Laboratory works with Dependable Manufacturer and Service Provider for Implant Prosthetics
Emphasis on quality includes using only the best CAM milled bars
The owners of Jesse and Frichtel Dental Labs pride themselves on accepting the most difficult implant cases and making them more successful for dentists. They have built their business by placing significant value on extensive formal training, and the result is a thriving laboratory that is now in its third decade of operation.
“It is very common for technicians to specialize in just one area,” co-owner Sven Jesse, CDT, says. “For implant cases, however, it is very beneficial to be trained in all areas—crown and bridge, removables, and more.”
Co-owner Mark Frichtel adds, “It’s not just beneficial. It’s necessary.”
Jesse completed a 3.5-year dental technology training program in Germany in 1980. When he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1993 to be with his eventual wife, Michelle, he discovered that his training and knowledge were in high demand. Businesses and schools lined up to hire him, offering various incentives.
Meanwhile Jesse’s future brother-in-law, Frichtel, was working as Director of Sales and Marketing at a computer software company. When Frichtel saw the demand for Jesse’s services, he enlisted a marketing company to investigate the viability of a new dental laboratory in the Pittsburgh area. A survey of 70 dentists indicated that with formal education lacking in the US the quality of laboratory work was inconsistent.
Using Jesse’s skills and Frichtel’s business knowledge, they opened a laboratory, starting with accounts from among the original dentists they had surveyed.
By 1997, they observed an increasing demand for removables, so they traveled to Germany to recruit a top removables technician. After that move proved successful, they employed as many as five German master technicians at times and also brought several Germans over on J-1 visas to add to the US staff.
“We built the laboratory’s reputation on the knowledge and training of our technicians,” Frichtel says.
Jesse and Frichtel worked with implant manufacturers early on to develop the best processes and services.
“We started growing with the implant companies because they quickly identified that we had a unique knowledge base, and from an implant manufacturer’s standpoint they knew that the case would have genuine parts and be done correctly,” Frichtel says. “This is what helped grow the implant business.”
Once they developed the necessary expertise in that arena, Jesse and Frichtel then set out to establish a reputation among dentists as a laboratory that makes implants easy for their clients. They target general practitioners, among others.
“We bought torque wrenches for dentists who did not have them, as well as impression posts at no charge,” Frichtel says. “We selected the implant components and took responsibility for them. Dentists only needed to provide us with information about the placed implant, and we took care of everything else. These kinds of small, added efforts really helped us grow. Dentists love that we take complete responsibility for making sure that the case is done correctly.”
The goal, Jesse says, is to eliminate the need for the dentist to spend time doing anything other than dentistry. “We take care of basically any need they have,” Jesse says.
Now, Jesse and Frichtel Dental Labs handles approximately 11 000 implant units per year, Jesse says. Many of these are cases that “other laboratories would not touch,” he adds. Some of the most complex cases come from nearby Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, where teenagers with cleft palates need dental implants.
Providing the best services means using the best components, and a turning point for Jesse and Frichtel came in the early 2000s when they began using NobelProcera™ services from Nobel Biocare for CAM milled implant bars. After seeing the first 10 bars from Nobel Biocare, Jesse and Frichtel have not cast a bar since. “I have found that Nobel Biocare produces the only bars that fit perfectly,” Jesse says. “Even if other implant companies are being used, Nobel Biocare’s bars are always our first option.”
Nobel Biocare supplements its services with exceptional technical support, he adds.
“They shine with their representatives,” Jesse says. “They help us obtain new accounts, and their technical know-how has been outstanding.”
The NobelClinician® CAD software has been another helpful tool for Jesse.
“Several exceptional software programs are available on the market, but for full arches in particular, NobelClinician is the most effective,” Jesse says. “It helps me have restorative input into what the laboratory can accomplish prior to the surgery. It becomes an outstanding communication tool between the specialist, restorative dentist, and laboratory, with the patient being the winner.”
Jesse and Frichtel’s work with Nobel Biocare has extended to alpha and beta testing as well. Helping Nobel Biocare stay on the cutting edge helps their laboratory in turn provide better services for their dentists.
“We continue to work with them to provide clinical seminars to our restorative clinicians to review new products as well as changes in protocol to ensure a positive outcome with the patient,” Jesse says. “It is truly a fantastic partnership.”
NobelProcera™ Implant Bars
Each restoration comes with an authenticity label for your case documentation and to give to patients. An extensive warranty covers all restorations and implants, including implants not from Nobel Biocare. You can be sure that NobelProcera products are thoroughly verified and validated. Every Nobel Biocare restoration is CE-marked, cleared with the FDA and other regulatory authorities, and fulfills all medical device requirements. NobelProcera Services Center Mahwah is located at 800 Corporate Drive, Suite B, New Jersey (USA), United States, and can be reached at 888-725-7100, Option 4.
For more information, contact:
nobelbiocare.com
888-725-7100, Option 4
