The tool enables actionable plans and transparent timelines for orthodontic treatment financing and payment options

Benevis, a leading dental support organization (DSO) for practices focused on dental care and orthodontics, has rolled out an Ortho calculator to give patients, families, and caregivers a visual tool to understand potential payment or financing options better. The offering ensures cost transparency and clearly articulates customized payment plan timelines. The ortho calculator will be featured across all 20 of their affiliated dental brand’s websites to serve their community members better.

The cost of dental care is often out of reach for many Americans. Orthodontic procedures for cosmetic or oral health purposes, like braces, can cost on average, around $5,500, according to the American Dental Association's 2020 Survey of Dental Fees. On top of that, many families across the country cannot afford to pay for out-of-pocket dental care. This is due to a lack of private or public dental insurance or social determinants of health (SDoH) related issues such as being unable to get time off from work to receive oral treatment.

“The cost of braces has risen significantly in the last decade. Our ortho calculator will help parents understand the financial aspect of getting their child the orthodontic care they need,” said Carl Helton, ortho program director at Benevis. “Whether the patient has insurance, is covered under Medicaid, or is paying out-of-pocket, the ortho calculator will help patients and families understand the terms of their payment plan.”

Benevis' ortho calculator was designed to provide pricing transparency and payment options to help break down barriers to dental care. The tool simplifies selecting a potential payment plan term based on what works best for everyone. Families are then enabled to better plan for orthodontic procedures and arrange for care with their dental homes when the time is right.

"Benevis has proudly worked to establish routine dental care, treatment plans, and dental homes for approximately five million children in underserved communities, with 82% of our youth patients currently on Medicaid or Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). As part of that process, we're pleased to further our support for families by offering a tool that can assist with their financial budgeting," explains Dr. Dale Mayfield, DMD, chief dental officer of Benevis. "By helping to create payment term transparency for orthodontic care, we can ensure patients feel confident about their oral healthcare journeys and that unexpected fees will not burden them."

All Benevis financing options are factored based on the total cost of treatment, insurance coverage including Medicare and CHIP, Flexible Spending Account or Health Spending Account contributions, down payments, and the length of treatment. The ortho calculator payment tool is provided to estimate a potential monthly cost of orthodontic treatment and is offered to the user "as-is." Interest rates may apply depending on the payment terms and qualifying financing options. Families are encouraged to schedule a consultation with a board-certified orthodontist for actual treatment costs. 

Nick Claussen, MBA will Present, “Lasers for Practice Success: How to Leverage Your Laser to Transform Your Business.”

The Academy of Laser Dentistry (ALD), an international, professional membership association, recently announced that Nick Clausen, MBA, will be the keynote speaker during Dentistry’s Laser Meeting, ALD2023, which is taking place on April 21st to April 22nd in Dallas.

Clausen is well known and respected in laser dentistry circles, for his passion for helping dentists optimize their laser use to increase practice profitability and boost ROI on their laser investments. He is the ALD’s Manufacturers Council Chair also the Director of Laser Mastery for Fortune Management. As the owner and founder of Dental Laser Coaching, he worked as a trainer for most of the leading laser companies including Biolase & Convergent Dental.

“We are thrilled to have Nick opening our 30th Anniversary Conference & Exhibition,” said ALD Executive Director Gail Siminovsky, CAE. He shares the passion of our individual and corporate members for changing dentistry for the better with lasers. There are very few people better than Nick to demonstrate how lasers can be utilized in everyday dentistry to boost practice performance and patient care.”

Clausen’s keynote address is entitled, “Lasers for Practice Success - How to Leverage Your Laser to Transform Your Business.” During this session, attendees will learn the following:

• How lasers dentistry can create a better patient experience and better clinical results.

• Optimal laser implementation can also lead to compounded practice growth when done with intention and the entire team is involved.

• How to leverage your laser to increase profitability by attracting more new patients and increasing case acceptance and ‘same-day-dentistry.’

This keynote is especially relevant because dental lasers are unique tools that can be used on multiple clinical applications resulting in more conservative and cleaner outcomes that yield a better patience experience. Laser utilization should also positively impact the practices bottom line. Despite this, transformation doesn’t just happen. In order to achieve all the aforementioned results, the dentist must understand a few things they may have never done before, both clinically and on the management side of their business.

According to Claussen, “Change can be hard for some people. But the change required for laser optimization and transformative results is not harder, it’s just different. I’m excited this year’s ALD annual meeting focus is on ‘Lasers For Practice Success’. This will give dentists proven keys to get the most out of their Laser technology for yourself, your patients and your practice’s economic strength.”

ALD 2023 is two days, Friday, and Saturday, with a pre-conference certification program taking place on Thursday April 20th. On Friday and Saturday morning, the main stage presentations will be a mix of Ted Talk-style sessions and panel discussions. Afternoon workshops will provide a deeper exploration of the morning topics.

“The ALD is changing dentistry. Our conference attendees set themselves above the rest because lasers make dentistry kinder and gentler,” said Simonovsky. “Whether you’re a private practitioner or part of a DSO or group practice, you’ll benefit from the ALD’s 30th Anniversary Conference theme, “Lasers for Practice Success”. For full conference program details and registration information, visit https://bit.ly/ALD2023. 

The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) is happy to recognize the efforts that eight dental professionals have demonstrated as they dedicated themselves to continuing their education and bringing the highest level of responsible care to their patients by becoming credentialed by the AACD.

AACD Accredited status is achieved after completion of a rigorous credentialing process which includes a written examination, the submission of clinical cases for peer-reviewed examination, and an oral examination. The process was developed by the AACD and is the most recognized advanced credentialing program across the globe. The goal of the AACD Accreditation process is to keep the doors of education open and encourage interactions with like-minded colleagues for constant professional growth and to create a foundation of support and collaboration.

The newly Accredited Members are:

Tammy M. Sarles, DMD, AAACD

Christina L. Pruitt, DDS, AAACD

The time and commitment that is required to complete the Accreditation process demonstrates a true dedication to the profession and to bringing the utmost in responsible care to their patients. It can lead to life-changing accomplishments and should be embraced by these driven individuals with pride and a deep sense of accomplishment. They have achieved a level of professional success in dentistry many aspire to, and we applaud their journey.

Becoming an Accredited Fellow member in the AACD is the highest level of achievement obtainable within the Academy. In addition to meeting the rigorous requirements of an Accredited Member, an Accredited Fellow has successfully completed cosmetic dentistry that meets the Accreditation standard of excellence set forth by the American Board of Cosmetic Dentistry for an additional 45 patients. By successfully completing this process, an Accredited Fellow demonstrates a continued ability and sustained commitment to deliver excellence in cosmetic dentistry.

The new Accredited Fellow Members are:

Michael Karlsten, DDS. FAACD

Margarita Aleksanyan, DDS

These newly Accredited and Fellow professionals will be recognized at the 39th Annual AACD Scientific Session, April 26-29, in Grapevine, Texas.

For more information, visit www.aacd.com/CRED.  

The Nassau County Dental Society has announced that it will hold its annual Give Kids A Smile event at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York on February 10, 2023. This will be the society’s 20th year of providing dental exams, oral hygiene instruction, nutritional counseling, fluoride treatments, and sealants to the underserved children in Nassau County. Children identified as having acute dental issues will have their teachers and parents notified and will have treatment coordinated at a later date in local dental clinics and practices. In addition, the Lions Club of Long Beach will be on hand to provide eye exams. All of this is done free of charge by the Nassau County Dental Society’s 350 volunteers that day. This year is gearing up a to be the largest event ever with over 1800 children registered for the event from local schools, making it one of the largest public health events in Nassau County as well as one of the largest GKAS events in the entire country.

In addition to being able to tour the museum, a DJ will be on hand to entertain the children along with costumed characters, including Mr. Met from the NY Mets organization. For many of these children, it is their first dental experience, so the organizers go out of their way to make it a memorable and enjoyable one. In fact, a few years ago, a young dentist wishing to volunteer for the event mentioned that she had attended one of the earlier events when she was a child. The experience was influential and is one of the main reasons she chose dentistry as a career. The society’s event changed her life, as it can do for many of the children in Nassau County by avoiding and alleviating dental pain.

Toothaches are the leading cause of missed school days. One in seven children aged 6 to 12 suffered from toothache pain in the last 6 months. Nationwide, children miss over 51 million hours of school time each year because of dental issues. One study showed that, on average, children experience 17.7 days of pain before they are seen by an emergency dentist or taken to an ER. This also causes their schoolwork to suffer because they are distracted by the pain. The Nassau County Dental Society’s program aims to correct this problem.

Because of the pandemic, the event has not been held at the museum since February 2020. Instead, it was reimagined as virtual instruction along with mini events in one school. However, the society is excited to announce that the event will be back at The Cradle of Aviation Museum this year to help as many children as possible.

The children usually begin arriving around 9:00am and the event is usually over by 1:30pm.

To view highlights from the 2020 event, click here. To make a donation or volunteer for the 2023 event, visit the event website here.

On MLK Day 2023, OrthoFi Helped Its One-Millionth Patient Connect to High-Quality Orthodontic Care

On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2023, OrthoFi confirmed that the one-millionth patient started on its software and service platform since the product officially launched in April, 2014.

“We are both proud and humbled to have reached this milestone,” says David Ternan, CEO of OrthoFi. “Being able to say we helped a million patients across the country access and afford high-quality care is incredibly gratifying for our whole team. It is a testament to the commitment to our mission to start more smiles, and to our partnership with the thousands of customers we serve.”

It was fitting that this milestone coincided with MLK Day, considering it is consistently the highest volume day of the year for orthodontic practices. The One-Millionth OrthoFi patient will be treated by Ste. Marie Orthodontics, located in Opelousas, LA. Dr. Stacy Ste. Marie has been using the OrthoFi solution since 2015, and has started nearly three thousand patients on the platform since going live. To celebrate one million smiles and manifest its mission, OrthoFi will be covering the patient’s treatment fee.

“We were surprised and thrilled to hear we started the one-millionth OrthoFi patient, and grateful for the offer to help our patient’s family with their treatment costs,” says Dr. Ste. Marie. “I've been using the system in my practice since its early days, and I’ve seen it evolve a lot over the years. OrthoFi has helped my practice to grow and to streamline our operations in a significant way, even through unprecedented challenges like the COVID shutdowns a couple of years ago. My practice team and I couldn’t imagine doing what we do without it.”

About OrthoFi

OrthoFi is a tech-enabled, expert-driven solution that helps Orthodontists and Dentists accelerate practice growth by starting more patients and giving them more time to focus on providing exceptional patient care. Our comprehensive portfolio of industry-leading software and service solutions have helped our clients achieve over 10% average year-over-year growth with over two times higher same-day conversion rates than the US national average. Managing over $500 million in active AR, OrthoFi also delivers 42% lower delinquency and 70% lower insurance delinquency vs the average US practice, while also delivering exceptionally rated customer service. With the addition of OrthoBanc, OrthoFi is now the US orthodontic market leader in patient acquisition and revenue cycle management, collectively working with over 2,000 practices across the country and helping more than 3.8 million patients access high quality, affordable orthodontic care. The acquisition of Comprehensive Finance Inc. in 2021 expanded OrthoFi’s reach into the general dental market, and is now serving over 1,500 dental locations with its Abella and Compassionate Finance products. The company has over 370 employees with offices in Denver, CO, Chattanooga, TN and Grapevine, TX and is owned by Accel-KKR, a leading technology-focused private equity firm headquartered in Menlo Park, CA. For more information about the company, visit www.OrthoFi.com. If you are a practice looking to learn more about the OrthoFi solution, visit www.StartMoreSmiles.com. 

DENTALEZ® is has announced the newest enhancements to its line of compressors and vacuums.

Aeras by Ramvac Utility: Reliability and Innovation

DENTALEZ’s Ramvac line of compressors and vacuums are known for reliability and durability. In the last few years, the company has made significant updates to its entire line, in response to the needs of today’s dental practice.

With the latest updates,  the compressors have been upgraded to handle more users to meet the demands of today’s growing dental practices. The compressors are now more efficient and provide more flow to support your evolving needs. The vacuums are flexible, to fit into any electrical infrastructure. And the entire suite of utility options has been converted with smart technology.

● Additional 8-, 12- and 18-user compressors are now available – supporting the largest number of users in the dental market today

● The entire vacuum line is enhanced to be “3-phase,” meaning it can meet all electrical requirements

● Aeras monitoring technology is now standard on all compressors and vacuums, for your total peace of mind

“We’ve made our compressors smaller, more flexible and quieter, now meeting the needs of our larger practices by providing machines that can handle more users, while maintaining all the flow necessary to run their equipment,” says Beth Jones, Senior Product Manager. “And our line of vacuums has undergone the changes necessary to meet the electrical needs of today’s practices. We can literally offer the right vacuum or compressor to a practice of any size and configuration.”

Aeras Smart Technology Comes Standard

Today’s dentists are moving faster than ever before, and would rather focus on patient care than equipment. In response, DENTALEZ has upgraded our entire Ramvac utility line with Aeras smart technology. Monitoring systems embedded in the equipment provide real-time data, 24/7, on a simple, intuitive dashboard to let the user know the health of their system and alert them to any potential maintenance issues. “Knowing that our dentists cannot afford a minute of unexpected downtime, we integrated Aeras smart monitoring into the equipment they rely on most,” says Jones, “and we provide this service at no additional cost whatsoever, to provide our dentists with that additional peace of mind.”

Dental Advisor awards Top Sterilizer to Midmark

Midmark Corp., a leading dental solutions provider focused on the design of the clinical environment to improve delivery of care, today announced its M11 Steam Sterilizer has received a Dental Advisor 2023 Top Product Award.

According to Dental Advisor, its Top Product and Preferred Product Awards are among “the most respected awards created to recognize quality products and equipment, taking into account clinical and evidence-based research to honor the best.”

“We are honored to be recognized for the Top Sterilizer,” says Holly Weaver, marketing manager of instrument processing for Midmark. “We strive to simplify safety for dental practices of all sizes and have designed our sterilizers specifically to be safe, reliable and easy to use.”

With one of the largest chambers of any tabletop autoclave on the market, the M11 can optimize available supply of sterile instruments by reducing the time and effort required for sterilization. The M11 uses a steam-flush pressure pulse air removal system and features pre-programmed sterilization cycles for ease of use, an intuitive LCD display with prompts to ensure quick, confident operation, and real-time safety alerts.

For more information on the Midmark M11 Steam Sterilizer, visit www.midmark.com/dental-m11, call 1-800-MIDMARK or contact an authorized Midmark dealer representative.

Customers can book training sessions with exocad staff via the webshop

exocad, an Align Technology, Inc. company and a leading dental CAD/CAM software provider, announced that licensees can book individual training sessions with exocad’s technical help desk staff. Customers can select from a variety of training topics, including DentalCAD core basics, latest software release feature highlights, system checkups, module tutorials and more.

“We’re delighted to provide basic and advanced courses to new users, as well as long-time customers who want to deepen their CAD design skills and familiarize themselves with the capabilities of exocad’s DentalCAD software,” said Michael Kohnen, global head of application support and education at exocad. “Our personalized training was developed to help exocad customers to build their digital expertise and improve final restoration design.”

exocad software users can purchase courses through the exocad webshop: shop.exocad.com. Courses run from 60 minutes to 12 hours, depending on the topic and complexity. Training sessions are offered in English and German, with more languages to follow. Participants receive certificates after successful completion of the course. 

Donation campaign of the dental technology company and its employees for children with a cleft lip and palate

A check to the amount of EUR 17,000 was presented by Amann Girrbach CFO Jörg Mayer to the representative of the Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe, Stephanie Günther. The dental technology company has already been supporting the initiative for medical aid for children suffering from a cleft lip and palate since 2018. In a joint initiative of the employees and the Management of Amann Girrbach, a further contribution was made at the turn of the year 2022/23 to enable children in a total of twelve project countries to receive surgery and thus have a future.

The dental technology company Amann Girrbach has been supporting the Cleft Kinderhilfe since 2018 in Germany as well as in Austria since 2019, and has already initiated several fundraising campaigns, in several cases together with dealers and customers. As part of a Christmas raffle by employees and with the support of the company's top management, a further donation check has now been handed over: at the turn of the year 2022/23, the proud sum of EUR 17,000 was donated to the Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe. "We are very pleased to be able to give something back to society in 2022/23 as well. It is important to us that we make our contribution and actively live commitment. Since we began our support for the German and Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe, numerous surgical interventions and therapies have already been made possible," says Jörg Mayer, CFO of Amann Girrbach.

Stephanie Günther from the Board of the Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe, who herself is also an employee at Amann Girrbach, was delighted with the generous donation. "I'm doubly happy, so to speak - I'm delighted to receive this fantastic donation check for something that is very close to my heart, and at the same time I'd like to thank my colleagues and our Management for their great commitment. We can really make a big difference with this. To give an example - in the years 2020 to 2022, more than 150 children were helped thanks to Amann Girrbach. After difficult and sometimes rather paralyzing times due to the pandemic, it is wonderful to be able to get back on track and give as many children as possible the prospect of a future. After all, this is not a mere cosmetic correction, but often a matter of survival for the affected children."

About the Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe

The Austrian Cleft Kinderhilfe was founded in 2019 as a partner organization of the German Cleft Kinderhilfe. More than 250 local physicians and therapists in twelve countries are working to provide professional medical care for children with a cleft lip and palate. Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common congenital malformations worldwide. In many countries, the affected children live on the fringes of society and struggle with stigmatization and major health problems, some of which are life-threatening. The principal treatment procedure is surgery to close the cleft. In the project countries, costs for the surgical procedure average EUR 300. Thanks to the Cleft Kinderhilfe, affected children and their families are given the prospect of a life in health and dignity. For more information about the project and donation details, please please visit www.spaltkinder.org.

Patent design underpins today’s commercial dental image analysis AI platforms

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded VideaHealth, the trusted dental artificial intelligence (AI) platform, a patent for its dental AI image recognition technology.

In 2018, well before dental AI was commercially viable, Florian Hillen, CEO and founder of VideaHealth, designed the technology encapsulated in Patent no. 11,553,874. VideaHealth’s patent covers dental image feature detection powered by machine learning that helps dentists detect dental diseases on images and matches those findings to patient records. Hillen’s vision and early work act as the cornerstone of dental AI today as VideaHealth’s patent, at the most basic level, is the critical concept that drives today’s dental AI technologies.

“When I was still a researcher, I saw how impactful AI was becoming for everything from customer service applications to financial market use cases and to healthcare. It was then that I realized how powerful AI insights could be in dentistry when applied to X-ray analysis,” said Florian Hillen, CEO and founder of VideaHealth. “AI-powered X-ray analysis serves as a data-driven assistant to dentists, bringing a higher level of confidence to both dentists and patients. Having my early vision recognized by the USPTO is gratifying and reminds me of how far we have come since those early days.”

Since 2018, Hillen has designed and launched VideaHealth’s commercial dental AI platform, which contains FDA-cleared medical algorithms that improve disease detection and foster stronger patient communication.

VideaHealth’s AI Today, In Action

With a mission to improve the lives of millions of patients worldwide, VideaHealth continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in the dental industry. VideaHealth’s dental AI software platform, Videa Assist, delivers AI-powered X-ray analysis based on millions of data points to help dentists better identify patterns of disease and recognize areas that require further intraoral investigation.

The Benefit to Today’s Dentists

With AI adoption accelerating in dentistry, dentists can now leverage vast amounts of data to improve diagnostic abilities and treatment plan recommendations. With VideaHealth’s AI platform, there is next to no effort required from the dentist to gather these insights – they are directly integrated into the dentist’s workflow. As a result, dentists can deliver more individualized and efficient patient care effortlessly. Dentists using VideaHealth’s AI technology today are seeing increases in case acceptance rates, and patients are receiving an elevated standard of care as levels of understanding and trust are strengthened.

The company is working with industry partners like Henry Schein One and dental support organizations (DSOs) like 42 North to actively deploy its technology across the U.S. A provider of best-in-class customer support, the VideaHealth team guides change management processes to help clinicians and DSOs fully realize the benefits of diagnostic dental AI for accelerated practice growth and superior patient outcomes.

For more information about the patent, including images, charts and tables, please visit: https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/11553874