For over three decades, Practicon has partnered with dental professionals to advance patient care, increase productivity and profitability, and heighten professional enjoyment by bringing “practical innovations” to dentistry. Practicon’s growing product line ranges from hard-to-find problem solvers to cost-effective everyday supplies. For more information, visit www.Practicon.comor telephone (800) 959-9505.
Working with small implant drivers can be demanding enough without the worry of losing the driver into the patient’s oral cavity. Practicon’s Safety Tie Instrument Leash eliminates this concern. Simply pass the driver through the hole on one end and secure with the detachable rubber stop ring, then loop the other end around a finger and proceed without worry. 100% nitrile Safety Tie is easier to use and provides more security than tying a floss leash, and is suitable for use with a variety of instruments.
For 35 years, Practicon has partnered with dental professionals to advance patient care, increase productivity and profitability, and heighten professional enjoyment by bringing “practical innovations” to dentistry. Practicon’s growing product line ranges from hard-to-find problem solvers to cost-effective everyday supplies. For more information, visit www.Practicon.com or telephone (800) 959-9505.
Spear Education LLC, an Arizona-based provider of multi-platform training and resources for dental professionals, announced the official launch of Spear Practice Solutions (SPS). This comprehensive practice management platform blends dedicated consulting, tailored education, and real-time analytics to help every dental practice reach its full potential.
"Dentists work hard to deliver exceptional patient care," said Spear founder and director Dr. Frank Spear. "But running a successful, efficient practice while staying focused on clinical excellence can be extremely challenging. Whether dentists want to expand, work more efficiently, earn higher and more consistent revenues, or build a stable patient base, Spear Practice Solutions is designed to help them to achieve their personal vision of success. We take care of their business, so they can take care of patients."
SPS was first unveiled to the Spear Faculty Club and visiting faculty members on Sept. 30, 2016. We received an overwhelming response – reinforcing the need for this innovative platform. Now that SPS is fully launched, Spear is leading the industry with a personalized solution that provides dedicated business and clinical support for every part of the practice.
"Every element of Spear Practice Solutions works together to help dentists achieve their goals," said Dr. Gary DeWood, Spear executive vice-president of curriculum and clinical education. "Spear is already known for delivering world-class continuing education. Now SPS members will receive personalized, multi-channel content prescribed specifically to address their unique challenges and drive continuous improvement. Combine that with dedicated consulting and real-time analytics, and you have a powerful formula for success."
Spear Practice Solutions has three core pillars.
The first core pillar is made up of practice solutions consultants. Dentists receive one-on-one coaching from a dedicated Practice Solutions Consultant who has deep business, financial, clinical, dental, human resources and marketing experience. Consultants provide planning and implementation support for every part of the practice. They are empowered by the analytics platform to continually monitor practice performance and create targeted solutions, advice and educational plans based on real-time data.
The second pillar is custom education.The expert consultant prescribes detailed, customized learning plans for every member of the team – from clinical skill upgrades to relevant business strategies. All SPS members will also attend the multi-day “Practice of Excellence” workshop, which gathers the entire team to create a shared vision for the practice and promote an open, supportive culture of growth. Smaller breakout sessions will focus on harnessing individual strengths, strengthening patient engagement skills, and enhancing personal accountability and empowerment.
The final pillar is analytics application. Secure analytics produce real-time performance reports that reflect the current health of a dental practice. The native application works across any mobile device and features customizable goal setting and progress tracking to help dentists make sound business decisions.
To learn more about Spear Practice Solutions, visit www.speareducation.com/practicesolutions.
12 Aspen Dental volunteers – including five dentists, two hygienists, two lab technicians and three dental assistants – recently traveled into the Andes Mountain to the village of Quiquijana, Peru to provide free dental care to those desperately in need. Over the course of four days, the Aspen Dental volunteers provided free dental care to more than 500 Peruvians.
From extractions to cleanings and fillings to fabricating dentures, Aspen Dental team took part in a mission to alleviate the most urgent dental needs and to improve the oral health of the residents. As a developing country, Peru doesn’t have sufficient resources to provide quality dental services – the team of dentists and hygienists performed care without running water or electricity, and had patients sit in camping chairs and plastic lawn chairs to receive treatment. Translators helped determine patients’ needs and the team went to work performing a total of 645 extractions, 137 fillings, 102 cleanings and making 26 pairs of dentures.
The village of Quiquijana is a remote area outside the capital of Peru and many live in impoverished conditions – making not even $7 a day – and are unable to travel or afford dental care. There is only one dentist per 10,000 Peruvians leaving the majority without access to any preventative or restorative care.
A blog post with additional information on the trip can be found here. For more information about Aspen Dental, visit aspendental.com.
Change Healthcare, a leading provider of software and analytics, network solutions, and technology-enabled services, today introduced a new cost-effective Dental Claim Attachments technology. This new offering is tightly integrated with claims processing workflows to help ensure only essential attachments required by a payer are connected to a dental claim and delivered according to payer preferences.
“The Change Healthcare claim attachment offering will not only help reduce operating costs for providers, but will also provide a more integrated offering with associated claim detail for our payer partners," said Sajid Khan, General Manager, Dental, Change Healthcare. “By offering an innovative alternative attachment solution to the marketplace that leverages the largest dental EDI claims network in the country, we’re helping our customers realize significant savings and reduce inefficiencies inherent in the current process."
Payers and dental practices alike have had to traditionally manage the administrative burden of processing paper-based attachments to claims, escalating processing fees and compounding delays. While over 45% of dental health providers who use electronic claim submission also use an electronic attachments solution, those solutions often send unnecessary attachments or fail to send the required attachment, resulting in higher costs for payers and potential re-work for providers.
“Being able to determine a payer’s attachments requirement dynamically at the procedure, tooth, and surface levels helps reduce errors and accelerate revenue collection,” said Mohammad Samarah, PhD, President of EnMedical Systems, a dental Practice Management Vendor. “Through the Change Healthcare Dental Claim Attachment solution, we can now offer our clients a more complete practice workflow with a simple interface and automation that helps streamline their operations to help save time and money.”
Rev. Barrish addressed the kami in the jichinsai norito, expressing gratitude and respect for the kami, asking for safety during the construction work, and praying for health and prosperity for users of the new building. As part of the purification, sake and salt were poured and scattered at the four corners of the enclosure. The ceremony highlights included Mr. Makoto Nakao, Chairman of GC Corporation, breaking the ground by cutting grass on top of a ‘mountain’ with a sickle, Mr. Steve Fletcher, President and Chief Operating Officer, removing rocks with a hoe, and Mr. Shinya Urano, President of Kajima Building and Design Group, burying an offering to the kami with a spade.
Attendees included Mr. Al Riley (Illinois State Representative), Mr. John Ryan (Mayor, Alsip, Illinois), Mr. Naoki Ito (Consul-General of Japan in Chicago), Dr. Gary Roberts (President, American Dental Association), Dr. Clark Stanford (University of Illinois Chicago Distinguished Professor and Dean), and several other key industry leaders.
Demolition and site preparation are scheduled to begin in the fall, and construction will start March 2018, with completion by July 2019. GC America currently has a training facility and logistics center and a separate location for office personnel in addition to its headquarters. Expanding the current 95,000 square feet at its headquarters to 150,000 square feet will enable the company to bring all operations to one location.
Topics included 3Shape Implant Studio workflow, advanced design modules, and how to incorporate both subtractive and additive manufacturing for creating a successful prosthesis. Clinical case studies were presented to show the application workflows, incorporating CBCT imaging, intraoral scanning, and utilization of new technologies for planning and providing treatment.
Attendees included faculty and residents from seven Graduate Prosthodontic programs.
Kulzer has announced that it has formed an Inside Sales Team to make it easier than ever for its dental practice and dental laboratory customers to access its products and services. The new team reports to Inside Sales Manager Tamara Adame’.
“Coming on the heels of our creation of the Kulzer Service Organization, our Inside Sales
Team further reinforces our commitment to being the most supportive, accommodating, and convenient manufacturer for our valued customers to do business with,” says Matt Mulherin, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Kulzer USA & Canada.
There will be one inside sales representative for each of Kulzer’s six sales regions in the U.S. and Canada. All sales generated by the Inside Sales Team will be processed through each customer’s preferred authorized distributor as usual. “Our Inside Sales Team is intended to supplement the efforts of our Kulzer territory reps and our outstanding network of distributors by serving as additional support for our customers,” added Ms. Adame’.
“While our company has always been very customer-focused, that focus has been greatly intensified in the past several months,” said Mr. Mulherin. “Our recent decision to simplify our corporate name to ‘Kulzer’ reflects that enhanced focus. As a result, we have never been better positioned to deliver on our mission: giving a hand to oral health.”
Only a limited number of registrations remain for Dentsply Sirona World in Las Vegas. With tracks including Business and Practice Management, CEREC®, Imaging, Restorative, Endodontic, Orthodontic and more, this educational festival is designed to provide the highest caliber of education to all dental practitioners, including General Practitioners and specialists.
Kicking off on Thursday, Sept. 14, and continuing through Saturday, Sept. 16, at The Venetian and The Palazzo, Dentsply Sirona World is the ultimate educational festival for dental professionals to gain comprehensive clinical and business content throughout the day and enjoy remarkable entertainment in the evening.
Registration to Dentsply Sirona World includes access to all General Sessions and Breakout Sessions, along with the social events- including the workout session with Beachbody Super Trainer Joel Freeman and the Evening of Espionage closing party at Tao Nightclub- and all of the celebrity entertainment like the exclusive concert by Grammy-winning band Imagine Dragons.
There are multiple registration types†, including doctor, staff/spouse/guest, technician, military, and government, etc. Visit www.dentsplysironaworld.comfor a full list of registration options and pricing.
To register now, visit www.dentsplysironaworld.comand sign up before it’s too late. For any event questions, please contact the help desk by email at events@dentsplysironaworld.comor by phone at 844.462.7476.
GC America Inc. has provided a gift for the next three years to create the Kiyoshi Nakao Fund for Aging Population Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. “It is a current-use research fund for helping to support different projects dealing with the aging population and oral health issues,” said Dr. Clark Stanford, Distinguished Professor and Dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry.
Dr. Mark Heiss, Director of Regulatory and Academic Affairs, GC America Inc., said that the fund, “will be used to support research and education in topics such as MI (Minimum Intervention) dentistry, dental material research and collaboration with the objective to enhance oral health to this segment of the population.”
Named for Mr. Kiyoshi Nakao, a former Chairman and President of GC Corporation and grandfather of Mr. Makoto Nakao, current Chairman of GC Corporation, the fund will immediately assist Dr. Ana Bedran-Russo, Associate Professor of Restorative Dentistry, in her research “on ‘smart’ materials that actually self-heal and that can be used for restorations that can help stabilize or regenerate tooth structure,” Dr. Stanford said. He also noted that the interest of the parent company GC Corporation is appropriate because “Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world, and there are many oral health issues in the aging population.”
“There has been much focus and discussion on the aging population in Japan,” explained Dr. Heiss. “Japan’s aging population has led to programs to promote good oral health in the elderly population. In the U.S. and globally it has been known that there is an oral-systemic health connection.”
Dr. Stanford explained that GC Corporation Chairman, Mr. Makoto Nakao, is committed to helping the aging population. “That can be everything from preventive products to materials to tooth replacement, if needed,” Dr. Stanford noted.
“We are looking to encourage new thoughts and concepts through this gift,” said Dr. Heiss. He continued, “GC Companies have been working with organizations such as Federation Dentaire International (FDI), the American Dental Association and Oral Health America to promote the importance of oral health.” He also explained that GC Companies value the longtime relationship Dr. Stanford and GC Companies have, going back to his father, Dr. John Stanford, and company Chairman Makoto Nakao, who were friends and colleagues.
Dr. Heiss noted that Dr. Stanford provided his vision to GC America to provide education, training, and research on the subject of the aging population. This led to a win-win proposal for GC America to provide funding to promote this subject matter. In honor of Mr. Nakao’s grandfather, the fund was donated in the name of Kiyoshi Nakao.
“I have long been fascinated by the remarkable robustness of dentin, which is very dynamic and will mature and modify due to aging and disease,” Dr. Bedran-Russo said. “My specific research interests include multi-functional roles of the dentin extracellular matrix on the strength and stability of dentin and the development of clinically applicable bioinspired strategies to preserve and restore dentin. The Kiyoshi Nakao Fund will provide the financial support needed to advance research into the etiological factors associated with the onset and progression of carious and non-carious cervical lesions with high prevalence in the elderly population,” she added.
“When you look at medications that elderly people typically are taking, the number one side-effect is xerostomia (dry mouth) and that leads to an increase in tooth decay, especially as we get older,” Dr. Stanford said. “All materials fatigue, fracture, and eventually fail, but can we create materials that can in essence detect that potential failure and self-heal that fracture so it doesn’t propagate to a loss, something that needs to be redone?” he asked.
“We hope to develop new therapies or protocols for the prevention and management of carious and non-carious cervical lesions at the highly susceptible root surfaces and ultimately preserve the natural dentition,” Dr. Bedran-Russo said.
“This is an exciting new way to work with companies like GC Corporation and with foundations looking for areas where there is mutual trust and common goals,” Dr. Stanford said. “This is a collaboration with mutual goals in mind between the benefactor and the College and we are thankful to GC Corporation for the trust they have placed in us.”
“We are so grateful to GC for providing the Kiyoshi Nakao Fund for Aging Population Studies to foster research at UIC that will impact not only our local efforts, but also have an impact on the oral health of a worldwide increasingly aging population,” Dr. Bedran-Russo concluded.
In 2019, GC America will expand its training and research facility in Alsip, IL. “We hope to expand the current collaboration with UIC by providing additional venues for continuing education and dental student material science education,” Dr. Heiss concluded.
