With a focus on credibility and meaningful innovation, the Pride Institute’s “Best of Class” Technology Award — now in its sixth year — continues to recognize products that demonstrate excellence in their category. In 2014, the SoproCARE intraoral camera and Newtron P5 XS B.LED piezoelectric scaler from ACTEON North America are two of those lauded as “Best of Class.”

Tim Long, VP/COO for ACTEON North America said, “This is a very prestigious award for the dental industry and to win it with both the SoproCARE and Newtron P5 XS B.LED is extra special.  We are honored to be recognized as having great technology to offer clinicians to help their practices and patients every day.”

A panel, comprised of leading voices in dental technology, comes together each year to discuss, debate and decide what products merit recognition. All technology categories are considered, but if there is no clear differentiator that sets a product apart in its category, then no winner is selected. Each product honored as “Best of Class” features unique characteristics that differentiate it from the competition in a compelling way, and more importantly, creates value for the general dentist.

Organized by Dr. Lou Shuman, President of Pride Institute, the panel is committed to a selection method that is unbiased and rigorous. Throughout the course of the year, members of the panel review new and existing technologies in preparation for the vote. Panelists who receive compensation from dental companies are prevented from voting in that company’s category. Over the years, the panel has developed a rapport that makes space for important conversations about value of different innovations and how evolving categories become more or less valuable to the general dentist. The spirited debate that follows results in a variety of products — obscure and well-known, basic and aspirational — being honored.

The “Best of Class” founder, Lou Shuman, DMD, CAGS, stated that “The foundation for our success is, and has always been, our formula: technology leadership in dentistry, unbiased, and not for profit. The commitment of the distinguished panel and our partners at the American Dental Association help us maintain the integrity that creates true value.”

The panel consists of five dentists with significant knowledge of and experience in dental technology, including Dr. Shuman; John Flucke, DDS, writer, speaker and Chief Dental Editor for Dental Products Report; Paul Feuerstein, DMD, writer, speaker and Technology Editor for Dentistry Today; Marty Jablow, DMD, technology writer and consultant for Dr. BiCuspid; and Parag Kachalia, DDS, Vice-Chair of Preclinical Education, Research and Technology, University of Pacific School of Dentistry.

“Everyone on the panel is not only recognized as being an outstanding speaker and leader in the industry, but they are also actively seeing patients. When they say a product is worthwhile, it is because they see the value for the patient outcome and real-world impact,” said Dr. Shuman. “They are able to recognize the innovation that dentists need as well as push the envelope in what dentists should embrace as our profession progresses.”

The Pride Institute Best of Class Technology awards were launched in 2009 as a new concept to provide an unbiased, non-profit assessment of available technologies in the dental space.  Through print and digital media coverage, the “Best of Class” message reaches the community of 150,000 dentists through multiple touch points—in print and online—educating them about the products. Honoree participation in the “Tech Expo” at the American Dental Association’s Annual Meeting offers face-to-face interaction with the companies as well as technology-centered education provided by members of the panel as well as the esteemed consultants of Pride Institute. Courses at last year’s 2013 meeting sold out. This year’s event will be held October 9-11 in San Antonio.

About ACTEON® North America

Located just outside Philadelphia in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, ACTEON® North Americaprovides all sales, marketing, customer service and technical support for ACTEON® products in the United States and Canada.

ACTEON® partners with all of the major dental chair delivery system manufacturers and dental distributors. ACTEON® North America also has a team of strategically placed field representatives as well as a state-of-the-art repair facility and fully stocked warehouse. With a steady stream of new and innovative products combined with effective and efficient customer support and technical service, ACTEON® North America continues to grow each year.

DEXIS has donated a DEXIS Platinum intraoral digital sensor, DEXIS Imaging Suite, and related image management software to the Noor Foundation’s Dental Clinic, a volunteer-based, non-profit organization that provides free dental services for those in its community who might otherwise go without care.

DEXIS provided the Noor Foundation’s charity clinic with robust digital imaging hardware and software. This donation allows the clinic to operate with leading technology that can help the volunteer healthcare providers improve and streamline patient care.

“With the help of our new DEXIS digital sensor and software, the Noor Dental Clinic, a free dental clinic located in San Luis Obispo, California, is providing dental services to people who do not have dental insurance and would not otherwise have access to dental care,” said Don Shealy, project coordinator for the Noor Dental Clinic. “Our dentists love how easy and user-friendly the DEXIS system is to operate. We thank DEXIS so much for the donation!”

“We applaud the dedication of the volunteers at the Noor Foundation’s Dental Clinic,” states Candy Ross, director of industry and professional Relations for DEXIS. “And we are delighted to be able to play a part in assisting these volunteers to increase their efficiency by donating the DEXIS Platinum digital x-ray sensor and software. When dental companies and clinicians join forces to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate, so much good can be accomplished.”

Washington, DC, July 28, 2014 – “Fist bumping” transmits significantly fewer bacteria than either handshaking or high-fiving, while still addressing the cultural expectation of hand-to-hand contact between patients and clinicians, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

In this study from the Institute of Biological, Environmental, and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom, researchers performed trials to determine if alternative greetings would transmit fewer germs than the traditional handshake. In this experiment, a greeter immersed a sterile-gloved hand into a container of germs.Once the glove was dry, the greeter exchanged a handshake, fist bump, or high-five with a sterile-gloved recipient. Exchanges randomly varied in duration and intensity of contact.

After the exchange, the receiving gloves were immersed in a solution to count the number bacteria transferred during contact. Nearly twice as many bacteria were transferred during a handshake compared to the high-five, and significantly fewer bacteria were transferred during a fist bump than a high-five. In all three forms of greeting, a longer duration of contact and stronger grips were further associated with increased bacterial transmission.

“Adoption of the fist bump as a greeting could substantially reduce the transmission of infectious diseases between individuals,” said corresponding author, David Whitworth, PhD. “It is unlikely that a no-contact greeting could supplant the handshake; however, for the sake of improving public health we encourage further adoption of the fist bump as a simple, free, and more hygienic alternative to the handshake.”

This study expands on the recent call from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) to ban handshakes from the hospital environment.  

Healthcare providers’ hands can spread potentially harmful germs to patients, leading to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAIs are among the leading causes of preventable harm and death in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 25 hospitalized patients develops an HAI and 75,000 patients with HAIs die during their hospitalization each year.

ABOUT AJIC: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INFECTION CONTROL

AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control (www.ajicjournal.org) covers key topics and issues in infection control and epidemiology. Infection preventionists, including physicians, nurses, and epidemiologists, rely on AJIC for peer-reviewed articles covering clinical topics as well as original research. As the official publication of APIC, AJIC is the foremost resource on infection control, epidemiology, infectious diseases, quality management, occupational health, and disease prevention. AJIC also publishes infection control guidelines from APIC and the CDC. Published by Elsevier, AJIC is included in MEDLINE and CINAHL.

ABOUT APIC

APIC’s mission is to create a safer world through prevention of infection. The association’s more than 15,000 members direct infection prevention programs that save lives and improve the bottom line for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. APIC advances its mission through patient safety, implementation science, competencies and certification, advocacy, and data standardization. Visit APIC online at www.apic.org. Follow APIC on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apic and Facebook: www.facebook.com/APICInfectionPreventionandYou. For information on what patients and families can do, visit APIC’s Infection Prevention and You website at www.apic.org/infectionpreventionandyou. 

Palm Beach Gardens, FL – (7/29/2014) – Dental professionals in the United States are now able to order BIOMET 3i products online 24 hours a day, seven days a week at www.shopbiomet3i.com. 

The new store allows customers to purchase products online through the use of credit cards. Orders are automatically processed through the system, and products are shipped directly to the customer. The store includes numerous features, including a “Saved Items” list that allows customers to easily reorder products with the click of a key. In addition, customers can check their order status or track their order. 

“We are very excited to offer this new level of convenience to our customers,” says BIOMET 3i President Bart Doedens. “This truly gives customers the ability to order products when it is convenient, and allows them to quickly proceed without having to call customer service or a sales representative. We look forward to continuing to expand our online ordering capabilities to other regions of the world.” 

The BIOMET 3i online store can be accessed at www.shopbiomet3i.com. 

About BIOMET 3i 

BIOMET 3i, a division of Biomet, Inc., is a leading manufacturer of dental implants, abutments and related products. Since its inception in 1987, BIOMET 3i has been on the forefront in developing, manufacturing and distributing oral reconstructive products, including dental implant components and bone and tissue regenerative materials. The company also provides educational programs and seminars for dental professionals around the world. BIOMET 3i is based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with operations throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. For more information about BIOMET 3i, please visit www.biomet3i.com or contact the company at (800) 342-5454; outside the U.S. dial (561) 776-6700. 

ST. PAUL, Minn. – (July 31, 2014) – As more dentists and orthodontists adopt digital scanning in their practices, innovating to provide the best user experience is more important than ever. 3M Digital Oral Care is changing the market again with exciting technological transformations to the 3M True Definition Scanner. The next generation system includes a revolutionary new wand with a profile so slim that it’s the smallest on the market. The new system will be released this fall in tandem with 3M™ True Definition Scanner Software 5.0 that supports faster, easier scanning with the same superior accuracy. With the new 3M True Definition Scanner, adopting digital scanning is now more comfortable and easier than ever before.

The new 3M True Definition Scanner system was built for fast scanning – once the field is prepared, an adept user can scan a diagnostic arch in as little as 60 seconds. The new wand is designed to fit in the hand like a traditional dental handpiece, with a narrow, angled tip and a slim profile so ergonomically balanced it allows for one-handed scanning. This significantly enhances the reach to the challenging posterior anatomy. The small profile and fast scan time make scanning with the redesigned 3M True Definition Scanner system more comfortable for dentists, orthodontists, their staff and patients.

“The digital world continues to move incredibly fast, and to keep pace with these trends, we continuously draw on the 3M innovation engine to bring fresh ideas to the table,” said David Frazee, Vice President and General Manager of 3M Digital Oral Care. “Not only is this wand the smallest on the market, but it’s designed to be incredibly intuitive, comfortable to hold and fast and easy to use.”

The redesigned 3M True Definition Scanner was unveiled at the 3M Digital Exchange in Minneapolis, Minn. on July 31, amid a two-day interactive conference focusing on the changing role of digital in today’s world. The event provided the unique opportunity for world-class dentists and orthodontists to meet, share their successes, and collaborate on how to thrive in the ever-changing digitization of healthcare, including oral care. The event’s messages of “digitally-driven disruption” and “making every connection matter,” inspired relevant, challenging and impactful dialogs on the key questions facing the industry today.

The new, next generation 3M True Definition Scanner continues to be more accurate—and more consistently accurate—than leading systems on the market¹. The outstanding accuracy leads to reduced seating times and has been clinically proven in thousands of cases in the past 12 months, with a fit rate of 99.7%².

For more information on the new 3M True Definition Scanner system, visit www.3M.com/NewTrueDef.   

Oct. 1, 2014, is the deadline to apply for community service grants from the ADHA Institute for Oral Health (IOH) and the Wrigley Company Foundation. Awarded to ADHA members practicing individually, as a group or in an interdisciplinary team working to enhance the public view of dental hygiene through community health programs, the grants will be distributed in amounts of $2,500 or $5,000.

Visit the IOH website for more details on eligibility, to see information on past winners and to check out all the great work IOH does for the dental hygiene profession.

The Academy of General Dentistry is pleased to announce the creation of a new international membership category beginning October 2014. The new category is in response to the many requests the AGD receives from dentists around the world who share in AGD’s values, goals and mission. These forward thinking dentists, who are committed to continuing education, can now pursue that AGD’s prestigious Fellowship (FAGD) and Mastership (MAGD) awards by attending approved CE courses and AGD’s annual meeting. Additionally, international members will have full electronic access to AGD’s award winning publications General Dentistry and AGD Impact. This is wonderful global opportunity for all dentists who value continuing education to share their knowledge and achieve recognition for their pursuit of excellence. For more information contact the membership department at 1-888-AGD-DENT or visit the website: www.agd.org 

CHICAGO, August 25, 2014– As implant dentistry goes digital, so too will the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Osseointegration (AO) occurring March 12 to 14 in San Francisco. For the first time in the meeting’s 30-year history, the poster presentations of original research and clinical cases of interest in the field of implant dentistry will be displayed on flat-screen TV monitors in the Moscone Convention Center.

“AO’s Annual Meeting provides a forum for clinicians from around the world to learn about evidence-based science and cutting-edge research that will help to shape the future of implant dentistry,” said Dr. Mehrdad Favagehi, chair of AO’s Research Submission Committee. “We are excited to be able to present the research and innovations achieved by our members in this visually appealing and versatile electronic format in 2015.”

AO serves as a nexus where specialists and generalists can come together to evaluate emerging research, technology and techniques, share best practices, and coordinate optimal patient care using timely, evidence-based information.

The AO is currently accepting abstract submissions for e-poster presentations in the following categories:

·      Scientific research

·      Clinical research

·      Clinical innovations and case presentations

·      Systematic reviews including meta-analysis

·      Case studies

The AO is also accepting submissions for oral presentations in the following categories:

·      Scientific research

·      Clinical research

·      Clinical innovations

To submit an abstract, AO members should log-in to AO’s web site, www.osseo.org, and click on the “2015 Annual Meeting Abstract Submission” button. Screen prompts will guide members through the process. All abstracts must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Friday, September 26. There will be a $50 fee for all abstract submissions. Additional information regarding the electronic submission process will be sent in November once the presenter’s abstract has been accepted. 


AO’s Research Submissions Committee and the Clinical Innovations Committee will blindly review submitted abstracts for quality and appropriateness of content and presentation. Eight oral-clinical, eight oral-scientific and 20 clinical-innovation abstracts will be selected for presentation at the Annual Meeting.

During the event’s Annual Business Meeting on Saturday, March 14 cash awards and plaques will be presented for the best oral and poster presentations. The best oral-scientific research and best oral-clinical research presentations will be awarded $1,000 and the best clinical-innovations presenter will receive $500. The first-place e-poster will receive $500, second place $250, and the best case study will receive $500.

If members have questions about the oral or e-poster presentations, they should contact Kim Scroggs, AO Manager of Education, at kimscroggs@osseo.org or at 847-439-1919.