Nine in ten dentists recommend carving up that iPhone dock your own dang self
By Paul Miller 
posted Jul 30th 2008 7:33AM
posted Jul 30th 2008 7:33AM
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Jeez, typos galore tonight.
"Seriously, he's gonna stick drill that in somebody's mouth after this? "
You transposed that and drill.
So THAT'S why that didn't read right... i think i need some more coffee...
This is fucking asinine. I would be more worried about the fact that the drill was used on a patient and not washed than on a piece of plastic and not washed. I can't catch meningitis from a piece of plastic.
Seriously... who said he didn't wash it after? If he's worth the paper his dentistry license is printed on, he scrubbed that thing down hardcore, then ran it through an autoclave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoclave) a couple times. Or maybe even discarded the head to that drill (since drills are likely pricey but heads cheap).
Though, as hard as it is for me to see this as incredibly newsworthy, I can concede that he should've just found a dremel somewhere.
Leave Paul Alone!
The drill bits are replaceable. Every new patient should be getting a new sterilized bit unless your dentist is a cheapskate. Next time you sit down in the chair, check out your instruments and you'll notice the plastic wrapping on all the tools.
Firstly, that's not a drill bit but an abrasive disk used to make composite resin fillings smooth with the rest of the tooth. Secondly those are disposable.
Also, you would need to go through several of those to mod the iDock, they lose abrasiveness quite quickly.
If you think using dental instruments to do tech related mods is new, think again. Those drills are perfect for a lot of things techies would love to do.
Could this news be any more lame or pointless.
Anything to get another iphone story in...
So very very true.
If it was a HTC Touch Diamond dock, $10 says it wouldn't be up here
buy an iphone
While i love Apple. I dont even own a single Windows PC, i have 3 macs and an ipod, i dont understand why the iphone has generated so much hype.
Yes its nice, yes i will be getting one, no i dont really care that a dentist can carve out his dock, no i dont care that they have miniscule little cracks you can barely see and no i dont care about "one day after" "one week after".
Youd think the people at Engadget wouldn't get caught up with the hype..but you'd be wrong.
now all they need to round out the news day is something pointless to take a pot shot at Microsoft for.
i agree there's far too much iPhone news, but i like this story... a highly paid dentist, who could easily afford a new 3G dock, chooses to carve the old one... it's gold... not only is this a big "fuck you" to apple, but it goes to show that even the wealthy are certainly aware of the bullshit cash grabs from certain companies...
Why did you even bother to click the link if it's got iPhone in it? I'm in the UK and manage to ignore all the US-only posts. The only reason articles get posted is that so people read them - people tend to read iPhone and Apple articles. It's as selfish to bash iPhone/Apple posts as it would be for me to bash the US-only posts.
If you don't care - move on. Sorry to rant.
Doesn't Engadget provide a no-Apple stream anyway?
I thought dentists could afford they're own iphone docks without risking their careers.
that dentist poses practically a 0% chance of risking his career...
1) using one of the bits for his drill on a piece of plastic isn't gonna contaminate the bit
2) the same bits have been in probably hundreds of other people's mouths
3) autoclave - 121 degrees C... im certain he autoclaved that after using it on his iphone dock
How is this guy risking his career? Th bur he is using is easily replacable. Why are people assuming that the bur is either from someone's mouth or else will be used in someone's mouth. Smarten up people - they don't last forever and are often rplaced. That's why they come (individually sealed) in multipacks. As for the handpiece it is not being exposed to an pathogens with this procedure. It would be fine to disinfect it - autoclaving after this is not required. To all those who say that a dremel works fine - true but given the choice i would prefer to use a high torque (preferably electric) highspeed with a diamond folloed by a good slowspeed with an acrylic bur.
What is wrong with a dremel?
Nothing is wrong with a Dremel. It's God's preferred hand-held rotary tool. Heck, you can even file down your own chompers with it.
You can get a Dremel and carve it out.
Slow news day huh?
Sorry, did you forget to post the story?
I'm not sure what's stranger, the fact that engadget thinks using dental shaping tools on clean plastic is worse than using it for hundreds of mouth jobs weekly, or the fact that they think there are dentist police.?
So much hate spreading through Engadget. Chill people, this is a blog.
Those heads are disposable.
Bradley's comment is packed with win.
That and it's a cutting disc attached there, not a drill bit.
After this, he likely tossed it and it was perfectly fine to use in the next rotting mouth.
I was just looking for someone to say that for me.
Paul Miller should go to the dentist more often.
I guess its like the media who claim to not be biased but clearly are. I have no problem that engadget is in the tank for apple, but dont claim not to be at the same time.
and in other news.. cat gets stuck up tree, owner calls for help.. on her new 3G iPhone.
the help locates here via the built in gps
Second person calls on winmo device ... apple sues.
Third person calls using "free with activation" device and everyone laughs at him in a hearty French tone.
Fun game:
Search "phone" on google news.
Add "With the 3G iPhone" to the end of any headline.
Voila! Engadget article!
Also works with "call"
u r really so desperate for any i mean anything with the word "iphone" in its contest....
get over it guys
its just another headset....
Risking careers? Are you people that ignorant? All of those parts are disposable.
Thats pretty smart...you can get a fine finish with that.
Once again, the Universal Dock works just fine. Hell, it even holds the iPhone with the case on.
Who the hell are you to bring logic into any of this?
God dammit ! How dare that tight arsed dentist rip off the iphone industry in such an underhand way.
If you buy a new iPhone buy a new dock too ! thats what apple fans do !
Imagine doing something yourself like this might as well buy a PC
[sic]
Whaddya call a guy that fails medical school......
A dentist!
Someone who is still smarter than Frank Furter
He likes it! He likes it! Hey Mikey!
Someone that get's paid more than an idiot
Dental insurance is expensive.
Glad to know that the money is going to good use.
this is getting to the point where you will see a story about a guy who left the Iphone fell in the WC while making POO!!!
Engadget... you blew the joke on your headline. It's always "4 out of 5 dentists recommend Crest" or whatever, not "9 out of 10." You could never get that last 1/2 dentist per 5 to agree on anything.
At least he wasn't a proctologist. Imagine where the Roto-Rooter type tool had been before. I guess he could then blame Apple for the shitty reception on the iPhone 3G after the "operation".
In a few weeks he'll be fixing using the same very tools to fix the cavity like cracks that will appear on the back of his white iPhone.
I'm a dentist and use my air-driven high speed handpiece on lots of things...yes after and before trips through the autoclave. Dremel is good, but to be honest, I've spent hundreds of hours of my life with a 300K rpm, 90-degree handpiece in my hands, half the time only being able to see through a mirror. I can do a better job with it than I can with a Dremel.
My best project was when I got some metallic-looking 2x4 grid material to fit into my overhead light fixtures. The rooms look a lot better without the typical office-styled diverters on them.
"But the most important thing about shop safety is to wear these, safety glasses."
"I've spent hundreds of hours of my life with a 300K rpm, 90-degree handpiece in my hands"
I don't know why, but reading this from Dana got me a little hot.
Be careful, Dana might be a dude!
@ Galley:
So? Mikey could be totally into dudes. Or just really hot for 300K rpm, 90-degree handpieces. I'm starting to think that I am...
He's in the LAB and not in an exam room. That's where they work on dental appliances made out of all sort of materials. Once the work is done they are cleaned before being taken back to the patient.
Man, I never knew what a bunch of anti-dentites are on engadget... next thing you know, engadget is going to start suggesting that they get segregated to their own schools!
I'm in dental school, and the fact is that all burs are/can be replaced on a regular basis. So theoretically he could just change to a new bur after 'modding' his iphone dock, which I think would be ok.
That dock is most likely cleaner than someone's else tooth
Dentists use that same thing to adjust fillings and dentures... Who cares???