Privately held Southern Implants North America, Inc. (SINA) received 510k clearance on two new zygomatic implant designs previously available only in international markets. Zygomatic implants, first developed in the 1990s, treat patients with severely atrophic maxilla, an advanced and complex bone loss condition caused by trauma, cancer, poor dental hygiene and age, affecting a growing number of patients annually in the United States. Market trends show this highly specialized area of implant dentistry will grow six percent from 2017 through 2025 into a $350 million market segment.

Designed to expand the options that implant surgeons have for this condition, SINA's narrow diameter commercially pure titanium strength Zygan™ Implant and its machined coronal surface Oncology Implant are different in that they are more patient friendly through their less invasiveness and tissue friendliness. These implants should lead to a greater number of patients being able to be treated predictably.

"The Zygan and Oncology implants set us apart in the North American marketplace," said SINA President Lars Janson, "and complement several other site-specific implants we offer. We will continue to focus on innovative treatment solutions that achieve faster and less invasive results. Our recent success at the Academy of Osseointegration Meeting is a testament that our customers are looking for highly specialized products that tackle the most challenging types of implant procedures with predictability."

With the addition of Zygan and Oncology Implants, SINA has introduced three new products within the last 6 months and plans to launch several more by year's end.

Southern Implants has been a pioneer in the top-end specialist sector of the dental implant market since 1987, servicing maxillofacial and craniofacial surgeons, prosthodontists, periodontists and general dental practitioners. Our continually expanding product range includes both established and state-of-the-art technologies, enhanced by exceptional customer support. SINA is located in Jupiter, Florida.

For more information visit https://www.southernimplants.com/

Dental Care Alliance (DCA) is pleased to announce James P. Nick has joined the company as its Chief Revenue Officer.

In this new role, James will provide additional support to DCA’s affiliated practices by developing revenue opportunities through enhanced payer relationships, and expanded product and service options.

“With the addition of James to our team, we can further develop DCA’s state-of-art solutions to assist our affiliated dentists in optimizing their practice’s potential,” said Jerry Rhodes, CEO. “I am excited to have someone with James’ experience on board, and I’m confident his expertise will ultimately help our affiliated practices become even more successful.”

Prior to joining DCA, James spent 12 years with Humana, recently serving as the Director of Specialty Products responsible for provider network development and growth for non-medical service lines, including dental. During this time, he oversaw significant growth in both provider network scope and dental product profitability. James holds a BBA degree from the University of Wisconsin. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. James will complete his MBA in Healthcare Management in May 2018.

Established in 1991, DCA is one of the country’s largest and most respected multi-brand dental support organizations. Today DCA supports more than 265 affiliated dental practices in 13 states. DCA-affiliated dentists join a family of more than 660 like-minded associate and partner dentists, along with a support team of industry experts working together to advance dental service without compromising patient care. DCA-supported practices encompass all facets of general dentistry and all recognized dental specialties. DCA offers dental professionals groundbreaking affiliation and partnership opportunities for every career stage. www.dentalcarealliance.com

Five individuals were honored for achieving Fellowship status in the Academy of Osseointegration (AO) during the Opening Symposium at its 2018 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, Calif. today.

Fellowship in the Academy is obtained by demonstrating a commitment to the field of osseointegration. Members must excel in both academics as well as service to the Academy.

The first recognized Fellow was Dr. Joan Pi Anfruns, an Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCLA School of Dentistry. A member of the Academy since 2006, Dr. Anfruns has chaired AO’s Young Clinician’s Committee and most recently served on the Academy’s Research Submissions Committee. He has co-authored 11 scientific articles, five textbook chapters and contributed to 49 research abstracts which were presented at AO’s Annual Meetings.

The second newly-elected Fellow was Dr. Joseph P. Fiorellini. He Is a periodontist who graduated cum laude from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Fiorellini joined the Academy in 1998 and is currently a member of our Board of Directors. He has chaired the AO – OF Research Grant Committee and served on AO’s Predoctoral Education Forum and Fellowship and Certificate Committee. An Associate Editor for the International Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Implants (JOMI), AO’s official journal, for the last seven years, Dr. Fiorellini has authored or co-authored more than 50 scientific articles.

Next to be honored was Dr. Earl G. Freymiller, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Since joining the Academy in 2004, Dr. Freymiller has chaired AO’s William R. Laney Award Committee and served on the Fellowship and Certificate in Implant Dentistry Accreditation Committee. He has also presented numerous topics at AO meetings and co-authored at least 16 articles in various peer reviewed scientific journals.

The fourth Fellow was Dr. Robert A. Levine, a periodontist who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. Since joining the Academy in 1986, Dr. Levine has presented numerous scientific lectures at its Annual Meetings and has served on AO’s Clinical Innovations Committee, Research Submission Committee and this year’s Annual Meeting Program Committee. Dr. Levine also serves on six editorial boards including JOMI and has authored at least 27 scientific articles and two textbook chapters.

The final new Fellow recognized was Dr. Christian Mertens, an associate professor and assistant medical director for Oral Surgery at the University of Heidelberg. A member of the Academy since 2011, Dr. Mertens has demonstrated his dedication and loyalty by serving on AO’s Website Education and Clinical Innovations committees. Dr. Levine has also presented numerous oral research and poster abstracts at AO meetings and authored at least 18 articles in JOMI and other scientific journals.

Reflecting the importance of science and service embodied in its founding principles, the Academy established a Fellow membership category to honor those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Academy of Osseointegration and implant dentistry in general. Criteria has been established to offer a careful balance of requirements that will ensure it is attainable by all members.

“While not a form of credentialing, the Academy of Osseointegration board of directors believes that attaining Fellowship of the Academy says more about our members than case presentations or examination of knowledge,” said AO president Dr. Michael Norton, who honored this year’s newly-elected Fellows. “It sets the standard for those who take their continuing professional education seriously, have a strong commitment to the field of implant dentistry and recognize the incredible value that volunteerism and philanthropy have to the profession.”

In honor of International Women’s Day, Ultradent is pleased to announce an upcoming special two-day event, Icons of Dentistry: A Workshop for Women. It is a weekend of networking, socializing, rejuvenation, and education to celebrate women in dentistry. This year’s theme for the workshop will be Compassion.

The Icons of Dentistry: A Workshop for Women event will take place June 22–23, 2018 at Ultradent’s international headquarters in South Jordan, UT. It will feature iconic women in the field of dentistry teaching classes and workshops on everything from work/life balance, practice building and management, esthetic dentistry, lasers, and more. There will also be a special keynote speaker to be announced later this month.

Attendees will be treated to a special dinner in an orchard at the home of Dr. Dan Fischer, founder and CEO of Ultradent, as well as a cocktail social where attendees can mingle with each other and the event’s speakers. Additionally, attendees will be treated to an evening of dinner and drinks at one of Utah’s highest-rated restaurants, Tuscany.

By attending Icons of Dentistry: A Workshop for Women, clinicians will earn 16 continuing education credits. Registration begins March 8, 2018, with 100 spots available. Tickets are $199.

To register for, or learn more about Icons of Dentistry: A Workshop for Women, please call 800.520.6640 or visit www.iconsofdentistry.com.  

Prima Dental, a designer and manufacturer of dental burs, has launched a new digital dentistry division, Prima Digital, following a £1m investment and two years of research and development. Applying its experience in dental, carbide, and rotary cutting, the company has developed and launched Prima Digital’s first new CAD/CAM milling tool.

To spearhead the technology of Prima Digital’s new CAD/CAM milling range, Prima appointed one of Europe’s leading carbide tooling experts, Dr. Marilyn Goh, to the new role of Head of Research and Innovation. Dr. Goh and the team have analyzed what they believe to be the best possible carbide substrate and engineered a tool geometry designed to increase tool life and precision of the mill. 

Prima Digital was officially launched at the LMT LABDAY Exhibition in Chicago last month (February 2018), and the new CAD/CAM milling tool, the Uncoated range designed for Roland machines, was unveiled.

Dr Marilyn Goh, Head of Research and Innovation at Prima Dental, comments: “The response to Prima Digital and our new CAD/CAM milling range has been incredible. The tool users, labs, milling centers, and also the distributors have been enthused and excited by the performance of the tool and its increased accuracy.”

As 2018 progresses, Prima Digital is looking to launch further ranges for other milling machine types and restoration materials. Digital dentistry specialist Anthony Gillitt was appointed last year as Business Development Manager for the Prima Digital division.

Prima Dental has also invested £3m in a purpose-built facility to complement its current operations in Gloucestershire, UK. This new facility has increased the company’s manufacturing capacity by 100 percent and reinforces the expectation that the new Prima Digital division will be a huge part of Prima’s future business.

Dr. Jeffrey Ganeles, a Boca Raton, Fla. periodontist and Academy member since 1990, was elected to the Academy of Osseointegration (AO) board of directors at its annual business meeting today held in conjunction with its 2018 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, Calif.

In addition to his full time practice, Dr. Ganeles is also an adjunct associate professor at Nova Southeastern University, where he has taught and briefly was director of the post-doctoral residency in periodontics. He is a graduate of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and received his DMD from Boston University Goldman University College of Dental Medicine in 1983. This was followed by a general practice residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and periodontal residency at the University of Pennsylvania College of Dental Medicine. Dr. Ganeles has authored or co-authored more than 45 articles and chapters in books and journals and is a reviewer for several journals.

Active during his 28 years as an AO member, Dr. Ganeles has served as a member of several Annual Meeting scientific program committees and chaired the Program Committee for the 2017 Annual Meeting. In 2006, he served as co-chair of the State of the Science in Implant Dentistry (SSID) consensus conference, “Does time to loading affect osseointegration?” In 2005, he was recognized with the “Best Clinical Presentation” award in the Clinical Innovations section. In addition to AO, he has been an active Fellow of the ITI, a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, and an active member of the American Academy of Periodontology.

“I am honored and flattered to be elected to this position to help direct this profession I am passionate about. I believe the Greek philosopher’s words ‘the only thing that’s constant is change’ and we have many issues facing implant dentistry,” said Dr. Ganeles.

“Technological advancements need to be balanced with recognition of biological and practical limitations, economics, patient benefits and expectations. AO can and should be an organization to explore and debate these issues while promoting excellence and integrity. I am fortunate to be in a position to influence this process and discussion.”

The Argen Corporation participated in a first-of-its-kind dental program at Pasadena City College in California on February 26 – 27, 2018. Professor Anita M. Bobich, BA, CDT, will lead the new two-year curriculum on digital dental technology and hands-on process manufacturing for dental restorations. The program is designed to help meet the growing demand for skilled digital designers who possess extensive knowledge of dental anatomy and the ability to design structurally accurate, reliable restorations. As part of this program, Argen’s Chris Chahrestan was invited to provide a comprehensive two-day 3Shape training. Students received interactive design instruction and technical training on the 3Shape platform. Argen also donated two Roland milling machines to the program to support the education and development of industry design experts.

The absence of a protein critical to the control of inflammation may lead to rapid and severe bone loss, according to a new University at Buffalo study. The study found that when the gene needed to produce the protein tristetraprolin (TTP) is removed from healthy mice, the animals developed the bones of much older rodents.

Within nine months, mice without the gene experienced a nearly 20 percent loss in oral bone. The results also revealed that overexpressing TTP in the animals led to a 13 percent reduction in bone turnover compared to unaffected mice.

Published on March 7 in the Journal of Dental Research, the study is the first to test TTP’s influence on bone loss in an animal model.

Inflammation is a necessary reaction by the immune system to protect the body from injury or infection, but if not controlled, it can lead to the destruction of bone and the prevention of bone formation.

While TTP is known to play a major role in the regulation of inflammation, its production slows with age. The research results could have a profound impact on the management of bone health in the elderly, a population at higher risk of osteoporosis and periodontitis.

“TTP is the brake on the system. Without it, inflammation and bone loss would go unchecked,” says Keith Kirkwood, DDS, PhD, lead author and professor in the Department of Oral Biology in UB’s School of Dental Medicine. “We don’t know all of the reasons why TTP expression decreases with age. So, understanding the factors behind its expression and relationship with bone loss is the first step toward designing therapeutic approaches.”

The researchers aim to advance their investigation toward similar studies in humans, particularly among the aging.

Osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become weak and brittle, and low bone mass affect nearly 55 percent of people age 50 and older, and it is estimated that by 2020, more than 61 million people will have either condition, the National Osteoporosis Foundation says.

The statistics surrounding periodontitis are equally grim. The infection – which damages the gums, destroys jaw bone and can lead to tooth loss – occurs in 70 percent of adults age 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To better understand TTP’s role in periodontitis, an inflammatory disease, the researchers studied three groups of healthy mice: a knockout group without the gene to express TTP, a knock-in group whose genes overexpressed TTP, and a control group of unaffected mice. The rodents were tested for inflammatory conditions, oral bone levels and the presence of osteoclasts – cells that specialize in breaking down bone – in oral tissue at three-, six- and nine-month periods.

The researchers found that bone in the knockout mice aged more rapidly than in the control group. At three months old, the mice had lost 14 percent of their oral bone. By nine months – still a young age for a mouse – bone loss had increased to 19 percent.

In addition to periodontitis, the knockout mice developed arthritis, eczema and other inflammatory conditions. Osteoclast levels were also higher in the knockout group.

Investigators were surprised to find that the absence of TTP vastly altered the oral microbiome, despite all the rodents being housed in the same space. The finding suggests that systematic inflammation can affect the bacteria in the mouth. Further study is needed to determine whether the new bacteria are pathogenic or play a role in bone loss, says Kirkwood.

Overexpression of TTP in the knock-in mice increased protection against inflammation, lowering bone turnover by 13 percent. The increase in the protein had no effect on the number of osteoclasts, however. A future investigation will study the effect of TTP on bone health over a two-year period. Kirkwood will also partner with Bruce Troen, MD, professor, and Kenneth Seldeen, PhD, research assistant professor, both in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, to examine the differences in the protein’s influence on oral bone and overall bone health.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in the National Institutes of Health.

The Dental Solutions Company™, and North American Dental Group (NADG) today announced that they have signed a comprehensive partnership, whereby NADG has selected Dentsply Sirona as the preferred manufacturing partner for their supported offices.

York, March 8th, 2018. The partnership will involve the integration of the entire Dentsply Sirona consumables portfolio into NADG-supported practices, and over time will look to introduce technology, such as CEREC, to the more than 500 clinicians NADG supports. Additionally, the relationship will include unique educational and training programs developed collaboratively and delivered through the North American Dental Group Clinical Accelerator Program.

NADG supports over 125 dental practices in seven states. Given the unanimous decision of NADG-supported partner-dentists to adopt the Dentsply Sirona consumable product solutions for their dental practices, combined with the anticipated growth, both companies expect that the number of NADG-supported offices utilizing Dentsply Sirona product solutions will exceed 200 throughout the agreement phase.

Greg Sheehan, Group Vice President Americas of Dentsply Sirona noted, “We are pleased to announce this comprehensive partnership with North American Dental Group. NADG’s supported dentists have a stated goal of delivering best-in-class patient care, and embracing Dentsply Sirona’s procedural product solutions, in combination with our clinical education platform and unparalleled customer service, will help them deliver on that mission. We are excited that NADG has seen the value in the end-to-end solution that only Dentsply Sirona can offer, and we look forward to the future opportunities that this agreement will provide.”

Ken Cooper, Chief Executive Officer of NADG commented, “The partnership between NADG and Dentsply Sirona supports our unwavering commitment to build a world class health care organization. Our NADG-supported doctors and partners have made a significant decision to ensure product quality and advanced technology remain a differentiating factor in our approach of providing best-in-class care for the patients we are all honored to serve.”

Dr. Andrew Matta, Chief Medical Officer of NADG added, “The Dentsply Sirona name speaks for itself and it was a unanimous decision to move forward with them as a strategic partner. The exclusive access to world class education and premier products through this partnership will be revolutionary for our clinical teams. Innovative and consistent patient care is our foundation and we are thrilled to reinforce that with the help of Dentsply Sirona.”

Clinician’s Choice® Dental Products Inc., a dental products manufacturing company that provides continuing education programs to the dental profession, announced today the launch of its “Better Dentistry” seminar series. Held at various locations throughout the year, the seminar series will help educate and train oral health professionals on the latest restorative techniques and products that will help them operate more successful and productive practices.

Eleven nationally-recognized key opinion leaders lead the full-day seminar lectures with a focus on how to utilize the latest clinical procedures and how to effectively integrate unique products to enhance productivity and how to navigate the rapid changes in the industry.

“The seminar series is designed to expand knowledge, improve skills and efficiency, and teach new approaches to clinical challenges in order to provide the highest standard of care,” said Peter G. Jordan, President of Clinician’s Choice Dental Products Inc. “Our commitment to teaching better dentistry allows our continuing education programs, presented by the industry’s leading and most respected key opinion leaders, to be second to none.”

Upcoming dates and locations in 2018 include:

· March 16: Columbus, OH – Topic: What You Need to Know About Direct and Indirect Restorative Materials and Techniques to Grow Your Practice, Dr. Michael Miyasaki

· March 16: Minneapolis, MN – Topic: Esthetic Overhaul From Basic to Cutting Edge: Technologies and Techniques That Will Change Your Practice, Dr. Robert Lowe

· March 23: Grand Rapids, MI – Topic: Esthetic Overhaul From Basic to Cutting Edge: Technologies and Techniques That Will Change Your Practice, Dr. Robert Lowe

· April 6: Moonachie, NJ – Topic: What You Need to Know About Direct and Indirect Restorative Materials and Techniques to Grow Your Practice, Dr. Michael Miyasaki

· April 27: Seattle, WA – Topic: The General Practice Restorative Update 2018, Dr. Stace Lind

· April 27: Boston, MA – Topic: Everyday Pearls in Esthetic Dentistry, Dr. William “Bo” Bruce

· May 4: Cincinnati, OH – Topic: The General Practice Restorative Update 2018, Dr. Stace Lind

· May 11: Woodbury, NY – Topic: Everyday Pearls in Esthetic Dentistry, Dr. William “Bo” Bruce

· May 11: San Jose, CA – Topic: What You Need to Know About Direct and Indirect Restorative Materials and Techniques to Grow Your Practice, Dr. Michael Miyasaki

· May 18: Louisville, KY – Topic: The General Practice Restorative Update 2018, Dr. Stace Lind

For a complete list of events offered by the 2018 “Better Dentistry” Seminar Series, click here. To access OnDemand Continuing Education and watch webinars, click here.