SmileDirectClub is proud to announce that they are now a member of the American Academy of Clear Aligners (AACA), the organization devoted to advancing the embrace of clear aligner orthodontic therapy in North America. AACA is the latest industry organization to welcome SmileDirectClub as a member or partner, showing continued embrace of our pioneering and innovative telehealth for orthodontia model. The membership was announced in the Fall 2021 issue of the AACA’s Journal – just released today (Pages 10, 12).

In addition the AACA, other organizations affiliated with SmileDirectClub include the National Dental Association, American Association of Dental Boards, American Telemedicine Association, American Teledentistry Association, Women in DSO, Association of Dental Support Organization, and Dental Entrepreneurship Organization. 

National Dentex Labs ("NDX"), the largest network of fully-owned dental labs in North America, announced today the acquisition of Dental Arts, located in South Charleston, West Virginia. The company continues to aggressively expand its geographic footprint in markets around the country while investing heavily in the innovations and the talent necessary to better serve dentists, specialists and dental service organizations ("DSOs"). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Dental Arts co-owners, Dewain Haynes and Tim Thaxton will continue to focus on serving the local needs of dentists in West Virginia. Both Haynes and Thaxton have more than 30 years of experience in the dental lab industry. Says Haynes, "We were so impressed by the NDX team that it made sense to combine our talents to better serve the needs of dentists in our community."

Tom Daulton, Chief Executive Officer of NDX, says, "As a growing company, we know the importance of maintaining strong local relationships and offering superior customer service to every dentist in every market. Our scale allows our local dental labs to have access to the latest, most innovative restorative dental solutions on the market today. We are thrilled to have the talented people of Dental Arts join us. They are highly regarded for their superior removable restorations."

The NDX network of dental labs is the country's largest provider of consistent, high-quality dental restorations and appliances. Since 2015, NDX has aggressively expanded its national footprint to meet the demands of a rapidly changing marketplace and deliver best-in-class restorative solutions to dentists, specialists and DSOs throughout North America. The company employs nearly 4,000 dental professionals dedicated to serving tens of thousands of dentists and specialists and making NDX the dental lab of choice for their practices.

Investment fuels further development of 3D printing technology to create custom orthodontic treatments for every patient

LightForce Orthodontics, makers of the world’s only fully customizable 3D printed braces system, today announced that the company raised a $50 million Series C round led by Kleiner Perkins. Previous LightForce investors also participated in this round, including Matrix Partners, Tyche Partners, and AM Ventures. The investment follows on the heels of LightForce posting over a 500% revenue growth rate during the past year in which the company developed two new products and grew their team year over year by 300%. The new funds will allow LightForce to offer training and education to orthodontists so that they are maximizing the technology for their patients while scaling operations and go-to-market efforts. Orthodontic practices around the country will work with LightForce to combine the digital benefits seen with aligner therapy with the tooth-moving efficiency and quality outcomes seen with braces.

“LightForce was founded to provide fully customized, USA-made treatment options for orthodontists interested in offering modern braces to their patients,” said LightForce CEO and co-founder Dr. Alfred Griffin III, DMD, PhD, MMSc. “The investment from Kleiner Perkins allows us to continue creating mass-customized braces that enable orthodontists to provide a personalized patient experience within an industry that has not evolved the use of braces in the last 25 years. In fact, without LightForce, patients today would likely be wearing the same sort of braces their parents did back when they were teenagers. With these new funds, LightForce will further champion the unmet needs of the modern teen market by complimenting aligner cases and allowing orthodontists to take their practices fully digital, while capitalizing on the advancement of 3D printing technology, modern materials, and advanced application-specific CAD software. A patient’s teeth are all unique as snowflakes, and now orthodontists have the technology to account for that individualism in their treatment plan, just as they have with their aligner cases. We are excited to continue implementing 3D printing technology in orthodontics in new and innovative ways to create a new standard of care for all braces patients.”

Since no set of teeth is the same and 70% of patients require braces instead of aligners, LightForce’s 3D printing technology enables complete and infinite personalization for each patient. One of LightForce’s biggest differentiators is its ability to 3D print brackets that fit the unique tooth morphology of each patient, customization that would otherwise be unavailable to patients with traditional braces. LightForce’s dynamic and modern technology provides a patient-specific alternative to traditional braces, ensuring that today’s patients will not need to endure the dated “one-size-fits-all” approach to braces that often fails to meet the patient experience and efficient clinical outcomes. As a result, patients and doctors are able to see shorter treatment times, fewer appointments, better outcomes, and an overall more efficient and comfortable experience. In an industry where precision is key, 3D printing allows orthodontists to fine tune each tooth movement down to a micron, one-thousandth of a millimeter, resulting in a balanced bite and smile tailored to each unique patient.

“LightForce’s innovative approach to an industry that has lacked technological disruptiveness for the past 25 years is what initially attracted us to this investment opportunity,” said Wen Hsieh, partner, Kleiner Perkins. “Having previously-invested in the first digital revolution of orthodontics decades ago through Align Technology, Kleiner Perkins is excited to invest in the second-wave of orthodontics digitization through Lightforce. We’re excited to partner with Co-Founder-CEO Alfred Griffin and the Lightforce team to leverage the latest 3D printing technology to further enhance the doctor and patient experience with bracket-based orthodontics."

Digital customization with 3D printing offers several key advantages to doctors and patients that work with LightForce, including:

● Scalable and Efficient Treatments, allowing orthodontists to reach new levels of efficiency without sacrificing product quality or patient comfort.

● Patient-Specific Prescriptions means that treatment plans are designed with proprietary software, combined with advanced 3D printing technology, to create precise and fully custom treatments for every patient.

● Digitizing Fixed Appliances bring the planning simplicity, practice consistency and ease of use seen today in direct-to-consumer aligners into the world of fixed dental appliances.

In the last year, LightForce has developed additional orthodontic advancements such as the Light Bracket, which is their line of translucent braces. The Light Bracket is a more aesthetic option that blends in with the color of a patient’s teeth, reducing the visibility of the overall system.

For more information about LightForce Orthodontics, please visit www.lightforceortho.com/. Orthodontists interested in adding LightForce’s technology to their practice should reach out here.

National network of orthodontists celebrates month-long philanthropic initiative

Smile Doctors, the nation's largest ortho-focused dental support organization (OSO), is kicking off one month of giveback initiatives in November. Through the "30 Days of Thanks and Gratitude" campaign, Smile Doctors will be working across the organization and communities they serve to change lives one smile at a time.

Smile Doctors team members, partners, and patients will work with their local food banks to collect nonperishable donations. Across participating locations, Smile Doctors has set a goal of donating 10,000 nonperishable food items. Through this effort, the organization plans to provide as many as 8,500 meals to families this holiday season.

"This is a special time of year when we reflect on what we're most thankful for and express gratitude for what we have. Smile Doctors is incredibly grateful for the community support of our local practices," said Scott Law, founder and chief clinical officer of Smile Doctors. "Through '30 Days of Thanks and Gratitude', we have the opportunity to give back and highlight acts of kindness as an example of what we can do as a community year-round. We're thrilled to bring this program back for another year!"

To extend the opportunity to give back to their local communities, Smile Doctors will be expanding its current giveback initiative, "Smiles from the Heart," which offers free orthodontic services for patients in need. In 2022, the program will include partnerships with national and regional non-profit organizations.

If you would like to learn more about the '30 Days of Thanks and Gratitude' campaign or how to participate locally, please visit 30 Days of Thanks and Gratitude | Smile Doctors.

- Innovative device is FDA cleared and found 100% accurate in clinical study

- University developed device does not use ionizing radiation

Ortek announced today the widespread availability of its ECD device, which provides dental professionals a new diagnostic tool for the early detection of cavities that are often not picked up by X-rays. The Ortek-ECD® is a breakthrough electronic early cavity detection system that has been cleared by the FDA and is in use by hundreds of dentists throughout the United States. Without using ionizing radiation, the ECD allows dentists to detect a cavity before it can severely damage teeth.

The ECD was specifically designed to detect cavities on the chewing surfaces of molars and premolars. These tooth surfaces are most affected by decay and are a major diagnostic challenge for dentists. The ECD was developed, patented and clinically tested at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine and exclusively licensed to Ortek. The ECD demonstrated 100% sensitivity and 93% specificity in a published peer-reviewed clinical study. The ECD is fast, easy to use, and does not cause pain or discomfort for the patient.

Using the ECD, a dental professional gently places a stainless steel tip in the grooves of molars and premolars. By measuring the conductivity of enamel, the ECD immediately displays a quantitative digital cavities score, allowing dental professionals to accurately and quickly recommend appropriate treatment options, including minimally invasive procedures.

"The Ortek-ECD is a vital instrument to aid in the diagnosis of cavities that might otherwise go undetected," said Howard Glazer, DDS FAGD, and Past President of the Academy of General Dentistry. "It allows for early intervention and minimizes the loss of tooth structure."

"Globally, it is estimated that 2.3 billion people suffer from cavities of permanent teeth and approximately ninety percent of Americans over 20 have had cavities at some point in their lives," said Mitchell Goldberg, President of Ortek Therapeutics, Inc. "The ECD is a major technological innovation that will significantly improve patient outcomes by helping avoid the unwanted consequences of more advanced tooth decay."

The Technology

Powered by a 9 volt battery, the patented ECD is a small portable device that has a base unit with a digital display, and a handpiece with a novel stainless steel tip that touches the bottom of pit and fissures, the grooves of molars and premolars. It's been estimated that 70%-90% of tooth decay occurs in these vulnerable sites.

A tooth is considered cavitated if demineralization breaches the enamel and exposes the underlying dentin, which contains fluid filled tubules. When cavitation occurs, hydrostatic pressure will allow minuscule amounts of conductive dentinal fluid to enter the breached enamel site, causing the ECD to complete an electrical circuit, thereby detecting a cavity.

As this demineralization or cavity activity progresses, more dentinal fluid enters the breached site. The more fluid detected results in a higher current and an increasing digital cavity score that is digitally displayed from 01-100. When the enamel at the bottom of a pit or fissure is intact, no current can flow and the ECD will display a zero score. This indicates a healthy tooth or a non-cavitated lesion.

To learn more about the Ortek-ECD, visit www.ortekecd.com 

Funding Will Advance Dental Health, Increase Access to Oral Care and Underscore the Foundation's Commitment to Meeting the Needs of the Communities it Serves

The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation today announced it is providing more than $20 million in funding to various nonprofit organizations throughout the 15 states and the District of Columbia in which Delta Dental of California operates. The Foundation funds local community partners to increase access to care, support dental education and promote innovation in the oral health field. The grants will enable the Foundation's partners to continue providing vital and beneficial services to those most in need in the communities they serve. Since 2011, the Foundation has awarded more than $60 million to nonprofits.

The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation's funding is broadly focused across organizations that address equity, serve rural areas, and are innovative in their approaches to community outreach and care. Organizations that receive funding include health centers, food banks, disaster relief agencies and other community nonprofits.

"In 2020, amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to challenge our partners and the communities they serve, the Foundation funded 220 programs that reached and benefited more than 12.5 million people," said Kenzie Ferguson, vice president of Foundation and corporate social responsibility for Delta Dental of California. "This year, we are focused on underserved rural communities and the homebound senior adult population, which represent a part of the broader commitment Delta Dental is making through an increase in funding over last year."

"Improving the well-being of our communities is essential to Delta Dental's mission of advancing dental health, increasing access to oral care and supporting those we serve through exceptional dental benefits," said Mike Castro, president and CEO of Delta Dental of California. "This funding reflects our core value of service and profound belief that optimal community health is best achieved through partnership and collaboration."

About Delta Dental Community Care Foundation

The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California and its affiliated companies, including Delta Dental Insurance Company, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and Delta Dental of New York, Inc. Since 2011, the Foundation has awarded more than $60 million in funding and support to increase access to quality dental care, oral health education, and to advance scientific research across the company's 15-state service area and the District of Columbia. For more information about the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, please visit https://www1.deltadentalins.com/foundation.html

SafeLink Consulting, Inc., a premier provider of OSHA and FDA regulatory compliance services for dental practices, dental laboratories, and general industry announces the newest member of the SafeLink Consulting team, Robert Slattery-Hall. He joins SafeLink Consulting as a Compliance Advisor.

Robert comes from a public safety background with 5 years of experience as an Advanced EMT and Firefighter. Robert’s public safety credentials includes Pro Board certifications as a Firefighter I & II, Structural Fire Control, Hazardous Materials Operator, and Fire Apparatus Operator. Robert’s medical experience includes certifications as a National Registry Advance EMT, as well as CPR/First Aid, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, and Pediatric Advanced Life Support certifications from the American Heart Association. As an emergency response specialist Robert provided community/business support through patient advocacy and fire prevention. He has delivered life-saving results involving incidents such as residential and commercial fire, mass casualty events, traffic incidents, hazardous material evacuations and decontamination, and high-rise building and confined space rescues. Robert also spent time in the Fire Marshall’s division conducting fire and safety inspections and prevention training to local businesses. Robert is a dedicated and passionate safety specialist with a demonstrated ability to conduct and lead life-saving efforts during emergency circumstances. Robert has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a focus on human resources and information technology, which allows him to assess how health and safety applies to the fiscal needs of businesses and their staff.