Light curing on a grand scale: Ultradent launches new VALO Grand

Figure 1. Ultradent Product’s new VALO Grand features everything you’ve come to love from the VALO curing light family, but with a 50% bigger lens.
Figure 2. The VALO Grand curing light uses a custom, multiwavelength LED to producing high-intensity light at 395-480 nm with two significant peak wavelengths, utilising two shades of blue and violet, to cater for all dental photoinitiators.
Figure 3. Ultradent Product’s new VALO Grand features everything you’ve come to love from the VALO curing light family, but with a 50% bigger lens.
Figure 4a. Unlike traditional curing lights (left), the VALO Grand curing light (right) has a 5° head angle and large 12 mm glass lens to allow for easy positioning of the light, even in the posterior and more surface area to be cured at once, saving time and effort.
Figure 4b. Unlike traditional curing lights (left), the VALO Grand curing light (right) has a 5° head angle and large 12 mm glass lens to allow for easy positioning of the light, even in the posterior and more surface area to be cured at once, saving time and effort.

Ultradent Products has launched a further addition to its popular VALO range of curing lights, the VALO Grand. The new light features everything you've come to love from the VALO curing light family, but with a 50% bigger lens. The 12 mm lens is designed to easily cover a 10 mm molar for quick and effective curing. The power button on the underside also makes for more intuitive operation.

The VALO Grand light uses a custom, multi-wavelength light-emitting diode (LED) for producing high-intensity light at 395-480 nm capable of polymerising all light-cured dental materials. This intensity will also penetrate porcelain and is capable of curing underlying resin cements similar to a quality halogen light.

Every VALO Grand curing light starts as a solid bar of tempered, high-grade aerospace aluminum, which is CNC precision milled at Ultradent's facility in Utah, USA. The unibody construction ensures durability and provides unsurpassed heat dissipation. The elegant, ergonomic and streamlined design enables the VALO Grand light to easily reach all curing sites without sacrificing patient comfort. The aluminum wand, machined components and tempered glass lens make it the most durable cordless curing light available.

The VALO Grand curing light operates on two lithium ion phosphate batteries that deliver the consistent high-energy power the VALO light requires. These batteries are also inexpensive, rechargeable and widely available.

50% larger lens

The VALO Grand curing light offers the same accessibility, durability and power as any curing light in the VALO family, but is differentiated by a large, 12 mm lens. The VALO Grand light still has the same power output, but with a larger footprint, it is able to cure a larger area quickly and effectively.

Beam collimation

The collimation of a curing light's beam affects the amount of energy that reaches the restoration site. A beam that disperses will deliver less power than a beam that remains collimated; a dispersed beam can lead to undercured restorations and eventual failures. Unlike its competitors, the VALO Grand curing light delivers optimally and consistently collimated power. With refined optics that create excellent light collimation across a 12 mm lens, the VALO Grand light maintains intensity over a greater range of distances.

It is not easy to maintain a specific distance from the restoration, where the typical proximal box is approximately 7 mm deep and best practices call for holding the tip of the curing light 2 mm from the preparation surface.¹ With a superior beam profile, the VALO Grand curing light ensures more energy is delivered to resin and significantly reduces the possibility that the practitioner will experience distance and offset issues while curing.

In addition to its collimation, a beam's uniformity affects energy delivery across the restoration site. A beam with hot or cold spots yields inconsistent curing, which can compromise restorations and cause sensitivity. The VALO Grand light contains multiple LEDs and specialised optics producing evenly distributed energy to deliver consistent results, regardless of the restoration type, size or location.

Spectral distribution

The VALO Grand curing light uses a custom, multiwavelength light-emitting diode (LED) for producing a high-intensity light at 395-480 nm. This LED pack produces true broad-spectrum light, which provides uniform curing across the restoration with two significant peak wavelengths, utilising two shades of blue and violet required for lower-level initiators (Figure 1). This means that the VALO Grand light is capable of polymerising all light-cured dental materials - including camphorquinone and the entire range of proprietary photoinitiators.

As the options for light-cured materials keep expanding, the composition of the materials becomes more and more varied. Aside from camphorquinone, many manufacturers have turned to other photoinitiators particularly for aesthetic composites. Photoinitiators such as Lucerin and PPD require low-wavelength light for complete polymerization. With the VALO Grand light's reliable and proven performance, you can be certain you'll get a quality cure, regardless of the material.

Unprecedented access

The distance the average adult-male mouth opens is 30 mm when working in vivo.² This limited range, along with the posterior location of many restorations, makes properly positioning a traditional curing light with an oversized head and angled light guide almost impossible.

The VALO Grand curing light has a 5° head angle and large 12 mm glass lens to allow for easy positioning of the light and more surface area to be cured at once, saving time and effort.

Because the wand-style body is designed without the addition of a light guide, it reaches all areas of the mouth without requiring you to overstretch a patient's TMJ and soft tissues - a common problem that can occur with other lights (Figure 2). In addition, the VALO Grand light's larger footprint can cure the entire surface of a Class II posterior preparation in just one exposure.

Complete cure with any composite

When composite is exposed to light, its reaction depends on the composite's hue, refractive properties, filler type, filler load, and translucency/opacity. Regardless of variations in composite, the VALO Grand curing light has the ability to provide a complete cure because of its power distribution and output of broad-spectrum light, which effectively penetrates layers of composite.

3 powerful curing modes

VALO Grand offers three powerful modes for maximum versatility:

	Standard Power:		1000 mW/cm²
	High Power Plus:		1600 mW/cm²
	Xtra Power:		3200 mW/cm²

Each of these three curing modes offers varying timing intervals to best meet the needs of the clinician and the procedure.

Proven performance

In a study,³ the energy delivered to a Class I preparation by 20 dentists with different curing lights was measured with the MARC⁴ system, the only device available that calculates a curing light's actual power delivered in a truly simulated curing environment. It provides clinically relevant data to better manage the variables that determine the effective use of curing lights in clinical practice. Through this process, it has been repeatedly shown that the VALO curing light consistently delivers more energy in less time. Even with the inevitable variation in curing results among testers, the VALO light delivered more energy more consistently.

The VALO and VALO Cordless curing lights continue to be available.

Ultradent VALO Grand - Key features

Large, 12 mm lens
Curing button on the underside for intuitive operation
Ultra-high-energy broadband LEDs cure all dental materials
Optimally collimated beam delivers a complete, uniform cure
Three curing options - Standard Power, High Power Plus and Xtra Power - offer convenience and flexibility
Slim, ergonomic wand allows unprecedented access to all restoration sites
Unique unibody design is both extremely durable and lightweight
Highly efficient LEDs keep the wand body cool to the touch
Cordless wand design provides optimal convenience and flexibility
Operates on two inexpensive, rechargeable batteries

References

Meyer GR, Ernst CP, Willershausen B. Decrease in power output of new light-emitting diode (LED) curing devices with increasing distance to filling surface. J Adhes Dent. 2002;4(3):197-204.
Calder I, Picard J, Chapman M, O'Sullivan C, Crockard HA. Mouth opening: a new angle. Anesthesiology. 2003;99(4):799-801.
Price RB, Felix CM, Whalen JM. Factors affecting the energy delivered to simulated Class I and Class V preparations. J Can Dent Assoc. 2010;76:a94.
MARC (Managing Accurate Resin Curing) was developed by Dr. R. Price at Dalhousie University and is distributed by BlueLight analytics inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.