Constant Progress for Better Patient Care
Darin Lockaby and Dentsply Sirona Implants support their laboratory partners through innovation and differentiation.
Change can be a good thing,” according to Darin Lockaby, previously a District Sales Manager for a company that was acquired by Dentsply International in 2011. Now, he is looking forward to the exciting opportunities ahead as a result of the change to Dentsply Sirona due to the recent merger.
“If any business keeps doing the same thing that it is doing today, in 10 years, it will be in trouble,” says Lockaby, now Director of Sales, US Digital and National Accounts, for Dentsply Sirona Implants.
“At Dentsply Sirona Implants, we aim to provide quality products that make a difference for our customers, that help our customers to differentiate themselves from their competition, and that ultimately contribute to delivering better patient care. The goal of our customer and patient-centric philosophy is to bring value to the dental professionals that we partner with.”
While Dentsply Sirona employs approximately 15,000 people, the company remains customer-centric. Lockaby says remaining close to the market is important.
“We listen to the market and try to stay flexible,” he says. “We respond to what our customers tell us they need for their patients and their practices and laboratory businesses. For such a large company, we work hard to remain close to our customers.”
Importance of Laboratory Partners
Lockaby says one of the most effective ways of reaching the market—and increasing access for more patients to dental implant solutions— is through dental laboratories.
“We invest heavily in supporting our laboratory partners because they are critical members of the implant treatment team,” Lockaby says.
Dentsply Sirona Implants offers several value propositions to help laboratories remain viable and profitable, starting with ATLANTIS, which Lockaby says is a “patient-specific, restorative product line that is compatible with all major implant systems."
“One of the main reasons dentists leave their laboratories is due to inconsistent quality,” Lockaby says. “With ATLANTIS, we are able to help take that concern off the table for both the clinician and the laboratory.”
Workflow efficiency, he says, is another area where laboratories often need support.
“In order to compete in today’s market, most laboratories need to utilize digital options to become more efficient and faster. Digital implant solutions such as ATLANTIS help laboratories to fine-tune and further improve their processes,” Lockaby says.
Unique Solutions for Laboratories
In addition to ATLANTIS cement-retained abutments, available in titanium, gold-shaded titanium, and up to five shades of zirconia for full flexibility in meeting the clinicians’ needs, and ATLANTIS Crown Abutment, which provides screw-retained convenience and retrievability, “We help laboratories differentiate themselves with several unique solutions that other companies do not offer,” Lockaby says.
“The ATLANTIS Core File, for example, is a digital representation that enables the design of the coping and final restoration before the physical abutment is received,” he says. “This allows laboratories to deliver precision and quality in a simple and efficient manner.”
Other recent innovations include the ATLANTIS Insertion Guide, which laboratories can include with every abutment case, to help facilitate abutment installation for workflow efficiency and decreased chairtime for the clinicians with whom they work. For fully edentulous patients, ATLANTIS Conus concept is a conical-shaped abutment that provides the flexibility of a removable prosthesis combined with the stability of a fixed solution.
“Integrating ATLANTIS as an open and fully flexible business model can be easily adapted to the existing needs and processes of both laboratories and clinical practices,” Lockaby says. “In addition, ATLANTIS products are fully FDA-compliant, providing peace of mind for our laboratory partners and the clinicians they serve.”
Even more advantages are imminent as synergies are developed with the merger of Dentsply Sirona.
“As a part of Dentsply Sirona, there is not a part of dentistry that we do not touch in a differentiated way,” Lockaby says.
“These expanded capabilities allow us to help dental laboratories be more profitable and ultimately deliver our shared goal of better, safer, faster dental care.”
4 Key Take Aways
Dentsply Sirona Implants offers quality products that differentiate the company to laboratories, and laboratories from their competitors.
ATLANTIS patient-specific solutions go beyond CAD/CAM and support dental laboratories to provide consistent, high-quality solutions to clinical partners.
Digital product portfolio can add a new, premium prosthetic dimension to the solution offerings of both dental laboratories and their referring practices.
The establishment of Dentsply Sirona presents opportunities for expansion of comprehensive solutions to contribute to better, safer, faster dental care.
