The dental distributors Pearson and Talladium will be displaying the K5+ and the K4 edition in action at LMT Lab Day West. The new dry milling machine K5+, shown by Pearson, makes manufacturing dental restorations even more convenient with its revolutionary technologies, including tool-free blank clamping and an integrated ionizer. Talladium presents the K4 edition: a four-axis dry milling machine for the vast majority of indications that offers amazing results. Further vhf distributors: Henry Schein’s division Zahn Dental as well as Jensen Dental will also exhibit the K5+ at Lab Day West. The material manufacturer VITA North America will be showcasing the machine at its booth, too. During various workshops, trade show visitors can experience the mills first-hand.

vhf’s Z4 for same-day restorations will be showcased by the new distribution partner Patterson at the dental convention CDA Presents in Anaheim. Pearson will also be presenting the Z4 at this convention. The innovative and intuitive milling and grinding machine can produce highest quality restorations from almost any block material in mere minutes. The Z4 is compatible with all of the most popular scanners and CAD software, ensuring smooth workflows.

Dr. Nicolas Rohde, CEO of vhf Inc., is pleased about the strong presence of vhf at both events: “It is great to see that our machines are generating such interest – this shows our products are delivering what customers demand. This response further vindicates our decision to expand our presence in the US.”

The LMT Lab Day West from May 10 to 11 in Garden Grove, California, is regarded as the largest dental laboratory trade show in the region. Similarly, the California Dental Association is organizing one of the leading events for dentists: the CDA Presents Anaheim, which will be opening its doors from May 16 to 18.

Axsys Incorporated is celebrating 25 years of manufacturing excellence with a special online sales promotion. Axsys specializes in digital manufacturing technology and offers a full-line of CAD/CAM software, scanners, milling machines, furnaces, hard and soft materials, and FDA-cleared implant components.

Now until May 31, new customers receive 25% off their first order of zirconia, glass ceramic blocks, and ingots, as well as their class-leading PoliDent PMMA, which was independently proven by Ohio State University to be one of the highest-strength PMMAs available. Results were published in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. It has also been shown to reduce tooling costs by 150%.

“For 25 years, Axsys has provided customers with digital manufacturing solutions from what are viewed as the leaders in CAD/CAM industry. We’ve helped thousands of customers, from two-man shops to Fortune 500 companies, successfully implement sophisticated CAD, CAM, and CNC systems; increase productivity; and realize greater profits,” said Steve Braykovich, President of Axsys Incorporated.

Axsys customers often cite the company’s long history and extensive experience as a huge benefit to their business. "Axsys’ extensive global manufacturing and CAD/CAM experience is unlike any other supplier or distributor of this technology. No one else can do what they do or match their level of support,” said Dr. Khaldoun Attar, DDS.

Visit the Axsys Dental Solutions online store at axsysdental.com/noc to learn more about the 25% off anniversary promotion or to shop their large selection of right-priced materials. No promotion code needed – the special discount will be automatically calculated at checkout for any new user after registration.

DMG, a manufacturer of dental restorative materials and preventive products, is celebrating ten years of helping dental professionals treat incipient caries and white spot lesions with its revolutionary Icon Caries Infiltrant.

Prior to the caries infiltrant’s inception, clinicians had only two options upon discovering incipient caries: using fluoride and other treatments in an often-futile attempt to remineralize enamel, or simply waiting until it became time to drill and fill. With the advent of Icon, they could now immediately and micro-invasively fill and reinforce demineralized enamel without drilling or anesthesia.

For the last 10 years, Icon has offered dental professionals and their patients a significant advantage over fluoride therapy, which is not always effective when caries have advanced to the stage of discovery. Equally important, Icon has made it unnecessary to sacrifice healthy tooth structure with drilling. Instead, it is now possible to arrest the progress of early enamel lesions in up to the first third of dentin in one simple procedure.

Soon after its 2009 launch, numerous clinical studies confirmed that Icon is also effective for the cosmetic treatment of cariogenic white spots on smooth surfaces. Lesions infiltrated by Icon take on the appearance of the surrounding healthy enamel, thereby providing a highly esthetic, single-treatment alternative to micro-abrasion and restorative treatments of cariogenic white spots.

According to Timothy Hess, DDS, “White spots are a major issue for my post-orthodontic patients. Icon enables me to remove them in one simple, painless treatment. It’s a ‘wow’ moment for the patient, and a significant source of growth for my practice.”

Dental professionals interested in learning more about Icon may view an on-demand webinar titled “Resin Infiltration: A Minimally Invasive Treatment Option for Enamel Caries and Cosmetic Defects.” The free webinar, which is conducted by Jeanette MacLean, DDS, and offers 1 CEU credit, is available for viewing at https://www.vivalearning.com/member/classroom.asp?x_source=DENTREK&x_classID=3640

For information about DMG and its category-defining products, please visit https://www.dmg-america.com/.

Ivoclar Vivadent is honoring the winner of the guessing competition which took place on the occasion of the International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne. The lucky winner, Robert Arvai from Chur, Switzerland, guessed the closest number and won the first prize, a “golden” Programat EP 5010.

Two cylindrical glass jars featuring a height of approximately 50 cm and a diameter of 30 cm were showcased at the IDS booth of Ivoclar Vivadent. Both were completely filled with an identical amount of lithium disilicate press ingots. The question was rather simple: “How many ingots are in one jar?” Hundreds of visitors participated in the competition and hoped for luck to be on their side. Robert Arvai from Ardenta laboratory in Chur, Switzerland, was spot on with his guess: the difference between his guess and the actual number was only two ingots.

Diego Gabathuler, designated CEO, ceremoniously handed over the “golden” Programat EP 5010 at the Ivoclar Vivadent headquarters in Schaan on April 30, 2019. This one-off specimen of the Programat EP 5010 is so unique not only because of its golden decorations but also because it is signed by all the renowned opinion leaders who performed on the Live Stage or Live Lab at IDS 2019.

40 years of success

Ivoclar Vivadent presented the first Programat furnace at IDS in 1977. Today, Programat is a brand known for innovation and reliability. Based on sales figures, Programat is the market leader in ceramic furnaces. For dental technicians, the brand is synonymous with innovation, ease of operation, high quality, durability, and reliability of firing results.

Programat^®is a registered trademark of Ivoclar Vivadent AG.

Whip Mix has introduced four dental professionals the company has put in place in Canada. The Institutional Technology Sales Team supports dental and dental laboratory schools with sales and technical support for all Whip Mix products, including articulators, facebows, equipment, and analog and digital materials.

The Factory Automation team supports all dental laboratories, schools, and dental institutions with equipment repair. Factory Automation, located in Calgary, Canada, has been certified as a Whip Mix distributor and equipment service and support center in Canada. Contact Devon Todd (President, Factory Automation, Inc.) for Whip Mix equipment service or support needs in the Calgary and surrounding areas. Factory Automation can be contacted at https://www.factory-automation.ca or email: factoryautomation@outlook.com, (Tel.) +1587 8893648.

Structo, a dental 3D printing solutions provider, and uLab Systems, creator of in-office orthodontic treatment planning software, announced a strategic partnership to deliver more tailored in-office orthodontic solutions to clinicians at the AAO 2019 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. 

The two companies which are heavily focused on orthodontics will collaborate closely to deliver various aligner manufacturing solutions to the different segments of the market. First, Structo’s high throughput dental-specific DentaForm 3D printer will be integrated with uLab’s uDesign aligner treatment planning software. This will be rolled out in uLab’s next software update. 

DentaForm will form part of uLab’s uPrint ecosystem of 3D printers that allows clinicians to print their aligner models in-office to prepare for vacuum forming and trimming in the next steps. “DentaForm’s high throughput capabilities of printing up to 10 arches in 30 minutes is exactly what existing uLab customers need to help them with their in-office aligner manufacturing,” said Joe Breeland, uLab’s Chief Commercial Officer. 

“We are proud to be part of this exciting new partnership with uLab and we are looking forward to collaborating further to deliver more solutions to the orthodontics market,” Dhruv Sahgal, Structo’s Chief Commercial Officer added. On top of the integration of the DentaForm, the two orthodontic companies will also work on delivering solutions for other segments of the market. “Our teams will also collaborate on new products that will involve the rest of our portfolio. On top of our Velox desktop 3D printer, another exciting new solution that we are working on is an aligner specific module for our Elements automated and modular factory in a box.” 

The Structo Elements, launched in Chicago earlier this year, is an automated, modular 3D printing system that can print up to 500 models per day. It also integrates all the post-processing steps in its main production module (Print, wash, and cure) and is scalable as the user scales their business. “Our vision for Elements is to build application-specific modules that can streamline every single dental appliance manufacturing process,” Dhruv explains. “The first of such modules we are currently working on is a solution for the orthodontic clear aligner application to automate the vacuum forming and trimming processes of the aligners right after the models are printed and post-processed in the production module.”

Currently, these processes are done manually which requires investment in human capital that can get costly over time. By automating these, not only it will help Elements users lower down their cost, but it will also remove manufacturing errors and inconsistencies caused by human factors. “To be able to tap on uLab’s expertise in this area ensures that we can deliver on that promise of fully automating the entire aligner manufacturing workflow for our customers,” Dhruv adds. 

As part of this partnership announcement, Structo and uLab will be offering an AAO-exclusive bundle deal. Any purchase of a Structo DentaForm 3D printer comes with a 30-day free access to the uLab aligner software. For more information, please visit Structo’s booth (Booth 1461) or uLab’s booth (Booth 1247) at the AAO meeting in Los Angeles from May 4-7, 2019.

UCLA researchers are co-leading a new pre-clinical study that could prevent patients treated for cancer or osteoporosis from experiencing jawbone damage as a result of oral surgery.

Currently, drugs known as bisphosphonates are used to treat patients who have bone cancer or osteoporosis. These drugs bind to the skeleton and prevent a loss in bone density. They remain bound to bones for months or even years after initial treatment.

However in some cases, cancer patients who receive high doses of a bisphosphonate drug during treatment experience jaw damage as a result of routine oral surgery. The presence of the bisphosphonates bound to the jawbone can cause painful and chronic inflammation and infection as a side effect of a common oral procedure such as tooth removal. This can lead to the loss of jawbone tissue. To compound the seriousness of the issue, there is no known way to either treat or prevent this potentially deadly side effect from occurring.

“When being treated for cancer, the infusion of the high dose bisphosphonate drug is an important tool to control bone pain and osteolysis in patients with cancers,” said Dr. Ichiro Nishimura, a professor of prosthodontics with the UCLA School of Dentistry and a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. “These are cancers that originate in bone marrow, such as multiple myeloma, or that have metastasized to the skeleton, such as from breast and prostate cancers. The presence of this bisphosphonate represents a significant risk particularly following needed routine dental surgery.”

In a new pre-clinical research study published in Bone Science Direct, the researchers from UCLA, who collaborated with colleagues at USC, were able to remove the bisphosphonate drugs from the jawbone by injecting another kind of bisphosphonate compound that is inert and doesn’t have pharmacological effect. This technique displaced the bisphosphonate drug bound to the jawbone’s surface. The potential advantage of this technique in a clinical setting would allow the bisphosphonate drugs to remain bound to the rest of the skeleton and continuing to prevent bone loss, while being displaced from the jawbone and clearing the way for oral surgery.

UCLA researchers presented these findings at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting and the International Association for Dental Research annual meeting in 2017.

The UCLA team that contributed to this study include: Akishige Hokugo, Keiichi Kanayama, Shuting Sun, Kenzo Morinaga, Yujie Sun, QingQing Wu, Hodaka Sasaki, Hiroko Okawa, Courtney Evans and Ichiro Nishimura. The team also included: Charles McKenna of USC; and Frank Ebetino, Mark Lundy and Keivan Sadrerafi of BioVinc.

The UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has approximately 500 researchers and clinicians engaged in cancer research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education. One of the nation's largest comprehensive cancer centers, the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center is dedicated to promoting research and translating basic science into leading-edge clinical studies.

Disparities in young children’s experiences at the dentist are linked to income, ethnicity and language, according to a new study from the University of California, Irvine. Published in Academic Pediatrics, it found that families with lower incomes or from ethnic or linguistic minority groups were more likely to report negative incidents, such as the child being physically restrained, separated from a caregiver or sedated without consent.

“The prevalence of developmentally inappropriate care significantly differed between lower-income, Latino or Asian families and higher-income or Caucasian families,” said Stephanie Reich, UCI associate professor of education and lead author of the study. “Although Medicaid expansion has greatly increased children’s oral healthcare coverage, utilization of services and health outcomes haven’t matched that growth.”

Poor dental health in childhood predicts future dental disease. Research to date on oral healthcare use has focused primarily on structural issues, including insurance coverage, finding a Medicaid provider, transportation challenges and parental knowledge. Few studies consider the role that dentists and staff play in hindering or facilitating children’s oral healthcare utilization.

“We found that cost constraints, access to providers and lack of knowledge were not the primary barriers to initiating and continuing dental care,” Reich said. “The data suggest that negative experiences likely reduce the probability of returning or taking other children to the dentist.”

Focus groups with caregivers of young children were convened in four cities, followed by a survey (in English, Spanish and Vietnamese) of 1,184 caregivers of children under 6 between May 2016 and June 2018.

Positive interactions at the dentist were reported most often by white caregivers, who were 2.26 times more likely to have had experiences that made them happy. Upsetting incidents were much more common among low-income and minority families.

“Our findings that nonwhite and low-income children were significantly more likely to experience developmentally inappropriate care demonstrate poor communication between providers and parents, and yet the role of dentists and their staff is not systematically studied. These data suggest it should be,” Reich said. “They need to receive better training in how to work with young children and interact with diverse families, and the issue of identifying ways in which bias may alter the quality of care must be addressed too.”

The study team also included UCI School of Education doctoral student Wendy Ochoa; research assistants Amy Gaona and Yesenia Salcedo; postdoctoral fellows Veronica Newhart and Guadalupe Diaz; and former graduate student Joyce Lin, now a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 222 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.

The software application “IvoSmile” from Ivoclar Vivadent, which is based on augmented reality (AR), will be integrated into orthodontic and restorative applications from 3Shape. Earlier this day, both companies announced a cooperative agreement to realize esthetic dental treatment visualization in these areas.

The IvoSmile app, developed by Kapanu, the AR technology specialist of the Ivoclar Vivadent Group, uses augmented reality to visualize esthetic dental treatments in real time. The visualized treatment options are based on live images recorded with the help of an iPad.

IvoSmile allows you to show your patients views of themselves before and after an orthodontic or esthetic dental makeover by looking into a “virtual mirror,” without any obligation. Additionally, the 3Shape TRIOS Treatment Simulator app proposes a specific orthodontic treatment outcome based on intraoral scan images.

Orthodontists who work with a 3Shape TRIOS can simulate the orthodontic treatment result using the TRIOS Treatment Simulator app. Then, the simulated situations are transferred to the IvoSmile app to visualize the proposal in the patient’s mouth. This allows the patient to see the possible treatment outcome in real time, e.g. during speaking or smiling.

“IvoSmile is a top-notch consultation tool which allows you to actively involve patients and excite them. This increases patient compliance. We are pleased to announce that this technology, apart from being used for restorative treatments, can now also benefit orthodontic treatments thanks to our cooperation with 3Shape,” says Michael Taube, CMO of Ivoclar Vivadent.

Strong design and sustainable products – this was an emerging trend at this year's Red Dot Awards Product Design. Primescan, the new intraoral scanner from Dentsply Sirona, was one of the award winners.

"We are very pleased to receive this award, which we consider to be an acknowledgement of our efforts to provide our customers with products that are of high quality in all respects," said Dr. Alexander Völcker, Group Vice President CAD/CAM and Orthodontics at Dentsply Sirona. "Thanks to its design, Primescan is easy to handle in the normal practice environment, it reliably delivers clinically sound results, and it is just fun to use."

Primescan features improved impressioning technology that scans with an impressive level of accuracy. This makes Primescan a remarkable response to an important requirement in modern practices. After scanning, the data from the digital impressions are available for many applications, both in restorative dentistry and in implantology and orthodontics.

The globally acknowledged Red Dot Award has been awarded to outstanding products, design concepts, and communication designs for more than 60 years. This year, the 39-member jury of independent designers, design professors, and journalists rated a total of 5,500 products from 55 countries in 48 categories. The most important criterion for awarding the coveted prize is high design quality.

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Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document or the attachments to reflect new information or future events or developments after the date any such statement is made.