Glidewell Dental today announced an agreement with Align Technology, Inc. to distribute the iTero Element®intraoral scanning system in North America with the newly unveiled glidewell.io™ In-Office Solution, a chairside restorative ecosystem set to simplify the process of prescribing and delivering laboratory-quality dental restorations.

The glidewell.io Solution will provide a streamlined workflow with Align’s iTero Element scanner and Glidewell’s fastdesign.io™ Software, which serves to auto-design restorations for the clinician’s approval or communicate with the lab’s digital design experts as needed. Final designs can be used to prescribe a laboratory restoration or sent to the fastmill.io™ In-Office Unit for immediate chairside milling.

“The promise of convenience offered by chairside milling systems tends to be offset by the cost and complexity of adoption,” said Stephenie Goddard, vice president of business operations at Glidewell Dental. “In contrast, glidewell.io uses artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies to effectively streamline the restorative process, enabling clinicians to focus on the needs and comfort of their patients.”

Touting the iTero Element scanner’s technical capabilities, Mike Selberis, Glidewell Dental’s chief technology officer, said: “An accurate restoration is almost entirely contingent upon an accurate scan. Beyond its impressive speed and inimitable precision, the intuitive interface and integrated training resources of the iTero Element scanner make it an easy choice as our preferred entry point for clinicians looking to tap into the full range of services provided by glidewell.io.”

“This agreement represents a win-win for dentists and their patients,” said Raphael Pascaud, Align Technology chief marketing, portfolio & business development officer and vice president iTero scanner and services. “The convenience and precision of intraoral scanning continues to replace conventional impression-taking techniques and enables an efficient digital start to the restorative treatment process. The natural extension of Glidewell’s digital production processes into a chairside form factor is a key driver for same-day dentistry and fits well with our strategy to transform the industry through digital products and solutions.”

“Align has long been at the forefront of digital dental technology,” said Jim Glidewell, founder and president of Glidewell Dental. “Their pioneering spirit and drive for continued innovation are very much in line with our company’s goal to remove barriers to patient treatment, and I couldn’t be more excited about this dynamic pairing.”

The glidewell.io In-Office Solution featuring the iTero Element scanner is being introduced and previewed to a select group of clinicians attending the inaugural Glidewell Dental Symposium today in Dallas, Texas. The next hands-on opportunity will be for attendees of the 2017 Greater New York Dental Meeting, taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Nov. 24–29. The glidewell.io In-Office Solution featuring the iTero Element scanner is expected to be available to North American customers in Q1 of 2018. Glidewell customers can contact their Glidewell sales representative to place an order beginning Nov. 17.

LDN (Laboratory Distribution Network, LLC) has announced its recent formation as a US-based dental distribution company with a concentration on technical dental products and digital technologies. "It is the goal of LDN and partner companies to be the technical, dental support resource," according to David Sklarski, President/CEO.

Laboratory Distribution Network, LLC is a Rhode Island-based company headquartered in Narragansett, RI, with offices in Cumming, GA, and Orlando, FL, supporting the North American dental market through its highly qualified, laboratory network.

With the advancements of two- and three-dimensional ultrasounds, diagnosing cleft lip or palate in utero has an extremely high accuracy rate. The ability to know that a baby will be born with cleft lip or palate offers parents the opportunity to research and prepare for the ongoing treatment needed by their child. It also allows them to interview and choose their own surgical care team prior to birth. The question then becomes, what is most important to parents when speaking with potential surgeons?

Researchers from the McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston (Texas) and the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital (Houston, Texas) recently published a study in The Cleft Palate–Craniofacial Journal that focuses on how parents choose the cleft surgical care team for their newborns, and what information is most important to parents when learning about their child’s treatment plan.

An online survey was conducted, in which 112 parents responded. The survey was based on the following factors: (1) experience and personality of the surgical team, (2) distance between the hospital and the family’s home, (3) amount of time the surgeon spent with the family prior to surgery, (4) reputation of the surgeon’s hospital, (5) reactions to prior patient photographs (pre- and post-surgery), and (6) overall outcomes.

The researchers found that of the parents surveyed, 77% had a prenatal visit with a surgeon or surgical care team, and 30% of those parents decided to interview more than one surgeon or team. During the visits, 42.5% of parents were most concerned with surgical treatments, and 37.5% with newborn feeding techniques. The longer-term treatment plans that dealt with speech and genetics did not seem to be as high of a priority at the prenatal visits. When choosing a surgical care team, the team’s age, experience, and personality mattered more to parents than the hospital’s distance, the before and after photographs of previous patients, and time spent at the visit.

With the advancements of ultrasound technology, parents are able to better prepare for life with a child born with cleft lip or palate. In this study, the researchers also found that 95% of parents were doing their own online research not only of surgical care teams, but also of treatment plans and expectations. With the abundancy of information readily available via the Internet, it is imperative that surgeons know and understand parents’ top concerns and spend time addressing those concerns at prenatal visits.

One researcher states, “Our goals are to give our parents all the education and information that they need prior to delivery, so that when their child arrives they are fully prepared to handle the specialized issues that children with cleft lip and palate face. We hope that this additional information will reduce the stress and worry that all new parents experience and allow them to enjoy the miracle of their new infant.”

Full text of the article, “Survey of Parent Experiences in Prenatal Visits for Infants With Cleft Lip and Palate,” The Cleft Palate–Craniofacial Journal, Vol. 54, No. 6, 2017, is available at https://www.cpcjournal.org/doi/full/10.1597/16-036.

Oral Health America (OHA) and the ADA Health Policy Institute (HPI) have released an infographic summarizing the preferences of adults aged 50+ for adding dental coverage as a benefit in Medicare.

Currently, more than 55 million older adults access healthcare services through Medicare; however, they are limited when it comes to accessing oral health. Original Medicare does not cover routine preventive or restorative services such as screenings, exams, cleanings, fillings, or extractions.

In order to better understand older adults’ views and attitudes on adding a dental benefit to Medicare, Oral Health America (OHA) and the ADA Health Policy Institute (HPI), commissioned Wakefield Research to conduct a series of focus groups with adults aged 50+. Findings showed that an increasing number of older adults understand the link between oral health and overall health and virtually all agreed, despite cost concerns, that dental coverage, was the top priority over hearing, vision, or long-term care.

Understanding the importance of maintaining good oral health and the costs associated with it, 93% of the older adults surveyed would like to see the current Medicare system change to fit the needs of the older adults it serves and, as a result, include dental coverage as a benefit in Medicare. However, opinion varied when asked what that benefit should look like and which trade-offs would be acceptable to achieve advantages in other areas. For example, should coverage be limited to preventive care only or more extensive restorative care be included too?

This infographic summarizes the results from the OHA-HPI focus groups, including the trade-offs and pros and cons discussed. Maintaining a healthy mouth is one of the keys to independence as we age because of the vital connection to overall health. The views and opinions collected in this study will be critical moving forward as we think about innovations in oral healthcare and work to promote oral health equity for older adults.

In conjunction with the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP), the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) hosted the World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and Conditions Nov. 9 -11 at the Gleacher Center in Chicago. More than 100 international researchers, educators, and clinicians gathered to review the latest literature and come to consensus on up-to-date guidelines for periodontal and peri-implant disease diagnosis and definition.

Participants conducted literature reviews, established case definitions, and deliberated diagnostic considerations for the following topic areas: periodontal health and gingival diseases and conditions; periodontitis; developmental and acquired conditions and periodontal manifestations of systemic conditions; and peri-implant diseases and conditions. The inclusion of peri-implant diseases and conditions within periodontal disease classifications is a first, accommodating for what scientists and practitioners have come to understand about implant dentistry.

“Since the last World Workshop was held in 1999, periodontics has made notable advancements in the treatment and diagnosis of periodontal disease. The 2017 workshop intended to account for what we’ve learned in the last 18 years and help standardize the specialty’s definition of disease,” says Dr. Steven R. Daniel, president of the AAP. “Our collaboration with the EFP and periodontists from all over the world will work to positively shape the quality of patient care globally.”

The 2017 World Workshop is the second recent collaboration of the EFP and AAP. The groups’ joint workshop on periodontitis and systemic disease in 2012 was a major milestone in the specialty’s understanding of the perio-systemic link.

“After three years of preparation, it was rewarding to see many of the best and brightest in periodontics convene to accomplish the important task of updating and standardizing the definitions of periodontal and peri-implant diseases that will be used by dental professionals around the world. The contributions of the Workshop’s expert participants will set the stage for periodontics’ expansive future,” says Dr. Jack Caton, co-chair of the event’s organizing committee.

Proceedings from the 2017 World Workshop on Periodontal Disease Classification will be published in both the AAP’s Journal of Periodontology and the EFP’s Journal of Clinical Periodontology in 2018. The Workshop was presented with support from the AAP Foundation, Colgate, Johnson and Johnson, Geistlich Biomaterials, SUNSTAR, and Procter and Gamble.

After being launched in the US in March ’17, last September’s software updates of the Condor Intra-Oral Scanner confirmed that the product is ready for a wider group of early adopters. Condor Technologies now announces two Customer Programs focusing on both early adopter users, as labs who want to be ready to work with Condor users.

The Condor Mentor Program

The Condor Mentor Program is developed to give leaders within the Condor Community access to exclusive resources & financial rewards. Building this community should lead to a selective group of dentists who will have the opportunity of being closely involved in the further development of Condor. “At this moment, we are building a community of dedicated digital pioneers, who want to join us on our mission to shape the future of digital dentistry”, says CEO Guy De Vreese. Being world’s first software-driven scanner, Condor can include customer feedback in their development cycle much faster than any other company. Mr. De Vreese: “Just like Prof. François Duret once envisioned, we are finally building an intra-oral scanner for the mainstream dentist, and therefore, we need the wisdom of the crowd to get there. We have the technology, we have the engineers, but the last piece of the puzzle is the crowd.”

Apart from being closely involved in the development cycle, Condor offers its mentors financial benefits for sharing their experience through lectures and organizing hands-on sessions for other dentists. The benefits for a Mentor are not only of a financial nature. They also get access to exclusive resources, so they can focus on what they do best: guiding their peers towards digital success. Apply for the Condor Mentor Program, or find more info at www.condorscan.com/customer-programs/mentor .

The Condor Ready Lab Program

Being a completely open system, Condor files can be sent to any lab in the world. The focus of the Condor Ready Lab Program is to build an endorsed network of certified labs, supported by Condor, ready to receive & process both the .STL & .PLY color-files produced by the Condor Intra Oral Scanner. Mr. De Vreese: “It’s all about building bridges between labs & our users. It’s a source of new clients for labs, while our users have a network of labs they knsow they can rely on.”

This program reaches out to labs to support them and get them involved in the onboarding of new Condor users. At the same time, the program creates opportunities for labs to start working with current users as well. Apply for the Condor Ready Lab Program, or find more info at www.condorscan.com/labs.

Mainstream success

By gradually building, training & supporting a network of engaged users & labs, with a software-driven product at a lower price, continuously improving its algorithm and at the same time enabling dentists to use their scanner for both restorative as diagnostic purposes, the goal of Condor is to become the first intra-oral scanner company to achieve mainstream success.

More info about Condor at www.condorscan.com. More details about the Condor Ready Labs at www.condorscan.com/labs.

LT blocks of the IPS e.max ZirCAD for Cerec range are now available in four additional shades.

Ivoclar Vivadent introduced the IPS e.max ZirCAD LT blocks at IDS 2017. These blocks have enabled dental practices to manufacture esthetic monolithic zirconium oxide restorations effectively at chairside. Additional shades are introduced now, offering users even more flexibility.

Monolithic zirconium oxide is a popular restorative material. With the IPS e.max ZirCAD LT blocks, Ivoclar Vivadent offers pre-shaded monochromatic zirconium oxide blocks for chairside restorations in a single visit. Four additional shades have now been added to the range. As a result, IPS e.max ZirCAD for CEREC/inLab is now available in the LT shades BL, A1,A2,A3,B1, B2, C2, D2 and one Bleach shade (BL) in block sizes C17 (crown) and B45 (three-unit bridge).

Efficient and esthetic restorations

With IPS e.max ZirCAD for CEREC, dentists can fabricate esthetic zirconium oxide restorations in an efficient way. The material’s high flexural strength of 1,200 MPa(a) and high fracture toughness of 5.1 MPa m1/2(b) allow the wall thicknesses to be reduced to 0.6mm for posterior crowns and 0.4mm for anterior crowns. This results in an increase in translucency, which enhances the esthetic appearance of the restoration. Fluorescent effects can be achieved with IPS e.max CAD Crystall./Glaze Fluo. The restorations can be placed using a conventional, self-adhesive or an adhesive cement. Both the Programat CS4 and the SpeedFire furnace (Dentsply Sirona, software release 4.5) can be used for sintering.

Everything for restorations in a single visi

The Ivoclar Vivadent treatment concept allows dentists to meet their patients’ need in a single session. Apart from the blocks and luting materials, the assortment comprises coordinated products for the entire treatment process ranging from isolation with OptraGate and cementation to aftercare. 

(a) Typical mean flexural strength, R&D Ivoclar Vivadent AG, Schaan/Liechtenstein

(b) R&D Ivoclar Vivadent AG, Schaan/Liechtenstein

Bussmann OrthoFolio has joined the over 25 orthodontic solution providers currently integrated with 3Shape TRIOS Orthodontics. This cloud-based workflow integration allows 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scans to be sent directly to Bussmann, bypassing the process of taking and mailing analog PVS impressions or manually uploading scan files. Using a 3Shape Communicate account, users can select OrthoFolio, then click to submit a case and a digital impression. Bussmann receives the scan, plans treatment, and manufactures its OrthoFolio clear aligners.

“3Shape is excited to add Bussmann OrthoFolio aligners to our growing library of TRIOS integrations. Our goal is to provide professionals with seamless access to the highest quality and largest selection of treatment options possible,” says Allan Junge Hyldal, Vice President, 3Shape Orthodontics.

“We have found that 3Shape TRIOS provides excellent scan results and precision—especially in orthodontics, where accurate capture of the soft parts of the gingiva is so important. The scan and workflow with 3Shape TRIOS is simple and smooth for dental care practitioners, “says Thomas Bussmann, founder of Bussmann OrthoFolio clear aligners.

Pioneer Lasers, LLC, is pleased to announce the return of two top-selling diode lasers along with an epic Q4 promotion to the dental community. Pioneer Lasers have been serving the dental industry since 2003 and over 10,000 units sold under the venerated Odyssey 2.4G brands through its distributor. They are now renamed the Pioneer Elite and Pioneer Pro models.

Effective November 15 until December 31st, 2017 the Pioneer Pro laser is available for $1,999 and the Pioneer Elite for $2,999, respectively. Additionally, Pioneer is offering a trade-in program—it will accept any dental diode lasers and provide additional savings: $1,799 with trade-in for the Pioneer Pro, and $2, 499 with trade-in for Pioneer Elite. The dentist can own a high quality and reliable unit for as low as $1,350 with estimated year-end tax deduction.

The promotion is available through strategic partners—Amazon, Burkhart, and Patterson—and directly from Pioneer Lasers at PioneerLasers.com. It will also be featured at the Greater New York Dental Meeting, Booth #4639.

“The proven technology, engineering, and manufacturing behind the Pioneer line have made these diode lasers a favorite for quality, reliability, and every day low cost of use” says Melissa Flygare, Director of Sales. “Nothing except the name changes from a product feature perspective. This is a great opportunity for dentists to own a high quality product at lowest price in the industry.”

“I have worked with and spoken fro the team at Pioneer Lasers for many years” said Dr. John Graeber, DMD founding member and past president of the Academy of Laser Dentistry. “They are truly behind-the-scenes innovators of the modern diode laser. The opportunity to own this laser system at such a low cost should remove all barriers for any dentist who is considering adding laser dentistry to their practice.” Dr. Graeber uses both Pioneer Pro and Pioneer Elite models on a regular basis in his general dental practice.

Amber Riley, RDH, MS notable dental educator, author and CEO of DeCo Education and Consulting, has been using the same Odyssey model as the Pioneer Pro for over five year. “This diode laser is a workhorse for my hygiene schedule. We use it as a daily tool for laser-assisted periodontal therapy and dentalinal hypersensitivity reduction. Our dentist oerforms a wide range of procedures including gingival troughing with crown preps, frenectomies and gingivectomies among many others. The cost is so low per patient that I never hesitate to use in hygiene treatment and rarely charge my patients for use. In my opinion, laser-assisted periodontal therapy is one of the standards of a 21st Century dental hygiene practice. 

Convergent Dental today announced it ranked 77th on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Convergent Dental grew 2002% percent during this period.

Convergent Dental’s chief executive officer, Michael Cataldo, credits product performance and a strong commitment to customer success with the company’s 2002% revenue growth. He said, "We’re thrilled to be ranked as one of the top 100 growing technology companies in North America and ranked 2nd in the medical device category. There is no doubt that the Solea laser is revolutionizing dentistry by taking the shot, the drill and the scalpel out of the patient experience. The real engine behind our growth is our commitment to customer success with Solea. Today’s customer satisfaction is the best indicator of future sales, so by making sure that every customer sees the practice growth and patient experience we promise with Solea, we enable the kind of growth we are experiencing today and into the future."

“The Deloitte 2017 North America Technology Fast 500 winners underscore the impact of technological innovation and world class customer service in driving growth, in a fiercely competitive environment,” said Sandra Shirai, vice chairman, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications leader. “These companies are on the cutting edge and are transforming the way we do business. We extend our sincere congratulations to all the winners for achieving remarkable growth while delivering new services and experiences for their customers.”

“Emerging growth companies are powering innovation in the broader economy. The growth rates delivered by the companies on this year’s North America Technology Fast 500 ranking are a bright spot for the capital markets and a strong indicator that the emerging growth technology sector will continue to deliver a strong return on investment,” said Heather Gates, national managing director of Deloitte & Touche LLP’s emerging growth company practice. “Deloitte is dedicated to supporting the best and brightest companies of the future in the emerging growth company sector. We are proud to acknowledge the significant accomplishments of this year’s Fast 500 winners.”

Overall, 2017 Technology Fast 500™ companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 135 percent to 59,093 percent from 2013 to 2016, with median growth of 380 percent.

About Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500™

Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies — both public and private — in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2013 to 2016.

In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.