode, dentists will be able to: 1. Assess a patient’s suitability for complete dentures and their likely adaptation, and manage expectations before treatment begins.2. Describe the sequence of clinical appointments for complete dentures and the key objective of each — impression coverage, recording centric relation and vertical dimension, and functional tooth position.3. Differentiate the common causes of pain at denture delivery (overextension versus occlusal overload) and apply an appropriate method to identify and correct each.

    The Art and Science of Complete Denture Success - PDP282

  2. 3d ago

    Biological Dentistry vs Holistic - Trend or Future? Implementing Nutrition and Testing - PDP281

    Holistic, biological, functional — is there actually a difference, or is it all just marketing?Are root canals really dangerous — or is that just what the algorithm keeps showing your patients?When a patient wants their sound fillings out, do you test, reassure, or drill?And how do you bring sleep, diet and blood tests into a dental appointment without it stopping being dentistry?This episode sits down with Dr James Goolnik (https://uk.linkedin.com/in/james-goolnik)— clinical dentist, founder of the London holistic practice Optimal Dental Health, past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and one of Jaz’s earliest mentors. James openly calls himself a holistic and biological dentist, which makes him the ideal person to separate the thoughtful, evidence-aware end of this world from the online extremism that gives it a bad name. Expect a balanced, honest conversation: some of it you’ll adopt tomorrow, some of it you’ll want to pressure-test — which is exactly the point.Protrusive Dental Pearl: Dentistry Isn’t Just About Fixing Teeth This one isn’t a clinical tip — it’s a sentiment that frames the whole episode. Dentistry isn’t just about fixing teeth; it’s about improving health. You don’t have to agree with every claim made in biological dentistry — but you will struggle to disagree that a patient’s diet, sleep, breathing, stress and inflammation all influence oral health. So the pearl is simple: stay curious, stay open-minded — but stay critical, and never stop asking better questions. What You’ll Take From This Episode The holistic–biological spectrum — what each word actually means, and where thoughtful practice tips into online extremism. Test or reassure? — the three-question filter for deciding whether any test earns its place before you order it. Safe amalgam removal — the SMART protocol, and when a worried patient’s sound filling should be left well alone. The mouth-body connection — how sleep, glucose control and systemic inflammation affect the mouth, and where to refer. The balanced take on root canals and implants — whether root canals are dangerous, and titanium versus ceramic with metal-allergy testing.Highlights of This Episode 00:00     Teaser00:59     Holistic vs Biological Dentistry: What's the Difference?05:49    Why Listening Beats Perfect Margins in Dentistry10:29     Why Patients Started to Doubt Root Canal Treatment12:09     Mercury Fillings: Should You Remove Amalgam?14:09     The SMART Protocol for Safe Amalgam Removal19:59     The Mouth-Body Connection: Sleep, Diabetes & Alzheimer's24:59    How to Build Nutrition Into a Dental Practice26:25     Midroll34:01     Sleep Tests, Glucose Monitors and Blood Tests in Practice38:21     Is Biological Dentistry Dangerous? The Extremist Problem39:21     Are Root Canals Dangerous? A Balanced Take 41:51     Titanium vs Zirconia Implants and Metal Allergy Testing 46:51     When Removing a Healthy Tooth Becomes Negligent50:56    What Diet Should Dentists Actually Follow?53:41     How to Get Started in Holistic Dentistry56:30    Outro From the Guest Dr James Goolnik is a clinical dentist and founder of Optimal Dental Health, a holistic practice in London built around integrating nutrition, sleep and whole-health screening into everyday dentistry. He is a past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, a member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, and the author of “Brush” (profits to Dentaid) and the “Kick Sugar” cookbook (profits to his Rewards Project charity). 👉  Optimal Dental Health — monthly practitioner newsletter, and connect with James on LinkedIn Want the Toolkit? We’ve turned this episode into a practical Holistic Dentistry Clinical Toolkit — with quick-reference guides for whole-body assessment, testing, patient conversations, and navigating the holistic–biological spectrum. Download the free toolkit at www.protrusive.co.uk/biological References & Further Reading Sources and further reading from this episode: IAOMT — Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique (SMART). The protocol for safely removing amalgam (rubber-dam isolation, adsorbent rinse, sectioning, high-volume evacuation) to minimise mercury exposure for patient and team. MELISA test. A validated blood lymphocyte-transformation test for type-IV hypersensitivity to metals including titanium and mercury — used to guide titanium-vs-ceramic implant decisions. Tests, devices & materials referenced — a home overnight sleep test, a phase-contrast microscope, a national blood-testing partner, point-of-care fingerprick analysers (CRP / HbA1c), a blood/hair/urine mercury panel, continuous glucose monitors, and Biodentine for vital-pulp therapy.  Want more? If you enjoyed this episode, check out: Implementing Sleep, Airway and Myo to Restorative Dentistry Part 1 — PDP262 Tags #PDPMainEpisodes #Communication #BeyondDentistry Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 1.0 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcomes C. AGD Subject Code: 150 Health, medicine and nutrition. Aim & Learning Outcomes Aim: To give dentists a balanced, evidence-aware understanding of holistic and biological dentistry — what the terms mean, how to integrate whole-health thinking and appropriate testing into practice, and how to navigate patient beliefs about root canals, mercury and metal-free dentistry without abandoning the evidence base. Learning Outcomes — by the end of this episode, dentists will be able to: 1. Differentiate between holistic and biological approaches to dentistry, and articulate where evidence-based, minimally invasive care ends and unsupported claims begin.2. Apply a structured decision filter to judge whether an additional test or intervention is justified — whether it will change treatment, provide a benchmark, or motivate the patient — while working within scope and referring appropriately.3. Describe t...

    Biological Dentistry vs Holistic - Trend or Future? Implementing Nutrition and Testing - PDP281

  3. Aug 19

    How Not to Cry Whilst Injection Moulding - Secrets to Reduce Excess and Clean Up - PDP280

    Injection moulding is meant to save you time. Too often it hands you a mouthful of flash and a cleanup that swallows the chair time you thought you were saving. Dr Sandra Hulac is a Clinical Instructor at the Kois Center in Seattle and an Accredited Fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. She uses full-mouth injection moulding to road-test occlusions and stabilise breaking-down dentitions, and she teaches the technique hands-on. In this episode she works through where the mess actually comes from, and how design, matrix strategy, careful PTFE and a simple cleanup protocol keep a case clean from the first injection. This episode comes with an infographic: the whole no-mess workflow on one visual guide to keep beside you during design and cleanup. Download it at protrusive.co.uk/nomess. It is the fastest way to turn this episode into something you actually use at the chair. What You’ll Take From This Episode Most injection-moulding mess is prevented at the design stage, through thickness targets and clear lab communication, long before any cleanup. The alternating matrix technique, injecting every other tooth, is the biggest single cleanup saver and cuts the PTFE you need. Matrices cured in a pressure pot, with a spacer protocol, give even thickness and far fewer bubbles. Thin, careful PTFE prevents distortion; bunching it interproximally creates the very excess you are trying to avoid. An S-shaped motion with a Ceri-saw and several 12-plate blades clears resin while protecting the contact. Good pre-treatment hygiene, using diluted hypochlorite or povidone-iodine rather than chlorhexidine, cuts bleeding and contamination. Highlights of this episode: 00:00 Teaser00:54 Introduction02:17 Dental Pearl: Free Injection Moulding Infographic03:17 Main Interview with Dr. Sandra Hulac4:49 Innovations in Dental Education07:26 The Mess Problem in Injection Moulding15:38 Alternating Matrix Technique18:18 Every-Other-Tooth Technique27:54 Cleanup Instruments and Techniques31:35 Handling Teflon and PTFE36:41 Patient Oral Hygiene Tips37:27 Dilution protocol:39:24 Key Principles for Minimizing Mess40:42 Matrix Fabrication and Spacer Protocol43:55 Course Information and Conclusion46:19 OutroFrom the Guest Master Full Mouth Injection Moulding in this exclusive two-day hands-on course! 📅 Dates: Feb. 26-27, 2027📍 Location: Central London Venue (TBC)🌐 Learn more & secure your spot: protrusive.co.uk/FMIM Want more? Learn to treat tooth wear with injectable composite in Injectable Composites in PDP081 Tags #PDPMainEpisodes, #BreadandButterDentistry, #AdhesiveDentistry Listen, subscribe, and earn CPD Listen: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and inside Protrusive Guidance. Earn CPD: This episode is eligible for 0.75 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. Compliance: GDC Development Outcome C. AGD Subject Code 250 Operative (Restorative) Dentistry. Aim & Learning Outcomes Aim: To enable dental professionals to minimise cleanup during injection moulding by optimising design, matrix use, PTFE application, and interproximal finishing techniques. By the end of this episode, dentists will be able to: Explain how proper design and lab communication can reduce composite flash and cleanup in injection moulding. Demonstrate the alternating matrix technique and the correct use of PTFE in minimising mess. Identify and use appropriate instruments and techniques for efficient interproximal cleanup after injection moulding.

    How Not to Cry Whilst Injection Moulding - Secrets to Reduce Excess and Clean Up - PDP280

  4. Aug 12

    Maintain or Extract? First Permanent Molars of Poor Prognosis - PDP279

    Your patient is nine years old. One first permanent molar is crumbling — the others look fine. Does it stay, or does it go? Is that broken-down first permanent molar really down to poor brushing — or is it Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation? When is the right time to take a first permanent molar out — and how do you read it off the X-ray? And how do you tell a parent their child needs an adult tooth removed — without losing them? First permanent molars of poor prognosis are one of the genuine head-scratchers of general practice — full of ifs, buts and timing. In this episode Jaz sits down with Dr Nicole Sturzenbaum, a paediatric dentist and the owner and clinical director of Toothbeary in Richmond, London, to work through the whole decision: getting the diagnosis right (molar-incisor hypomineralisation versus caries), reading the extraction window off an OPG, the restorative ladder from sealant to stainless steel crown, when to bring in the orthodontist, and how to handle the conversation with anxious parents. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer — but there is a clear way to think about it. Protrusive Dental Pearl: Painless Polishing for Anxious Kids The mechanical clean is what frightens children (and plenty of adults) — the scaler, the bristle brush, the gritty prophy paste. For the polishing part, a colourless plaque-dissolving foam gel does the job without any of it. It fizzes wherever there is plaque, so you can hand the child a mirror and show them exactly where to brush; it leaves the teeth satin-smooth, reduces gingival inflammation, and is painless and non-invasive. Two caveats: it does not remove calculus — you still need a hand or ultrasonic scaler for that — and you should agitate the gel gently at the gingival margin for the full effect. It is especially useful for orthodontic and adolescent patients because it reaches the nooks around brackets, which is where post-orthodontic white-spot lesions start. Product: Magic3 (3% hydrogen peroxide, colourless plaque indicator), by Dr Wyman Chan — protrusive.co.uk/magic3. What You’ll Take From This Episode Diagnosis first — MIH or caries? The distinction changes the plan, the prognosis and the whole conversation with the family. Reading the extraction window off an OPG — why chronological age tells you nothing, and what the second molar’s bifurcation tells you instead. The restorative ladder — seal, composite, preformed metal crown, or plan the extraction: matching the least invasive option that will actually hold. When to involve the orthodontist — essential or desirable, which teeth come out, and managing the space afterwards. Getting sensitive molars numb — why MIH teeth are so hard to anaesthetise, and the comfort stack that helps. Highlights of This Episode 00:00     TEASER00:59     First Permanent Molars of Poor Prognosis in Children02:51     Painless Chemical Polishing for Kids (Protrusive Dental Pearl)04:53     Meet Dr Nicole Sturzenbaum, Paediatric Dentist11:49     MIH or Caries? Getting the Diagnosis Right15:14     What Is MIH? Causes, Grades and 'Cheese Molars'17:23     When to Extract a First Molar: Reading the OPG20:08     Sealant, Composite or Crown for MIH Molars22:32     Stainless Steel Crowns for Hypomineralised Molars25:52     Do You Need an Orthodontic Opinion Before Extraction?29:15     Talking to Parents About Removing an Adult Tooth31:56     Anaesthesia Tips for Sensitive MIH Molars36:14     Managing the Space After First Molar Extraction41:15     Balancing and Compensating Extractions Explained47:53     Early Orthodontics and Prevention at Toothbeary51:15     OUTRO From the Guest Dr Nicole Sturzenbaum is a paediatric dentist and the owner and clinical director of Toothbeary, a paediatric dental practice in Richmond, London.  👉  Toothbeary — paediatric dentistry, sedation & early orthodontics, Richmond, London References & Further Reading EAPD guidance (cited on the episode). European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry policy documents on MIH (Lygidakis et al., best clinical practice guidance for clinicians dealing with children presenting with MIH) and on paediatric local analgesia (Kühnisch et al., 2017). Preoperative analgesia for MIH (further reading). Vicioni-Marques, F., Paula-Silva, F. W. G., Carvalho, M. R., Queiroz, A. M., Freitas, O., Duarte, M. P. F., Manton, D. J., & Carvalho, F. K. (2022). Preemptive analgesia with ibuprofen increases anesthetic efficacy in children with severe molar: a triple-blind randomized clinical trial. Journal of applied oral science : revista FOB, 30, e20210538. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-7757-2021-0538 Want more? If you enjoyed this episode, check out: Zirconia vs Metal Hall Crowns vs Conventional with Dr Tim Keys – PDP227 Tags #PDPMainEpisodes #OrthoRestorative Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 1.0 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcomes C. AGD Subject Code: 430 Pediatric Dentistry. Aim & Learning Outcomes Aim: To help general dentists diagnose, assess and manage first permanent molars of poor prognosis in children — recognising molar-incisor hypomineralisation, timing extraction from radiographic development, and choosing between restoration and extraction with the wider team. Learning Outcomes — by the end of this episode, dentists will be able to: Differentiate molar-incisor hypomineralisation from caries of hygiene origin, and explain how that distinction changes management and communication. Apply radiographic developmental assessment — the second molar’s bifurcation and the presence of third molars — to judge the timing of first permanent molar extraction. Select an appropriate management pathway, from sealant and composite through preformed metal crown...

    Maintain or Extract? First Permanent Molars of Poor Prognosis - PDP279

  5. Aug 5

    TRAYLESS Whitening Technique Part 2 - Tetracycline Staining and Non Vital Bleaching Scenario! - PDP278

    Patient has patchy white spots after braces — do you really whiten, or will that just make the spots stand out more? Tetracycline staining darker than your darkest shade tab — is bleaching even worth attempting, or is it veneers by default? A single dark, root-filled central incisor — can you fix it without picking up a drill at all? And how do you talk a patient through weeks, shades and cost so they actually consent to the slow, non-invasive route? This is Part 2 of the trayless whitening series with Dr Wyman Chan — inventor of trayless teeth whitening and the Get2Smile system — and Dr Elvis Law, who now runs around 90% of his whitening trayless. Part 1 covered the science and the everyday protocol; this part applies it to the three cases dentists find hardest, with the costing and consent conversations that make them work. Protrusive Dental Pearl: Treating Family and Friends Almost every clinician has a story about a case that went wrong on a family member, a friend, or a loved one. It’s not a random fluke. When we treat someone we love, we put our guard down — we relax the checklist, skip a step, get driven by emotion, and lose our judgement. So if you must treat family and friends, stay razor-sharp and treat them exactly as you would a stranger. Be extra vigilant, extra hot on your protocols, and take the emotion out of it. If that tooth needs a root canal, it needs a root canal — don’t bend the plan to preserve pulp vitality that was never the right call. The best pearl is not to treat loved ones at all; the real-world one is to not lose your judgement when you do. What You’ll Take From This Episode The frosted glass model — a patient-ready way to explain white spots: enamel is clear glass, dentine is a yellow sponge, and acid has turned the glass frosty.A two-stage white spot protocol — remineralise and condition the gums first, then whiten trayless, and why a dirty tray would have sabotaged the result.Whitening tetracycline staining — realistic timelines, why darker teeth lift faster, and how to frame it honestly against veneers.The non-vital tooth without a drill — whiten every tooth to target, then paint the single dark tooth to match, and why leakage (not the bleach) causes rebound.Costing and consent — charging “almost by time,” staged reviews, and matching invasiveness to the mouth in front of you.Highlights of This Episode 00:00     Teaser01:05     Trayless Whitening Part 2: Recap of Part 103:55     Protrusive Dental Pearl: Treating Family and Friends06:55     Whitening White Spot Lesions After Orthodontics11:55     Whiten First or Restore First? Cavitated Anterior Caries18:35     The Frosted Glass Analogy: Explaining White Spots to Patients21:05     A Two-Stage White Spot Protocol: Remineralise, Then Whiten32:57     Midroll36:23     Whitening Tetracycline-Stained Teeth40:03     Costing and Consent: Bleaching vs Veneers46:23     Whitening a Non-Vital Yellow Central Incisor47:43     Why Root-Filled Teeth Rebound After Bleaching53:13     Trayless Single-Tooth Whitening Without a Drill1:00:43   How to Access Trayless Whitening and Training1:03:40   OutroFrom the Guest Dr Wyman Chan is the inventor of trayless teeth whitening and the Get2Smile system, with a PhD in the efficacy and safety of teeth whitening and a whitening clinic in London’s West End. Dr Elvis Law trained in safe dental bleaching under Dr Wyman Chan and now runs the majority of his whitening trayless. Start Offering Trayless Whitening for Your Office UK Dentists: In the UK you need the Get2Smile Kit which is 6% formulation applied twice daily for 30 minutes. Head to directoralcare.com and register for a free professional account. Approval unlocks the full shop, pricing, offers and their upcoming educational courses. At checkout, use code: DOCSUMMER20 International Dentists wishing to offer Get2Smile, please enquire from Dr Chan's website. The international version uses 10% formulation applied for 15 minutes, twice daily. 📌 Want to learn directly from Dr Wyman Chan? Join him for Redefining Early Caries Management and Aesthetic Dentistry in Shanghai, China, on 20–21 October 2026. Saturday 5th September London, UK CPD EVENT: 👉Join Dr Wyman Chan for an exciting event focused on redefining the management of dental plaque-induced oral diseases. 📍 Royal Asiatic Society, London NW1 2HD The session will include a live lecture, clinical demonstration, and the opportunity to take part in practical, hands-on training. Dr Wyman Chan will be joined by Dr Niki Shah and Dr Elvis Law, who will also showcase their clinical cases. Want more? If you enjoyed this episode, check out: MAGIC Teeth Whitening with Dr. Wyman Chan – PDP245 — Wyman’s first Protrusive episode, covering whitening myths, sensitivity, and whether in-office lights do anything at all.. Tags #PDPMainEpisodes Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 1 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcomes C AGD Subject Code: 780 Esthetics/Cosmetic Dentistry. Aim & Learning Outcomes Aim: To give dental practitioners a practical, non-invasive approach to three difficult whitening presentations — post-orthodontic white spot lesions, tetracycline staining, and a discoloured non-vital tooth — together with the expectation-setting and consent conversations that make treatment succeed. Learning Outcomes — by the end of this episode, dentists will be able to: Describe how enamel demineralisation produces white spot lesions and explain, in patient-friendly terms, why a repair-then-whiten sequence addresses both the surface and the underlying tooth colour.Apply a staged, non-invasive protocol to manage white spot, tetracycline and non-vital discolouration cases, selecting an appropriate route by matching invasiveness to the individual patient.Articulate realistic expectations on shade, timeline and cost, and use them to obtain informed consent for an extended, reviewable whitening course.

    TRAYLESS Whitening Technique Part 2 - Tetracycline Staining and Non Vital Bleaching Scenario! - PDP278

  6. Jul 30

    TRAYLESS Whitening Technique Part 1 - with Dr Wyman Chan - PDP277

    What if the tray is the reason your whitening results are inconsistent? Why would a dentist who owns a whitening lab — and holds four patents on making bleaching trays — tell you to skip the tray? Trayless whitening does not mean strips. It means the patient puts in a retractor and paints the gel directly onto the teeth, twice a day, for half an hour. No impression, no lab bill, no two-week wait, and no soft plastic reservoir quietly absorbing your peroxide. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation with Dr Wyman Chanand Dr Elvis Law, recorded live in their central London whitening practice. Wyman has done nothing but whitening since 2002, has a PhD on the efficacy and safety of whitening processes, and — despite owning the lab that makes the trays — now does most of his cases without one. Elvis trained under him and reckons around 90% of his own cases are now trayless. Part 1 is the mechanism, the protocol and an honest list of who it doesn’t suit. Part 2 takes it into the hard cases.Protrusive Dental Pearl: Let the Patient Pick the ShadeMost of us ask “how white do you want to go?”, get a laugh about Hollywood white or Simon Cowell white, then hold a B1 tab against the canine and call that the destination. Try flipping it. Under corrected light, record where the patient is now. Then hand over the whole shade guide, arranged by value, and let them choose the tab they want to reach. Photograph both. This is the VITA Shade guide arranged by value: B1 → A1 → B2 → D2 → A2 → C1 → C2 → D4 → A3 → D3 → B3 → A3.5 → B4 → C3 → A4 → C4 Two things change. You now know the target precisely instead of inferring it, and you can track progress against a fixed reference. Most patients land on B1 — it’s the last shade before the bleach range, and it reads natural rather than veneered. Some will point at 0M1 and that’s a different conversation, which is exactly the point. Because whatever they choose dictates how many weeks, how much gel and how many reviews the case needs — and therefore what it should cost. A single flat whitening fee assumes every case takes the same work. They don’t. Someone starting at C4 who wants a bleach shade can get there, but it takes more gel, more time, more reviews and probably a protocol change along the way. Price that honestly. Only you can decide what the tiers look like in your practice. But it might be worth sitting down as a team of dentists and therapists and asking: how are we delivering whitening? Two tiers? More? Based on what? What You’ll Take From This Episode Conscious bleaching — why an awake patient with an open mouth is a completely different chemical situation to a sealed tray worn overnight, and what that does to sensitivity.The formulation constraint — peroxide needs acid to stay stable on the shelf, which is why pre-mixed products lean acidic and why two-component gels exist at all.The full trayless protocol — wear schedule, spacing, patient positioning, review intervals and what to troubleshoot first when a case is behind.Who it doesn’t suit — an honest contraindications list, including the one objection patients raise most often and the answer to it.Tray hygiene as a clinical instruction — the reason results vary so much between patients using the identical gel.An A3.5 to B1 case — start to finish in three weeks, with the review points and the maintenance plan.Highlights of This Episode 00:00     TEASER01:05     Trayless Teeth Whitening Explained03:40     Protrusive Dental Pearl: Let Patients Pick Their Whitening Shade06:05     Meet the Guests: A Career Built on Teeth Whitening10:27     What Is Trayless Whitening? (It's Not Whitening Strips)13:44     Why Whitening Trays Waste Your Bleaching Gel15:37     Are Whitening Strips Acidic? Gel Formulation Explained19:17     Conscious Bleaching and Whitening Sensitivity24:43     When NOT to Use Trayless Whitening29:05     The Trayless Whitening Protocol: 30 Minutes Twice a Day32:55     Midroll42:45     How to Clean Whitening Trays Properly50:02     A3.5 to B1 in Three Weeks: A Case Walkthrough56:16     Tooth Porosity and the 45-Degree Recline Rule1:02:09   Whitening Top-Ups and the Five-Year Guarantee1:06:49   How to Price Teeth Whitening and Let Patients Pick the Shade1:07:45   OUTRO1:12:56   What's Coming in Part 2Start Offering Trayless Whitening for Your Office UK Dentists: In the UK you need the Get2Smile Kit which is 6% formulation applied twice daily for 30 minutes. Head to directoralcare.com and register for a free professional account. Approval unlocks the full shop, pricing, offers and their upcoming educational courses. At checkout, use code: DOCSUMMER20The Trayless whitening system is called Get2Smile.International Dentists wishing to offer Get2Smile, please enquire from Dr Chan's website. The international version uses 10% formulation applied for 15 minutes, twice daily. 📌 Want to learn directly from Dr Wyman Chan? Join him for Redefining Early Caries Management and Aesthetic Dentistry in Shanghai, China, on 20–21 October 2026. Join Dr Wyman Chan for an exciting event focused on redefining the management of dental plaque-induced oral diseases.The session will include a live lecture, clinical demonstration, and the opportunity to take part in practical, hands-on training. Dr Wyman Chan will be joined by Dr Niki Shah and Dr Elvis Law, who will also showcase their clinical cases. Want more? If you enjoyed this episode, check out: MAGIC Teeth Whitening with Dr. Wyman Chan – PDP245 — Wyman’s first Protrusive episode, covering whitening myths, sensitivity, and whether in-office lights do anything at all. Tags #PDPMainEpisodes  Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 1 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcomes C. AGD Subject Code: 780 Esthetics/Cosmetic Dentis...

    TRAYLESS Whitening Technique Part 1 - with Dr Wyman Chan - PDP277

  7. Jul 22

    What Dental School Didn’t Prepare You For – PDP276

    Just qualified — so why does it feel like the learning is only just beginning? What should you actually focus on in year one: the flawless dentistry on your feed, or something far less glamorous? How do you tell a patient their nerve might die — without it sounding like YOUR fault? And when a patient says “just do whatever you think” — what do you say back? This is the conversation every new dentist needs and every experienced one recognises. Our guest is Dr Emma Hutchison — a former dental nurse who trained at the University of Glasgow, and has been the face of the Protrusive Students series across her studies. We recorded in her final weeks of dental school, right on the threshold of practice, and talked through everything the syllabus skips: the safe-beginner mindset, what to learn (and what to ignore) early on, how to protect your standards under time pressure, which cases to take on, and how to talk to patients about risk, cost and consent so the words actually land. If you’re fresh out, this one hits hard. If you’re an oldie, it’s a trip down memory lane — and a reminder of how far you’ve come.  https://youtu.be/gjJiDVP4w-4  Watch PDP276 on YouTube Protrusive Dental Pearl: Predict the Complication Before It Happens A communication pearl for every deep restoration. When a filling sits close to the nerve — a big cavity, a crack — name the likely complication before it happens. Show the patient the images, then tell them what to expect: a twinge to cold or hot that can linger a few days, so keep taking painkillers and keep the area clean. And warn them what a red flag looks like: a severe throbbing ache keeping them up at night, or pain out of the blue without eating or drinking, means the nerve is struggling and they should call you. Do this and, if the complication ever arrives, you look like the expert who called it — not someone something went wrong for. Skip it and reception fields the panicked calls instead. It reassures the patient, lowers your callback rate, and quietly reduces your risk profile. Obvious, easy to forget, and worth saying out loud every single time. What You’ll Take From This Episode The safe-beginner mindset — why qualifying is the driving licence, not the destination, and how the happiest dentists keep getting 1% better.Just-in-time learning — study for the cases actually in your diary, not the obscure pathology you won’t meet for years.Get good before you get fast — master the bread and butter, protect a little extra time early, and reflect on every procedure.Clever hacks vs cutting corners — how to tell the difference, and why every shortcut quietly rewires the habit.Consent that works — getting patients to own the problem, and giving a clear recommendation instead of a fifteen-item menu.Highlights of This Episode 00:00  Teaser01:05  The Things Dental School Doesn’t Prepare You For03:05  Communication Pearl: Predict the Complication Before It Happens05:35  Life as a Final-Year Dental Student on Outreach09:55  Why You’re Only a “Safe Beginner” When You Qualify13:45  Master Bread-and-Butter Dentistry Before the Fancy Stuff16:05  Just-in-Time Learning: Study for the Cases in Front of You18:05  Get Good Before You Get Fast (and Protect Your Time)19:45  Clever Hacks vs Cutting Corners: Don’t Lose Your Standards24:14  Midroll27:46  The Skills to Nail in Your First Year as a Dentist30:11  Which Cases to Take On — and Learning From Mistakes35:46  How to Explain Risk and Get Patients to Own the Problem41:26  When Patients Refuse the Ideal Treatment: Start With Their Goal44:26  Treatment Planning Without the Overwhelm: Loom & “Guess Who”47:36  Claim Your CPD & Become the Next Protrusive Student47:38  OutroDr Emma Hutchison came to dentistry the long way round — from a dental nursing background into dental school at the University of Glasgow, with final-year outreach on the Kintyre peninsula in Campbeltown. She has been the face of the Protrusive Students series throughout her studies, and this episode marks her crossing from student to newly qualified dentist. On behalf of the whole Protruserati: we’re proud of you, Emma. Become the next Protrusive Student: with Emma qualifying, we’re looking for the next keen student who wants part-time work, an income while studying, and to contribute to Protrusive — or a nudge if you know one. DM the team inside the Protrusive Guidance app. Resources & Mentions From This Episode Quick & slick rubber dam — the in-app video series on quadrant isolation, for building the rubber dam habit from day one.21-Day Photography Challenge — the in-app challenge that walks you through capturing every clinical photo, including the dreaded occlusal shots, in your first three weeks.Loom School — in-app training on async, Loom-video treatment planning (roughly 90 minutes of CPD across around 15 bite-sized lessons).Access the above masterclasses and more when you subscribe to the Ultimate or Infinity plan. Want more? If you enjoyed this episode, check out: Periodontics for Beginners – PS008 #PDPMainEpisodes #CareerDevelopment #Communication  Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 0.5 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcomes A and D. AGD Subject Code: 770 Self-Improvement  Aim & Learning Outcomes Aim: To give early-career dentists a practical framework for the transition from dental school to independent practice — how to keep developing, how to protect clinical standards under time pressure, and how to communicate risk and treatment options as part of valid consent. Learning Outcomes — by the end of this episode, dentists will be able to: Apply a “just-in-time” approach to continuing development, prioritising the competencies relevant to the cases in front of them over isolated advanced techniques.Differentiate time-saving efficiencies from quality-compromising shortcuts, and describe strategies to maintain clinical standards early in practice.Apply structured communication techniques to explain procedural risk, establish a patient’s treatment goal, and make a clear, defensible recommendation as part of va...

    What Dental School Didn’t Prepare You For – PDP276

  8. Jul 15

    Why is Dr Tif Qureshi doing Blood Tests for his Patients? Should YOU? – PDP275

    Your patient brushes well, avoids sweets — and still keeps getting decay. What if the answer isn’t in their mouth at all? What if two inexpensive finger-prick tests told you more about a patient’s gum disease and implant prognosis than anything on the radiograph? And here’s the uncomfortable one: if the science is this clear, is not checking starting to look like a medico-legal risk? Especially for imlpant surgery! This is a conversation with Dr Tif Qureshi— the dentist who changed how the profession thinks about the lifelong patient, the envelope of function, and Align, Bleach, Bond. He’s gone down a new rabbit hole: metabolic health. In general practice he’s now doing blood tests — HbA1c and vitamin D — and making the case that the mouth isn’t connected to the body, it is the body. This isn’t about becoming a “biological dentist” (as you’ll hear, Tif is refreshingly blunt about the wilder end of that world). It’s about respecting the biology, screening sensibly, and helping patients where we’re genuinely placed to help.  https://youtu.be/mt1MXLFCTp0  Watch PDP275 on YouTube Protrusive Dental Pearl: Test Yourself First Before you even think about introducing blood tests for your patients, ask whether you’re checking your own biomarkers at a sensible interval. The deepest way to understand this topic is to learn it on yourself and your family first — run your own HbA1c, vitamin D, iron, and liver and kidney markers, and see what the data tells you. Start quarterly, like hygienist visits, then stretch to six-monthly or annual once things look good. Getting invested in your own numbers is what makes better food and lifestyle choices actually stick — and it’s the honest starting point for ever offering this to a patient. What You’ll Take From This Episode The metabolic lens — why one disordered glucose-and-insulin system sits under so much chronic and dental disease, and why dentistry is well placed to act on it.Sugar, redefined — why patients who avoid sweets still get decay, and how frequency of starchy carbs drives the problem.The two biomarkers that matter most — what HbA1c and vitamin D each tell you about caries, perio and healing.How to run it in practice — finger-prick logistics, what to test, and how to raise it on the medical history form.The medico-legal case — why documenting these markers can protect you before implant, graft and perio work.Highlights of This Episode 00:00  Why Dentists Should Care About Blood Tests06:00  Metabolic Disease: The Root Cause Dentists Miss13:00  Why Starchy Carbs Cause Decay, Not Just Sugar15:50  HbA1c and Caries: What the SHIP Study Shows21:00  Insulin Resistance: The Hidden Driver of Gum Disease26:00  How to Talk to Patients About Diet Without Scaring Them31:00  Why Vitamin D Deserves a Place in Dentistry34:00  Vitamin D, Implant Failure and Perio Risk37:00  Blood Tests as Medico-Legal Defence42:00  What Dentists Should Test: HbA1c and Vitamin D44:00  How In-Practice Blood Testing Actually Works50:00  The Mouth Is the Body: Screening, Not Diagnosing51:00  Is This Biological Dentistry? An Honest Answer57:00  How to Learn Blood Testing for Your PracticeFrom the Guest Dr Tif Qureshi qualified from King’s College London in 1992 and is a Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is Founder and Clinical Director of IAS Academy, best known for pioneering Align, Bleach, Bond and Progressive Smile Design, and as a teacher of the Dahl concept. His current focus is metabolic health in general practice. 👉  IAS Academy — Align, Bleach, Bond, the Dahl concept, and blood-testing / metabolic health training Coming soon: Join Dr. Tif in one-day metabolic health programme. He has spent years connecting the dots between what’s happening in the mouth and what’s happening in the body. The results are undeniable: better outcomes, stronger case acceptance, and a rock-solid medico-legal position. This one-day course will change the way you practise. For good.👉Metabolic Health in Dentistry References & Further Reading Studies and sources referenced in this episode: Song I-S, et al. Severe Periodontitis Is Associated with Insulin Resistance in Non-abdominal Obese Adults. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2016;101(11):4251–4259. Insulin resistance as an independent risk factor for severe perio in normal-weight adults.Botelho J, et al. Vitamin D Deficiency and Oral Health: A Comprehensive Review. Nutrients, 2020;12(5):1471. Vitamin D across caries, periodontitis, orthodontic and surgical outcomes.Schmolinsky J, Kocher T, Rathmann W, Völzke H, Pink C, Holtfreter B. Diabetes status affects long-term changes in coronal caries – The SHIP Study. Sci Rep. 2019 Oct 30;9(1):15685. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51086-z. PMID: 31666549; PMCID: PMC6821733.Want more? If you enjoyed this episode, check out: Why do some Dentists find Dahl Distasteful? – PDP016.  #PDPMainEpisodes #BeyondDentistry #Communication Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 1.0 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcomes C and A. AGD Subject Code: 730 Oral Medicine, Oral Diagnosis, Oral Pathology Aim & Learning Outcomes Aim: To help dental practitioners understand the link between metabolic health and oral disease, and to evaluate whether simple in-practice biomarker screening has a place in their care of patients. Learning Outcomes — by the end of this episode, dentists will be able to: Describe how disordered glucose and insulin metabolism relates to caries, periodontal disease and healing outcomes, and explain what HbA1c and vitamin D each indicate.Apply a structured, non-alarmist approach to discussing diet and biomarker screening with patients, within the professional boundary of screening rather than diagnosing or prescribing.Evaluate the clinical and medico-legal case for documenting relevant biomarkers before periodontal and surgical treatment, and identify when to refer to a medical colleague.

    Why is Dr Tif Qureshi doing Blood Tests for his Patients? Should YOU? – PDP275
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About

The Forward Thinking Dental Podcast

Information

  • Creator
    Jaz Gulati
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    414
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Protrusive Dental Podcast
  • Show Website
    Protrusive Dental Podcast

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