Better Than Before

I recently was admiring renderings of the new Las Vegas major league baseball park scheduled to open in 2028. The future home of the A's who are moving from Oakland looks amazing. The stadium will have an extraordinary, canopied, five-tier roof (think Sydney Opera House), providing shade from the Nevada sun while letting in plenty of natural light. The esthetic design is a far cry from other enclosed baseball facilities, some of which look monstrous (think Milwaukee Brewers stadium). In addition, the air-conditioned ballpark will feature the world's largest cable-net glass window in the outfield allowing a gorgeous view of the glitzy Vegas skyline, and, of course, the biggest jumbotron in baseball.

Seeing the drawings of this remarkable structure got me thinking how far things have come in just the past 20+ years. Many of today's big league baseball parks were built during the 1990s and 2000s, and they were all novel and innovative in their own right. Yet since then, building technologies, materials, and designs have advanced further still, all aimed at improving the game-watching experience for fans and the field conditions for players.

The same could be said about the dental industry. While new technologies gave dentists lots to cheer about two and three decades ago, today's clinical armamentarium is greater still. Our continuing education (CE) articles in this issue are cases in point. The first CE illustrates a concept for developing a precise post and core complex using a monoblock adhesive system utilizing a new fiber-optic post and injection resin technique. The state-of-the-art post enables optimal integration at the adhesive interfaces-and a better post and core structure.

Our other CE article demonstrates the progress of science and medicine. In discussing the management of oral manifestations of DNA viruses, the authors tell how new treatments are focused on not only reducing the time patients must endure these painful, often unsightly lesions, but also blocking their progression.

The tools of the dental trade improve each year, and it's Compendium's goal to help clinicians work these advancements into their rotation. With baseball season upon us, why not get out and take in a game. When you do, don't be surprised if your team has installed a shiny new scoreboard, planted some fresh high-tech turf, or, better yet, upgraded their food offerings! Enjoy this issue of Compendium.

Sincerely,

Markus B. Blatz, DMD, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
markus.blatz@broadcastmed.com