Practice Tips #112: Putting an End to Dental Line Suction Loss

Simple Solutions for Eliminating Down Time and Costly Service Calls

We are putting an end to dental line suction loss. This month’s Practice Tips is provided by Michael Cantor, founder of TriCom Dental Products LLC, makers of the VacuShock™ and VacuClear™ vacuum treatment systems.

TriCom strives to make suction loss a thing of the past. It's amazing how little major chemical companies know. Many products on the market do very little to ensure dental practitioners won’t suffer from clogged lines and down time.

As the sole patent developer of dentistry’s first vacuum line shock treatment and first self-cleaning, time-released cleaning and disinfecting tablets, I would like to teach dental practitioners some simple means on how to eliminate the constant battle against suction loss with some cost savings tips.

Many days I evaluate what exactly is happening in the dental industry and the real problems dentists face in attempting to keep their suction lines running at peak performance. This has always been a struggle for so many dental practitioners, but is an even bigger problem with the mandating of amalgam separators — which can further reduce suction flow. The use of my state-of-the-art method is your equalizer in fighting back.

To date, I continue to progress with new methods and developments, staying ahead of all other competitors in today’s market. At TriCom, we understand the importance of making simple solutions come to life. We understand that no suction = no work.

  • If you are you finally tired of constant suction line problems,
  • If you are ready to eliminate constant service technicians and their costly service calls,
  • If you are ready to reduce staff time by eliminating daily line flushing,

You may be ready to try a completely different approach.

Start using VacuShock complete maintenance kits and eliminate all of the above hassles.

Biofilm Build-up

Understanding suction is the key to avoiding clogs from biofilm build-up. Biofilm isn’t just in your water lines; it’s also in your vacuum lines. Most biofilm consists of a matrix of bio-film bacteria, which exists only to multiply. This matrix feeds on proteins and many prominent vacuum system cleaners that use enzymatic proteins, so they attempt to feed on the bacteria in your lines.

Enzymes require about 1 minute of exposure to become activated. As most vacuum systems pull air at more than 100 cfm, this equates to liquid moving at 100+mph, so contact time is only seconds. The enzymes often aren’t activated until they are in your sewer.

VacuShock and other shock treatments help to remove biofilm from the lines, rather than trying to break them down. In as little as 1 hour, with maintenance performed by any staff member, shock tablets free your lines of years’ worth of harbored biofilm and improve vacuum performance. Both VacuShock and the complimentary product VacuClear include Invizo-Guard to provide an added protective plating effect. Invizo-Guard coats the inner lines of you vacuum system. This prevents adherence of bacteria to you vacuum lines, similar to that of a non-stick frying pan.

The Discovery

As a biochemist I was working on finishing my Ph.D, I was looking to supply Coca Cola bottling company USA with my tablets to treat the lines in their bottling plants. The funny part was the beginning. I broke down the tablets in to a liquid form. I remember asking every service tech if there was an easier way. The answer was the same: There is only one way- flushing the lines each day. Finally, I realized as it stared me right in the face – with the suction on I couldn’t open the collector. That was when I began my patent.

On one occasion, a local distributor asked me to help out with a dental office they’d been dealing with "a little issue" for months. They asked if I could meet with their service tech at the office at 7am in the morning.

I arrived at quarter to 7, as I wanted to be a bit early. By 7:15 he had not shown yet, so I started to feel stood up. After waiting a while longer, I proceeded to the office front door. Locked doors, no light on, no tech.

As it was pressing on 8am, I started looked in the windows and I saw someone pacing around the back. I assumed it was the doctor and I knocked on the door. The irate dentist gave me an ear beating. He asked who the heck I was (using a little more colorful language) and what I was doing there.

I gave him my card and he started spouting off how this was so ridiculous, saying he has been waiting since 6:45. I asked as long as I was there why don’t I take a look? At first, he stated “no” as a 3rd pump needed installation. He was starting to calm down and that is when he gave me  the 411. He again stated the distributor stood him up and now they are avoiding him. They already put in two brand new vacuum pumps (it kind of shows how much the distributor knew as well the tech). Their service tech blew out his line on several occasions, yet they closed, and kept on having to close the office. “The tech has been messing with my practice for almost four months,” he said, “and it’s been closed most of the time.”

He went on to say “since you’re here, go ahead and look.” He had almost zero suction, so I pulled out my larger tablet, now called VacuShock, and 45 minutes later I had disposed of 14 containers of sludge. The Pinnacle trap filled to the rim with everything that backed up in the line. Long story short, he was in shock. His vacuum was up and running and working better than ever.

As I was leaving, I noticed a van with the distributors name on it. I walked up to the van to find the technician was sound asleep. I knocked on the window and he jolted, as he must have been in a deep sleep. He rolled down the window and asked if I was the person he needed to meet. I stated yeah, he starts opening the vans door, as he was mumbling kind of under his breath about “not wanting to spend half my day trying to blow out the system again.”

In response I told him it was done, in which he replied “NO WAY, you weren’t up there long enough.” I said, “well it’s done and the doctor’s satisfied.” The technician insisted that he had to see it for himself and the doctor told him everything was already fixed. That was the beginning of dentistry’s first shock treatment.

The Results

Both VacuShock and VacuClear have received numerous awards. VacuShock (formerly known as Vac-k-ta Shock”) and VacuClear were recognized by a major non-profit foundation as a “Preferred Top Product.” These products also received the "Top Products" award from Dental Product Shopper, who evaluated them with a rating of 4.7 (out of 5). Most recently, both products have received an Edison award in 2017 as recognition of their innovation.

The VacuShock and VacuClear protocol proves the removal of vacuum line biofilm (“sludge”), prevents build-up, and keeps your vacuum flowing. Rather than spending hundreds on short-term fixes from plumbers or service techs, use shock treatments help keep your vacuum system running at peak performance and help you avoid clogs and the downtime they can cause. You will put an end to dental line suction loss in minutes!

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