In today's Case of the Week, I look at an impression that looks exactly like the ones I used to take, with the end of the impression right at the margin. Once I dropped the one-cord technique I was taught in school and started using the two-cord technique, my impressions improved immediately with no increase of skill on my part. It was simply a better technique.

There have been times where I have wanted to arrest a parent in my office, and it was typically because I felt sorry for a child with something like Baby Bottle Tooth Decay. It never occurred to me to make a citizen’s arrest, but recently in Florida, a mom was arrested for this type of naiveté, ignorance and/or neglect.

I share some advice that I gave a young doctor who is currently experiencing 40% shade remakes. I instructed him to rearrange his shade guide according to the popularity of shades from the last 4 million crowns we fabricated at our lab.

After we're done dishing out awards for sloppy impressions, we move on to big things happening in the news. Megan gives the scoop on a brave Colorado dentist who has no fear when it comes to extractions. She'll also tell you about a new French toothbrush that will give you one more reason to never put down your smartphone.

Episode 81: As long as I was on a roll after learning the Gow-Gates, I decided to have Kathy Bassett teach me the AMSA injection as well. This is the counter-intuitive palatal injection that anesthetizes the anterior teeth, including all four bicuspids, but does not anesthetize the lip, so that the patients smile line can be evaluated. I had never blanched palatal tissue quite this much! Then, an unlicensed dentist in Florida gives new meaning to "making a house call".

Episode 80: Kathy Bassett, anesthesia expert and author of "Local Anesthesia for Dental Professionals", teaches Dr. D how to give the Gow-Gates injectiion.

Episode 79: Much like our own design service for partial dentures, or crown & bridge cases in combination with partials, Space Maintainers will suggest appliance designs if it's not something you do every day. I used to do ortho, but it's been a little while, so I went with their suggestions and then placed some veneers to finish the case.

Episode 78: What’s easier to get through: Thanksgiving dinner with your relatives or a BruxZir® Solid Zirconia posterior crown? Watch to find out! In the spirit of giving, Megan passes on the gravy, but gives you a double serving of dental news stories.

Episode 77: Could the lab you use be the subject of Hollywood's next blockbuster horror flick? Sure, those prices might be killer, but what about quality and cleanliness? A filthy Ohio dental lab ran out of a basement shows the desperate need for state regulations for dental laboratories.

Episode 76: A dentist becomes a local hero when he saves a teen's life, and the Case of the Week features a design service for a removable partial denture.