New Global microscope indispensible

Little more than a decade after graduating dentistry at The University of Sydney, Dr Clem Maloof was considering how could he possibly continue practising in the career he loved.

"I was getting chronic neck and shoulder pain and I couldn't go a day without thinking about how I could continue to work as a dentist," Dr Maloof said. "I was closer to graduation than retirement and I needed to find a way to alleviate the pain and fatigue I was experiencing daily.

"I started looking around at tools that could help me and that eventually led me to trying a microscope. I liked it so much, I ended up buying a Global G6 operating microscope from Inline Medical and Dental in 2005 and it quickly became very important to my work. I now literally use a scope for everything and I can't work without it. It's indispensible."

Dr Maloof said that the combination of increased magnification, uniform illumination of the working area and the ability to work with an upright posture that has cured his back and neck pain makes working with a microscope compelling.

"Colleagues I speak to about it say they wouldn't be able to adapt and that using a microscope would slow them down, but I've shown it to 5 or 6 people now and 5 have gone on to buy one," he said.

In fact, Dr Maloof loves his Global microscope so much he has given it to his dental hygienist to use and bought the latest Global A6 Series microscope, again from Inline Medical and Dental.

The new Global A6 Series is designed specifically for dentistry and features 6 stepped levels of magnification from 2.1x with a field of view of 95mm ø to 19.2x and a 10mm ø FOV.

"The second time around, I looked at several different brands but none could better the product Global offers," he said. "I love Global's optics - the quality is superb. I like the magnification range and the LED light on the A6 is out of this world. It provides excellent illumination.

"For photographic functions, there's a beam splitter and it will work with any camera - you can choose your own and you may only need an adapter.

"I like Inline Medical and Dental and Global because both are dedicated to dentists - we're their focus. They're not huge ophthalmic companies. The quality of service and support is excellent and they do the installation as well.

"The new Global A6 also looks stunning - my patients didn't notice the old scope but now everyone notices the A6. Patients see you're taking an extra step in their care and they appreciate you're working with a microscope. My team also like it because they can what I see."

Dr Maloof said that once you start working with a microscope, you relearn how to diagnose because the information you now see is an order of magnitude higher. It makes a huge difference.

"Once you get one, you can't go back. You think you're seeing everything with your loupes, but you're not. And you don't realise how much you're missing. There's not one aspect of dentistry that using a microscope will not improve.

"Scopes are not just for doing root canals - that's just the icing on the cake. Using it reduces your risk in every procedure including restorative, perio and even in oral surgery.

"Before investing in a microscope, I was using loupes at low magnification. High magnification loupes are problematic to wear and you can get dizzy as a result of a lack of orientation. You struggle unless you're really skilled. The scope gives you a fixed point of view and your head stays still. If you need to look away and speak to someone, for example, when you return to the scope, it remains focussed on where you're working. With a few tips, most people are off and running quickly.

"I now go home without pain and my whole family life has changed. I was immediately rejuvenated. The neck pain and discomfort are gone.

"You're doing better dentistry and feeling better doing it and you can really justify treatment plans to your patients.

"If you can see it with ease, you can treat it with ease. Its harder to be consistent without relying on incredible vision and the microscope scope allows you to deliver consistently excellent results."