The Southeastern Conference of Dental Laboratories (SCDL) announced via a statement on its website that its Board of Directors unanimously voted at a recent meeting to dissolve the organization, effective August 1, and to contribute all remaining organizational assets to the Foundation for Dental Laboratory Technology (FDLT).

Seven southeastern states provided the foundation of SCDL attendees for more than 50 years as the organization held one of the top dental laboratory meetings in the US since 1961. Two years ago, the SCDL switched formats to launch The Executive Leadership Summit.

The assets being contributed to the FDLT total nearly $100,000, the statement said.

"The Southeastern Conference leadership is working with the Foundation board to develop two grants - one for state and regional dental laboratory associations to help fund business development speakers at their meetings and one for individuals to use to further their business management education," the statement said. "Due to the size of the contribution, it is believed that these grants will be in place for a long time into the future and preserve the legacy of the founders, past leaders and loyal members of the Southeastern Conference."

Dental schools worldwide teach students the skills they need to treat patients and the tools to continue the learning process. However, dental technology is evolving and developing at such a rapid pace that it is difficult to expose both students and practicing dentists to all the latest and most innovative technologies they will need to keep their practices competitive and growing in the 21st century. Consequently, dentists often find themselves questioning where they can learn these skills or scrambling in their spare time to catch up with the ever-changing technology in today’s dental environment. Most dentists will be able to fill in some of the technology pieces, but a one stop answer has been beyond reach until now.

Founded by Dr. Jeffrey Shapiro, Mark Maier, and Paul Vigario, the Automation and Innovation Center Wall Street provides dentists a central location where they can learn new skills in a live setting to keep up with the latest technological advances. Doctors and members of their staff will get specialized training and learn how to use the most innovative dental technology products in a complete system. 

With a live clinical facility, DSD lab, hands-on education and custom digital workflows, all the pieces are in place to elevate dental professional skills in a modern state-of-the-art environment.

“Right now, there is a digital revolution and automation happening within dental offices and laboratories, and all of this new technology is dynamic and constantly evolving,” said Dr. Shapiro, a dentist with more than 30 years’ experience. “So, this is a supplement to what people have learned in dental school. And it’s about the business of dentistry and helping to make your practices, laboratories, and anything related to dentistry successful.”

Mark Maier, CEO of The Aurum Group of Companies, said “AIC Wall Street was specifically created to expose, educate, and inspire dentists to integrate this new world of automation and innovation into their dental practice.” 

Paul Vigario, Founder and CEO of the world class dental technology firm SurfCT.com and CEO of DSD Global, is in conversations with industry leading corporations - some of which are Fortune 500 companies - to provide world class education at AIC Wall Street.

“It’s an interesting time for AIC Wall Street and its sponsors because the people who are in these talks are going to get certain perks and certain benefits that are not going to be available later,” Vigario said.

Scott Hines, Vice President of AIC Wall Street, said, “This is a place where companies showcase their innovative products and watch them being used in a live clinical setting in front of thousands of dentists each year.”

“The innovation is going to be a constant evolution,” Hines said. “They are going to have the ability to showcase and utilize them in live digital workflow with real life conditions, and that is where the innovation comes from - it’s the newest and latest and greatest technologies that are going to be showcased at AIC Wall Street.”

To learn more about AIC Wall Street please contact Hello@AICWallStreet.com.

This August, the ADA Foundation is rallying the dental community to raise at least $125,000 to improve access to oral health care for people with special needs. Funds raised during the ADA Foundation Challenge will be matched dollar for dollar up to $125,000 by Henry Schein Cares. The goal of the campaign is to secure at least $250,000.

The funding will enable the ADA Foundation to provide grants to nonprofit organizations working to increase access to care for patients who, due to physical, medical, developmental or cognitive disabilities, require special consideration when receiving dental treatment. These patients may include people with autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Down syndrome, spinal cord injuries and countless other disabilities or injuries that can make standard dental procedures more difficult.

“There are many barriers to quality oral health care for people with disabilities, whether they be physical, financial, or simply finding a dentist who understands their needs,” said Stanley M. Bergman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Henry Schein, Inc. “I encourage the dental community to contribute to the Henry Schein Cares challenge so we can foster an improved understanding of this critically important issue and spur action towards enhancing the oral health, overall health, and quality of life of this most deserving population.”

“The ADA Foundation is seizing this opportunity to challenge the dental community to come together and increase access to oral health care for one of our most vulnerable populations: people with special needs,” said William R. Calnon, D.D.S., president of the ADA Foundation. “For years, many dedicated professionals and organizations have worked tirelessly to improve the oral health of these high-risk patients. Unfortunately many challenges persist regarding access to appropriate timely diagnosis and treatment. We thank Henry Schein Cares for their continued support as we continue to address various barriers to care.”

To make a donation to the ADA Foundation or to learn more about this and other programs, visit ADAFoundation.org.

Editor’s Note: Reporters are invited to follow the ADA on Twitter @AmerDentalAssn

About the ADA Foundation 

As dentistry's premier philanthropic and charitable organization, the ADA Foundation is a catalyst for uniting people and organizations to invest in better oral health for all, together. The ADA Foundation annually provides more than $2 million in grants, scholarships, awards, and facilitated in-kind product donations to programs that are in alignment with the organization’s efforts to advance oral health, expand access to dental care, and drive game-changing research. As part of these efforts, the ADA Foundation oversees the Give Kids A Smile® program and also oversees the ADA Foundation Volpe Research Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland (formerly the Paffenbarger Research Center). For more information about the ADA Foundation, visit ADAFoundation.org. 

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) applauds the federal agencies that will be involved in updating the Surgeon General’s Report on oral health. This update will document progress in oral health over the last 20 years and create a vision for the future.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the update on July 27 and is working alongside several federal agencies to commission this Surgeon General’s Report.

The original Surgeon General’s Report on oral health was first released in 2000 and evaluated the link between oral health and overall well-being. The updated report will further assess how poor oral health affects physical and economic well-being and how oral health care is often treated as a supplemental benefit, among many other oral health care concerns.

ADHA commends these efforts to update the nation on key issues in oral health and will continue to support the updated report as it is developed.

About the American Dental Hygienists’ Association:

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) is the largest national organization representing the professional interests of more than 185,000 dental hygienists across the country. Dental hygienists are preventive oral health professionals, licensed in dental hygiene, who provide educational, clinical and therapeutic services that support total health through the promotion of optimal oral health. For more information about ADHA, dental hygiene or the link between oral health and general health, visit ADHA at www.adha.org.

Solvay Dental 360™ has announced that Ultaire™ AKP, a high-performance polymer for removable partial denture (RPD) frames, is now validated for milling in Ceramill CAD/CAM workflows through Amann Girrbach. 

“We are pleased to partner with an innovative industry leader like Amann Girrbach to offer Ultaire AKP in the digital workflow of the Ceramill CAD/CAM system,” says Shawn Shorrock, global director, Solvay Dental 360. “Our partnership will make removable partial dentures made from Ultaire AKP even more accessible to the labs, dentists, and patients who need them, streamlining the fabrication process and improving the patient experience.”

Ultaire AKP is an innovative aryl ketone polymer that provides a comfortable, lightweight, and more aesthetically pleasing alternative to traditional metal RPD frames. Ultaire AKP is a rigid material – not flexible – suitable as a metal replacement and different than the other non-metal materials currently on the market. It is both strong enough and tough enough to be tooth-supported and help reduce bone loss, yet flexible enough to engage undercuts more deeply.

The manufacturing process for RPDs made with Ultaire AKP is now validated and automatically stored in the Ceramill software with all the necessary design parameters and milling strategies. This considerably simplifies the training and qualification process for Amann Girrbach users and can be carried out directly by Amann Girrbach's Helpdesk in just a few steps. Ultaire AKP can also be obtained directly from Amann Girrbach and its dealers in Germany or through Solvay Dental 360 in North America and the UK. The latest version of the software upgrade module Ceramill M-Part for RPDs and the Ultaire AKP module will be available following the Ceramill Suite 3.9 update in August 2018.

“We are proud to offer the innovative Ultaire AKP high-performance polymer for RPDs to our customers through a sophisticated and consistent digital workflow in our Ceramill CAD/CAM system,” said Christian Ermer, Amann Girrbach head of product management. “Ultaire AKP design parameters differ from those of metal, so our software incorporates customized CAD strategies that are essential for prosthetic success. In addition, our specially designed CAM milling strategies guarantee the quality and precision of the final product.”

As a pioneer in dental CAD/CAM technology, Amann Girrbach is one of the leading innovators and full-service providers in digital dental prosthetics. With its high degree of expertise in development and commitment to customer orientation, the ambitious, Austrian company creates sophisticated system solutions for tomorrow's practice routine.

Solvay Dental 360 is a new dental business and medical device line of Belgian multi-specialty chemical group Solvay, a global leader in high-performance polymers used in the healthcare industry for medical and dental devices, equipment and instrumentation, including implantable applications. With over 35 brands available in more than 1,500 formulations, Solvay has the broadest portfolio of high-performance healthcare polymers in the world.

The Solvay Dental 360 business line was developed by Solvay’s Specialty Polymers Global Business Unit. Through products like Ultaire AKP, and other innovations to be commercialized in the future, Solvay Dental 360 is committed to developing new and innovative materials that improve patient outcomes and advance the dental industry.

Ultaire AKP is available in North America, the UK, and Germany and has regulatory approval 510K clearance, CMDCAS, and EU. It is made in the US under FDA and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines.

SHINING 3D has announced its new partnership with AGE Solutions, a professional dental design software solution provider, to integrate their orthodontics design software Maestro 3D Ortho Studio into its own digital dental solution.

The Maestro 3D Ortho Studio from AGE Solutions is a dedicated software package used for orthodontics-oriented inspection, editing, and analysis, using high-quality 3D data of patient’s cases.

Highlights

  •Powerful - It is a robust and precise CAD software that allows you to work on all types of orthodontic patients' cases

  •Complete - Allows you to use various types of processing

  •Fast - Just a few minutes to perform the analysis, inspection, and creation

  •Easy to use - Thanks to the wizard mode, it is very easy to perform any operation. In a few easy steps, you can add your own virtual bases of the maxillary and mandibular models or achieve transparent masks

  •Open - Both inbound and outbound, the software accepts and generates open standard files, letting the user choose those which they prefer to produce

  •Royalty free - No compulsory fee or annual licenses

The partnership comes in response to strong customer demands for a complete solution for orthodontics, allowing for a seamless process from 3D scan to design to print.

“We are excited to team up with AGE Solutions,” said Oscar Meza, VP of Global Sales at SHINING 3D, “because our respective organizations follow the same principle of empowering the users by providing a powerful solution integrating both hardware and software that is straightforward, cost-effective, and user-friendly.“ The goal of the partnership, according to Andrea Spinelli, CEO AGE Solutions, is to make the use of 3D technologies available for the masses, proofed by their policy of no annual fees and no compulsory software updates.

Young Innovations, Inc., a leading global supplier of dental products, today announced that the Company is simplifying and realigning its go-to-market structure. Young Innovations will now present as a fully unified dealer-facing organization with the integration of some of the market’s most well- known brands: Young Dental, Biotrol, Denticator, Zooby, Oral-B Practitioner Series, Microbrush, American Eagle Instruments, DEFEND, and, most recently, Johnson- Promident. This move aligns the internal sales and marketing organization with the common goal of delivering innovative solutions and growth opportunities to Young’s distributor partners.

Leading the newly aligned sales and marketing organization will be Dave Misiak, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Young Innovations. Directing individual functions on Misiak’s team will be Allen Seaver, Director of Sales, North America; Mike Hatcher, Director of Special Markets; and Steve Wright, Director, Global Marketing.

“Aligning our brands allows us to bring more value to our customers while being more effective internally,” said Dave Misiak. “We greatly value our distributor partners, and this structural change allows us to deliver innovative new products and sales initiatives much more effectively. This will ultimately improve the collective customer experience for dental professionals. Additionally, having completed ten acquisitions in four years, this change allows the business to be more scalable for the future as we continue to pursue our strategy of above-market organic growth and inorganic partnerships.”

About Young Innovations, Inc.

Young Innovations is a leading global supplier of supplies and equipment used by dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and consumers. Our portfolio of brands includes products that hold leadership positions in the preventive, restorative, orthodontic, endodontic and diagnostic segments. With its mission of Creating Smiles, Creating Possibilities, Young Innovations focuses on delivering innovative, high-quality products and solutions to clinicians and their patients. We seek out opportunities to enhance our portfolio of brands and products through organic growth and acquisitions.

Who said second chances at the perfect deal don’t exist? Dentsply Sirona, the Dental Solutions Company™, is extending its Dentsply Sirona World 2018 registration deal through August 31 that allows one doctor and two staff members to attend the industry’s largest educational festival for only $2,995. Your chance to save more than $1,000 ends soon, so make sure to register yourself and your team as soon as possible. Registering at this low price offers access to:

General and Breakout sessions within 12 unique educational tracks

• Expansive trade show floor, featuring the latest and most advanced products in the dental industry

• Private performances by Pop Superstar Katy Perry and ultrafunny Comedian Jim Gaffigan

• Dentsply Sirona World closing Oktoberfest-themed party

• Wellness activities including a medieval-themed fun run and yoga session with Orlando’s top yoga instructors

• Meet and mingle with some of the industry’s best and brightest KOLs

For an additional $500 per person attendees can get VIP status, which includes faster registration and badge pick-up, reserved seats for ALL General sessions, and more.

Hosted at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando from September 13-15, Dentsply Sirona World truly offers an experience like no other in the dental field. Register now at www.dentsplysironaworld.com or contact the Dentsply Sirona World hotline at 1-844-462-7476 or email events@dentsplysironaworld.com.

Dentsply Sirona, the Dental Solutions Company™, has announced its plan to grow its technology sales team in key US markets to better serve customers and dealer partners nationwide. Clients and dealers can expect to see more than twice the number of representatives in each of the technologies divisions when the staff expansion is complete. This increase will create a better bridge between those divisions.

An emphasis will be put on building better relationships to improve the company’s already top-tier customer support and buying process.

“Our larger technology sales team shows Dentsply Sirona’s commitment to providing our customers with the best-in-class service, support, and education on our market-leading technologies,” said CAD/CAM and Imaging Sales Vice President Linda Gehringer.

Customers will also see more in-field support personnel, allowing a renewed focus be put on sales-related matters with dealer representatives. Dentsply Sirona sees the growing demand for dental implants and single-visit dentistry and is working to provide better CAD/CAM coverage to address this growth.

The larger technology sales team will also continue to support customer education by offering assistance to best understand all Dentsply Sirona equipment and technology.

These changes are expected to be fully up and running later this summer, but dealers and customers should notice an impact on or before Labor Day.