During the summer of 1983, two dentists traveled for an entire day to reach the distant location of an esthetic dental seminar. After spending three days in lectures, they journeyed another full day to return home. Comparing their seminar notes, the two dentists discussed how the speakers, with their widely divergent opinions on most topics, confused rather than enlightened them. What was necessary, they mused, was an information source that would coalesce differing opinions into a consensus. It would also have to be continually updated, so wasting time by having to reference previous editions would be eliminated.
In addition, this resource had to be written in a style that made it very easy and even enjoyable to read. What a novel idea for a professional publication! Out of these discussions and after three years of preparation, REALITY was born and introduced to the profession in 1986.<
The very first edition, a print book, in the fall of 1986 contained a mere 120 pages, which made it small enough to fit into a jacket pocket or purse. There were no clinical or product photographs. Only 72 product reviews in nine categories and six clinical techniques were listed. The 22 charter members of the Editorial Team including 11 specialists and two laboratory technicians were selected specifically for their diverse backgrounds. All members of the Editorial Team at that time were from the United States.
Despite its rather diminutive size, REALITY astounded the dental community with a series of firsts, many of which continue unrivaled today. Research papers were not just abstracted, but also objectively critiqued and their bottom line clinical relevancy, if any, was explicitly stated. Products were actually ranked in the order of their usefulness. Techniques were broken down into their most important steps and described in simple terms as never before. The no-nonsense approach used in REALITY revolutionized dental publishing.
Other milestones include the first international Editorial Team Member in 1988, the jump from handbook to full-size format in 1989, the introduction of the quick-reading monthly supplement, REALITY NOW, in 1990, and the addition of color clinical photos in 1992.
In 1995, REALITY assumed its role as the consumer advocate for both dentists and patients by exposing the potentially disastrous effect that resin ionomer luting materials can have when used to cement metal-free restorations or endodontic posts. Because of the swift publication of this problem, many dentists and patients were saved from the time-consuming, expensive, and inconvenient task of remaking restorations or replacing teeth that had fractured as a result of the previously unknown expansion tendencies of these cements.
But, without a doubt, the creation of the REALITY RESEARCH LAB (RRL) in the fall of 1998 was the defining moment for REALITY. From this point forward, the vast amount of research that is necessary to evaluate products and techniques was brought in-house and under its ultimate control. This event signaled to the dental profession that a new era had begun in the whole process of product and technique evaluation.
Today, after 35 years, REALITY has evolved into REALITY Ratings & Reviews, a full service information resource and product testing entity. The Editorial Team has also grown to 44 of the most respected and highly renowned dental professionals in the world. With 12 international members on the Editorial Team, REALITY Ratings & Reviews has indeed become the final word in product evaluations around the world. And, as a membership-based organization, it offers services unmatched anywhere else in dentistry.
Since 1986, growth has come naturally, orderly, and steadily. With a mission concerned with protecting patients and serving the dental profession, the information journey for REALITY Ratings & Reviews is never ending.
