After being away for almost two weeks, it felt good to arrive back to Burlington late last night.
My travels first took me to Portland, Oregon for the Denobi Awards — a truly special evening celebrating so many incredible individuals in our profession. From there we stayed on the west coast and headed to Vancouver for the Pacific Dental Conference.
It was a wonderful combination of connection, inspiration, and education.
One of the highlights for me was presenting The Sharpening Lab at the Pacific Dental Conference. I facilitated two hands-on workshops on Friday with a room full of dedicated RDHs who truly wanted to refine their instrumentation maintenance and sharpening skills.
There is something very energizing about working with clinicians who care deeply about doing things well.
During the workshop, I introduced participants to the LM-RondoPlus Instrument Sharpening Machine. If you understand the three basic hygiene instrument designs, this power sharpener is incredibly simple and efficient to use.
Over the years I have tested many power sharpeners, and each seemed to come with its own challenges. One required extensive training, another struggled to manage the toe of curettes, and another functioned almost like a pencil sharpener — removing far too much instrument structure far too quickly.
For that reason, I have always strongly recommended manual sharpening.
However, just before leaving for this trip, Curion sent me the LM-RondoPlus to test. I didn’t have much time to work with it before travelling, but I immediately appreciated how intuitive it was.
I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked it.
Sometimes simple is powerful.
When we step back and look at instrumentation fundamentals, there are essentially three types of hygiene instruments we maintain:
One of the most important details in sharpening curettes is properly maintaining the entire toe — where the toe and middle third meet on both sides.
Many hygienists unintentionally stop sharpening at the middle of the toe or sharpen across the opposite side without completing the entire toe. Over time this creates what I call a “sickelized curette.”
Knowing how to properly maintain your instruments is not just a technical skill — it is essential for:
• Providing optimal care to our clients and patients
• Performing effective instrumentation
• Protecting our own ergonomic health
• Managing costs within the practice
While I was at the Curion booth the day before my workshops, I met a dentist who shared a story that really stayed with me.
He had been performing a surgical procedure and reached for a surgical curette that was extremely dull. In that moment he realized that instrument maintenance in his practice had been neglected. He ended up sending his dental hygienist to my workshop the following day and purchased the LM-RondoPlus.
In both sessions, a similar conversation surfaced.
Several hygienists shared that their dentists do not maintain their own instruments.
For many in the room, this became an unexpected “aha” moment.
With the LM-RondoPlus, surgical and restorative instruments can also be sharpened easily, which makes it a practical solution for the entire clinical team.
In fact, this very issue is what inspired me years ago to start my own instrumentation company. In many practices where I worked, I became the person sharpening everyone’s instruments — including the dentists’.
When you think about other professions, maintenance of tools is simply part of the culture.
A professional chef sharpens knives before, during, and after food preparation.
A hair stylist regularly sharpens their scissors to maintain precision.
As dental professionals, we should never be providing care with dull, poorly shaped, or poorly maintained instruments.
We should be honing frequently — not waiting until the first sign of dullness.
Every client and patient deserves optimal care.
This mindset becomes part of a practice culture:
Excellence in Instrumentation.
If you are interested in the LM-RondoPlus, Curion is offering their Pacific Dental Conference promotion for one week following PDC, available until Friday of this week.
The machine is currently 30% off
Regular price: $1,895
PDC Special: $1,326.50
You can contact Curion at 1-800-667-8811 and mention that you read about it in On-Track Tuesday. They also have several helpful training videos available to guide you.
And if instrumentation is an area you would like to strengthen, you will see below some of the upcoming opportunities where we can continue learning together.
Let’s never compromise client care — or our own health.
Warmly,
Kathleen
Kathleen Bokrossy, RDH, BSc ~ Founder | President
