Vermont Technical College is shortening its Dental Hygiene Program from 3 years to just 2.5 years beginning this fall.¹ With a national hygienist shortage, and hundreds of hygienist openings in Vermont, the college hopes to encourage more people to pursue a career in dental hygiene through the program.¹

1. Casullo D. Dental hygienists in high demand across Vermont. myChamplainValley website. https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/local-news/dental-hygienists-are-in-high-demand-across-vermont/. Updated July 7, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022.

The conversion of denture manufacturing to printed workflows is accelerating. The next breakthrough is Lucitone Digital IPN 3D Premium Tooth material from Dentsply Sirona. The new denture tooth material enables labs to print-on-demand denture teeth with wear resistance and esthetics expected in premium-level denture teeth.

Today Dentsply Sirona announced the introduction of Lucitone Digital IPN 3D Premium Tooth, the company’s first printed premium denture tooth material for durability and esthetics. The new material features the superior durability of traditional IPN®. It is available in sixteen A-D shades plus two bleach options. The Lucitone Digital IPN material is fully integrated with the Lucitone Digital Print Denture™ System and is validated for Carbon M-Series printers and Asiga PRO 4K and MAX UV.

Lucitone Digital IPN is the latest innovation in printable materials by Dentsply Sirona. It marks the next step towards the migration of removable denture labs to digital workflows, covering full dentures, implant-supported dentures, and partial dentures.

“Since 2017, Carbon and Dentsply Sirona have been working together to offer the marketplace a complete solution for the digital production of removable prosthetics that is not only superior in terms of strength, accuracy, and aesthetics, but can also reduce labor and increase throughput so dental labs can keep up with the ever-growing demand,” says Phil DeSimone, co-founder and member of the Office of the CEO at Carbon. “With Carbon’s top-rated customer support framework and Dentsply Sirona’s global leadership in removable appliances, together we can deliver an unmatched offering that benefits dental labs in their transition from analog to digital. The launch of the Lucitone Digital IPN 3D Premium Tooth material will enable Carbon dental lab customers to reliably produce and deliver premium dentures at scale.”

“The New Lucitone Digital IPN Resin by Dentsply Sirona is incredible. The esthetics, translucency, workflow, OnDemand manufacturing, and customization are simply groundbreaking” says Trà Chambers, Owner at Express Dental Laboratory and Dentsply Sirona’s Key Opinion Leader. “This is definitely a step in the right direction for digital dentistry and digital dentures.”

The Lucitone Digital IPN 3D Premium Tooth material is supported by new highly characterized (HC) libraries, which utilize techniques of light reflection and refraction. Optimized for the Lucitone Digital Print Denture workflow and specifically the new Lucitone Digital IPN material, the HC libraries enable printed denture teeth to feature esthetic textures and translucencies expected in premium-level denture teeth.

Lucitone Digital Print Denture System for better efficiency

In 2019, Dentsply Sirona introduced the Lucitone Digital Print Denture System to support dental labs in the transition to digital dentures. Today, the system features high impact Lucitone Digital Print 3D Denture Base with BAM (Body Activated Material) technology, Lucitone Digital IPN 3D Premium Tooth, Lucitone Digital Value Economy and Trial Placement, Dentsply Sirona Multilayer PMMA 98mm disc for milling denture teeth, IPN 3D Digital Denture carded teeth, Lucitone Digital Fuse bonding system, and the DS Digital Cure Large Capacity curing unit.

Overall, the Lucitone Digital Print Denture System is built to support dental labs in meeting their increasing volume demands for dentures, achieving better efficiency, and providing patients and dentists with streamlined clinical experiences.

If you want to learn more about Lucitone Digital IPN 3D Premium Tooth material, visit https://www.dentsplysirona.com/enus/categories/lab/digital-denture/lucitone-digital-print.html

Jarvis Analytics’ Dental Dashboard and Analytics Platform Helps Fast Growing DSO To Normalize and Aggregate Practice Management Data Across Locations

Henry Schein One announced today that Jarvis Analytics™ has been selected by Southern Dental Alliance (SDA) for use across its general and pediatric dentistry operations. The dental support organization (DSO) chose Jarvis Analytics as its data analytics platform for all of its 50 practices to enable the normalization and aggregation of data.

Jarvis Analytics gives SDA the ability to aggregate and analyze disparate data sources across locations to improve reporting, decision making, and performance. With its dental dashboards and comprehensive modules, Jarvis Analytics delivers insights so every user—from the executive team and finance team to the regional managers and practice staff — can achieve better clinical and operational outcomes across the organization. Jarvis Analytics consists of a suite of modules mapped to key functions for each business, and includes workflows that can be associated with a specific user and/or practice within the organization.

Prior to using Jarvis Analytics, SDA used a data analytics tool that required the organization to manually aggregate data and create reports, which wasted a tremendous amount of time normalizing and matching data from various practice management systems. With Jarvis Analytics, SDA is able to use the robust features and modules of the tool to bring their practice data into one holistic view, but also trust the data they are seeing to drive better outcomes for their patients and better growth for their organization.

“Jarvis Analytics is pleased to partner with Southern Dental Alliance in its mission to create a data-driven organization while improving patient care,” said Mike Baird, CEO of Henry Schein One. “DSOs can truly transform the way they manage their dental business with Jarvis Analytics and its complete platform that delivers actional data and facilitates workflows to drive profitable revenue growth. Ultimately, this growth allows them to deliver high-quality care to more patients.”

“Southern Dental Alliance is committed to building a world-class, data-driven operation and culture,” said Ben Tomlinson, Chief Information Officer for Southern Dental Alliance. “JarvisAnalytics is now the cornerstone of this fundamental, organization-wide cultural shift from subjective to objective data-driven decision making. We simply would not have achieved this without Jarvis Analytics and the amazing team behind it. The dedicated Jarvis team members connected to our deployment were and continue to be invaluable in helping us drive adoption at every level of the organization.”

Southern Dental Alliance is a dental support organization affiliated with more than 50 practices in the Southeast United States. The lead doctors of each practice pursue growth and offer invaluable mentoring and support for their teams and patients. To learn more about Southern Dental Alliance, visit www.southerndentalalliance.com.

To learn more about Jarvis Analytics, please visit jarvisanalytics.com.

Roland DGA Corporation, a leading provider of wide-format inkjet printers, vinyl cutters, dental milling machines, engravers, and other cutting-edge digital devices, was recently named one of the “Best Places to Work” for 2022 by the Orange County Business Journal. This survey and awards program, created by the Orange County Business Journal in partnership with Workforce Research Group, is designed to identify, recognize, and honor the best places of employment in Orange County, California, benefiting the county’s economy, its workforce, and businesses.

Qualifying organizations from across the county entered the competition, which included a two-part process to determine the Best Places to Work in Orange County. The first part consisted of evaluating each employer’s workplace policies, practices, and demographics, accounting for approximately 20 percent of the total evaluation. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience, worth approximately 80 percent of the total evaluation. The combined scores determined the top scores and final rankings in three different categories – Small, Mid-Size, and Large companies. Roland DGA was recognized in the Mid-Size category.

“It’s an honor to be chosen as one of the region’s Best Places to Work by a highly respected business weekly like the Orange County Business Journal,” said Roland DGA President and CEO Andrew Oransky. “This recognition is even more special knowing that the selection was based so much on surveys completed by the employees themselves. At Roland DGA, we strive to create and maintain a fulfilling, inclusive, and collaborative work environment that people thrive in. Our staff is dedicated to providing our customers with the very best products and support in the industries we serve…and we have fun doing it.”

The Orange County Business Journal released the rankings of this year’s winning organizations in a special section of the publication’s July 4th issue.

To see the Orange County Business Journal’s complete list of “Best Places to Work” for 2022, view the online edition, here. For more information on Roland DGA Corporation, or the complete Roland DGA product line, visit: https://www.rolanddga.com. 

Henry Schein One’s Cloud-Based Practice Management System to Help Enhance Visibility and Simplify Management in Support of High-Quality Patient Care and Service Excellence

Henry Schein One today announced that Dentrix Ascend, the Company’s cloud-based practice management system, has been selected by Elite Dental Partners for use by more than 200 dentists providing care in all 96 of its practices. The Chicago-based dental support organization (DSO) also chose IT solutions and infrastructure support from Henry Schein One’s TechCentral to enhance networking, and implemented Henry Schein One’s ePrescribe online prescription services.

After an evaluation of DSO practice management solutions, Elite Dental Partners selected Dentrix Ascend due to its centralized management capabilities, operational standardization, consistency with reporting, and Henry Schein One’s commitment to quality customer service. Elite Dental Partners has also enhanced service by making it easier for patients to manage their accounts through Dentrix Ascend’s integrated eStatement and online payment tools.

“We are pleased to be in a position to support Elite Dental Partners in their growth and we look forward to continuing our partnership into the future,” said Mike Baird, CEO of Henry Schein One. “With Dentrix Ascend offering an innovative suite of management solutions that simplify and automate daily tasks, we are committed to helping each team at Elite Dental Partners work smarter and faster, while improving each step of the patient experience.”

The 12-state DSO has worked closely with Henry Schein One and its parent company, Henry Schein Inc., in creating a streamlined vendor approach to support practices with management software, digital technology, IT hardware, and dental merchandise and equipment.

With Dentrix Ascend and its native digital imaging functionality, DSOs move the practice management software to the cloud to enhance efficiency and security and eliminate time spent on backups, software updates, and server issues. Dentists can access their data at any time, from any location, on any device. It simplifies the management of DSOs, providing a central database and business reporting while allowing individual sites the standardization they need.

“Elite Dental Partners is committed to using technology to help us provide industry-leading support so our practices can focus on providing unparalleled patient care and service,” said Lance Shopovick, President and COO of Elite Dental Partners. “Partnering with Henry Schein One and Dentrix Ascend helps us simplify administrative functions so practices can focus on patients.”

Elite Dental Partners is committed to supporting and inspiring people and communities to smile while living their best lives. They assist dental practices with the non-clinical challenges they face by providing industry proven business management support services and collaborating with affiliated dentists to scale their businesses while improving efficiency and profitability. To learn more about Elite Dental Partners, visit www.elitedentalpartners.com.

To learn more about Dentrix Ascend, visit https://www.dentrixascend.com/.  

Darby Dental Supply, one of the nation’s largest dental distributors, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with onDiem, a national on-demand staffing platform that connects dental practices with verified dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants and front office professionals. This collaboration merges two innovators in the dental space to provide a modern solution for everyday staffing, HR, and payroll needs.

At the core of this partnership is Darby and onDiem’s shared passion for helping dentists thrive through solutions that solve real problems. onDiem uniquely provides value to a two-sided marketplace – connecting dental professionals with flexible employment opportunities while giving hiring practices access to qualified, fully vetted, and on-demand employees.

“The future of temporary staffing in the dental industry relies on a modern, flexible approach, which onDiem provides on a national scale,” said Michael Caputo, President of Darby Dental Supply. “With this partnership, Darby customers will have all the tools necessary to implement hiring workflows that they can grow with, not grow out of. Alongside the team at onDiem, we look forward to transforming the way dental professionals hire and look for work.”

Now available to Darby customers at a discounted rate, onDiem makes it easy for practices to search for qualified, pre-vetted dental professionals within their community. Dentists can seamlessly hire temporary employees without having to worry about compliance, onboarding, payroll, and benefits – which is all handled directly by onDiem to save time and money. On the careers side, job seekers can use onDiem to find their next opportunity and enjoy the benefits of flexible work schedules at pre-determined hourly pay rates.

“At onDiem, we are changing hearts and minds about how staffing and payroll get done,” said Joe Fogg, Founder and CEO of onDiem. “Our partnership with Darby reflects our shared entrepreneurial spirit and goal of proactively solving everyday problems for both dental practices and dental professionals. By taking the hassle and worry out of paying temporary staff, onDiem helps dentists stay compliant so they can focus on what’s most important to them – growing their business and ensuring patients have ready access to high quality care.”

While paying temporary staff as independent 1099 contractors is not new to the dental industry, most dentists don’t realize the risk of this practice. onDiem ensures all temps are covered by malpractice and workers compensation insurance and meet local state requirements – protecting practices from any legal or compliance issues. The platform also offers free temp-to-perm conversion for those interested in retaining the temporary employees they hire.

Just as dentistry is constantly evolving, so is the onDiem platform. By working closely with customers to understand their rapidly changing needs and pain points, onDiem is continuously tweaking their product and building upon their suite of offerings to grow with them. Among the platform’s latest innovations is ClearPay – a tool that gives transparency to the cost of temporary staffing. ClearPay eliminates the mystery of what it really costs you to hire a temp safely by providing a full breakdown of what you pay for each shift. The company also recently introduced the onDiem OneShift Guarantee, allowing practices to subscribe to the service risk-free. With the OneShift Guarantee, practices pay nothing until they have filled their first shift.

This partnership further enhances Darby’s growing suite of solutions from industry partners, all carefully curated to provide holistic value for dental professionals.  

Medicaid | Medicare | CHIP Services Dental Association (MSDA) today announced the first-ever national Medicaid Artificial Intelligence (AI) dental program initiative, introducing as itsinaugural partner Overjet, the leader in dental Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Aiming to advance quality, policy, and efficiency through innovative AI strategies, MSDA will design and implement the Medicaid Dental Program Artificial Intelligence Learning and Action Collaborative with the goals of improving operational cost-effectiveness resulting in improved beneficiary oral healthcare.

MSDA’s collaboration with Overjet establishes the first-ever foundational learning framework and curricula for the use of AI in Medicaid dental program administration. Participants will learn how the use of AI will increase efficiency, especially in claims processing, and will improve payment integrity.

“MSDA is pleased to be partnering with Overjet to help establish the de facto standard of operation for modernizing the claim workflows for Medicaid dental program administration,” said Mary E. Foley, Executive Director of MSDA, who brings over 20 years of experience in federal and state oral health policy. “By increasing efficiency, lowering the costs of claim reviews, and improving program integrity, Medicaid programs will be able shift administrative costs to expanding and improvingdental benefits for members. Overjet is a wonderful partner who has demonstrated rich knowledge, understanding and proven expertise of AI to effectively transform Medicaid dental programming.”

Overjet’s advanced AI-enabled claims review platform, Claim Intelligence, is already in use by most of the largest dental insurance companies, covering over 75 million Americans. “Overjet’s mission is to improve oral health for all, and we are honored to be chosen by MSDA as a partner,” said Wardah Inam, CEO and co-founder of Overjet. “We look forward to supporting MSDA’s efforts in advancing quality and access to carefor all Medicaid beneficiaries. Not only is MSDA a proven advocate in helping states find innovative solutions that increaseefficiency and effectiveness for programs and services, MSDA advances data-driven policies aimed at improving health and healthcare equity for Medicaid beneficiaries.”

MSDA and Overjet will introduce the dental AI initiative across every U.S. region, kicking off the multi-state educational collaboration in over eighteen states. To learn more, contact mfoley@medicaiddental.org. 

The American Academy of Implant Dentistry­­­­ (AAID) is actively involved in both legal and grassroots actions seeking to enable credentialed implant dentists nationwide to be recognized as specialists.

Last month, the states of Michigan and Oregon officially signed and agreed to respective settlements. This means that AAID-credentialed dentists (Fellows and Associate Fellows) and American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry (ABOI/ID) Diplomates are now able to advertise their credentials publicly.

“These landmark decisions could not happen without the support of AAID members,” said Carolina Hernandez, CAE, AAID executive director. “Their continued engagement allows us to act on behalf of credentialed members in matters like this nationwide.”

For more information on the Michigan decision, read the settlement.

For more information on the Oregon decision, read the settlement.

The AAID is engaging in such activities in multiple other states and has, as in Michigan and Oregon, successfully enacted change in Texas, California, Florida, Iowa, and Indiana.

In a proof-of-concept study, researchers from the School of Dental Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science shows that a hands-free system could effectively automate the treatment and removal of tooth-decay-causing bacteria and dental plaque.

To read more, click here: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-dental-engineering-shapeshifting-microrobots-can-brush-and-floss-teeth.

Reflecting their keen focus on the customer experience and their high confidence in the quality of their sleep appliances, Panthera Dental launches a new warranty designed to exceed customer expectations in its scope and simplicity.

Panthera Dental (Quebec, Canada), a global leader in CAD/CAM implant solutions and dental sleep appliance development, has issued a new and improved warranty for sleep devices. The new 360 Warranty not only warrants all sleep devices supplied to be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of 36 months from the date of shipping, but also promises to replace any device free of charge in case of in-mouth material breakage that is not the result of any modifications that could alter the normal use of the appliance.

In addition, for the first 60 days from the shipping date, Panthera Dental will replace any device free of charge, no questions asked, and throughout the 36-month warranty period, if a patient needs to replace their appliance for any other reason, it will be supplied at half price.*

“Warranties are generally too long, complicated and vague. We developed our new 360 Warranty to be succinct and easy to understand for all Panthera Sleep customers and patients,” said Beatrice Robichaud, Co-Founder and VP Marketing & Customer Experience at Panthera Dental. “The high quality and durability of our sleep appliances allows us to offer real peace of mind, and as always we aim to do it with a simplicity that we know our customers love.”The warranty is further evidence of Panthera Dental’s commitment to exceeding customers’ expectations; a further enhancement to a service that produces customers’ sleep appliances within 8 business days of receipt of order.

Both Panthera Dental’s D-SADs, the Classic and X3, have FDA 510(k) clearance for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, bear the CE mark, and comply with the Canadian Medical Devices Regulations.

Discover this new one-page warranty at www.pantherasleep.com/warranty

* Not applicable for lost appliances, or when new impressions are required. Panthera Dental sleep devices are medical devices regulated by the U.S. FDA, Canadian Medical Devices Regulations SOR/98-282 and EU Directives 2007/47/CE. Therefore, all devices replaced must be returned before or after replacement.