Is there room in the Australian market for a new clear aligner system? Southern Cross Dental has three good reasons why it does.

By Danny Chan

Few dental labs, if any, can boast 35 years of experience servicing Australia’s orthodontic community or claim 10 years of providing treatment planning support and organising educational programs for clear aligner dentist providers. Southern Cross Dental (SCD) celebrated both milestones last year.

Just as the confetti begins to settle, the dental lab is already heralding their support of a new clear aligner system: TrioClear. This is exciting news coming from a lab that has reviewed and provided treatment-planning support for over 15,000 clear aligner treatment plans.     

TrioClear is a brand new clear aligner system, developed by SCD’s parent company, Modern Dental Group (MDG). The Group’s Hong Kong-based team is responsible for all the system’s development, case design and manufacture. 

“Although the product is new, it builds and improves on a number of concepts already in the market,” says Dr Albert Sharp, General Manager Clinical at Southern Cross Dental.

“The market for clear aligners is growing rapidly, and we see aligner treatment becoming a standard for most general dentists. We see a gap in the market for a truly great innovative aligner system, available at an affordable price made possible by the Modern Dental relationship.”

TrioClear offers a three-step clear aligner solution that uses clinical simulation software to accurately predict alignment and movement in advance. According to the company, TrioClear’s three-step solution allows more movement per step than most other systems. Allowing a quicker, high quality result with fewer attachments and stains.

The trays progress from soft to medium to hard, with aligner thickness (0.5mm-0.6mm-0.7mm) increasing in correspondence to days spent per set (4-7-10 days).

“The unique 3-step approach is the ultimate in patient comfort and predictability without compromising the results,” Dr Sharp enthuses.

“There is a huge comfort advantage for patients to start off with a softer layer before progressing to medium then hard. It really helps those ligaments stretch and initiate the bone remodelling in the most gradual way possible. Also, fewer attachments helps.”

Thanks to TrioDim Force, the aligners stay in place with few attachments. TrioClear uses carefully designed and placed TrioDim divot spots to create highly targeted rotation forces.

Despite offering similar benefits to other clear aligner systems on the market, Dr Sharp says SCD can provide support services to TrioClear at more competitive prices.

“In general, it is more competitively priced than other premium systems for a like case. To have our own line of aligners allows us more flexibility with pricing and promotions to our customers.”

SCD has had a long-standing relationship with Invisalign, providing both treatment planning and training support for the popular aligner brand. Dr Sharp was one of the first general dentists in Australia to be accredited for treating patients with the Invisalign System and for many years was the primary presenter for the Invisalign Training Course for GP dentists.

But the experienced clinician maintains that there is no conflict of interest.

“SCD is still a distributor, and a big fan of Invisalign, and we will continue to support that product. Trio Clear is a great alternative option for those dentists who wish to use that instead.”

Dentists and orthodontists can also look forward to a fast and efficient workflow. They may submit intraoral scans or traditional impressions to TrioClear, along with a prescription form they will need to fill. TrioClear would review the files, prepare a treatment plan and send it back for approval. The trays are 3D printed in medical grade FDA approved materials.

An optional advanced feature for root simulation – available to all practitioners with access to low dose CBCT technology – is offered for cases where predicting clinical crown movement is not enough. Ideal for cases that have poor root configuration or thin buccal bone, the feature allows predicting root movement and limitations with accuracy.

“The fantastic option to integrate a cone beam study of bone and root anatomy can help the dentist plan more accurately and safely,” Dr Sharp adds.

As Southern Cross Dental charts a new course in the clear aligner space, they have also opened up an avenue of choice for Australian dentists. If practitioners are looking for a reliable solution backed by the right expertise and experience, that’s what Dr Sharp says he and his team have put on the table.

“SCD has over 10 years experience in teaching and supporting dentists in the clear aligner space. We will continue to support their Trio Clear cases and provide options catering to their level of confidence,” he says.
​
“Some will prefer to do all the planning themselves. Other dentists will prefer some extra treatment planning assistance, and we have the expertise to guide them through this.”
 

What would a safe practice look like in the post-pandemic future? Vatech Australasia gives a tour of its “human-oriented innovations” to help dentists transition into the New Normal practice.
 
By Danny Chan
​
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dental practice has been navigating various measures put in place to safeguard the health and wellbeing of their patients and staff.
 
In so doing, they are coming to terms with what has been called the New Normal, which involves a rethink of how a practice is being managed daily – with particular emphasis on hygiene and infection control.
 
During this critical transitionary period, Vatech Australasia has provided a list of essential products and services – from its comprehensive range of “human-oriented innovations” – to assist the Australasian dental practice on the road to recovery.
 
Extra-oral x-rays the way to go – Vatech’s Premium Panoramic Solutions
 
To minimize the risk of transmission, several global organisations, including the American Dental Association, have recommended the taking of extra-oral radiographs where possible – because as the Association puts it, “intraoral techniques may induce coughing”. The Royal College of Surgeons of England suggested that “oblique lateral (extraoral) radiographs may be employed where this facility is available.”
 
Vatech’s OPG units are built to assist with easy and efficient radiographs.
 
In times like these, their fast-scan times, versatile capture modes (partial pano, bitewing, bitewing left, bitewing right, etc.) and easy patient positioning features do more than simply promote efficiency. They allow your staff to get accurate diagnostic results while minimising contact with patients, hence reducing their exposure to infection risks.
 
Vatech’s proprietary Insight Pan feature, with its 41 multi-layer PANO technology, provides depth-added information. It is the classic example of how technology can help to reduce the number of intraoral x-rays taken without compromising your diagnostic ability.
 
Less referrals improve patient safety – Green CT
 
The Green CT is Vatech’s kid- and eco-friendly 3D CBCT. Its Green Technology –embodied by its low-dose, fast-scan and superior image quality – is something that every dentist can appreciate.
 
As a child-friendly imaging equipment, the Green CT allows rapid scans and flexible patient positioning without compromising image quality or patient comfort. Again, this translates into an overall fast and efficient radiographic workflow that minimises patient contact.
 
As importantly, having a Green CT unit installed in-house has the added advantage of eliminating patient referrals to radiography centres. Apart from the obvious convenience factor, having an in-house 3D imaging facility dramatically reduces your patient’s exposure to infection because they don’t have to travel to multiple places for their dental treatment.
 
Breath of fresh air – EzPure UV
 
On 7 July, the World Health Organisation acknowledged emerging evidence of airborne Covid-19 transmission, following an open letter signed by 239 scientists in 32 countries, urging the agency to take the matter more seriously.
 
The issue of in-office air-quality contamination is now new, but the COVID-19 airborne threat would likely be more acutely felt by dental patients in the coming months and years. 
 
Designed with the dental environment in mind, the Vatech EzPure UV is an air-purifying solution that helps to protect against the invisible enemy.
 
Equipped with 4 UVC lamps, the germ-fighting innovation boasts a high and efficient treatment capacity at 120m^3/hour. It uses Ultraviolet Radiation at controlled wavelengths to perform intensive microbicidal and virucide activity on numerous microorganisms.
 
More importantly, it is safe for use. The shorter wavelengths of the UVC means the rays are particularly effective at killing airborne pathogens, yet are safer for people because they are absorbed by the proteins in the outer layer of dead skin cells before reaching the DNA in the living cells.
 
An article in the World Economic Forum looking at the occupations most exposed to COVID-19 risk, unsurprisingly, found dental hygienists to have “one of the riskiest non-hospital jobs during a pandemic”. Dentists are near the top of the list.
 
By using Vatech EzPure UV, you are protecting your most important resource – you and your staff.
 
Pro-active and advanced customer service – Remote check-up
 
In keeping with social distancing protocols, Vatech is providing advanced services including remote check-up service.
 
Even before their customers turn to them for help, the company has taken the pro-active approach by contacting them and assisting them regarding the safe use of their products. This is important during the lockdown period when certain equipment may be used less frequently or have missed their maintenance cycles.
 
Through the remote check-up system, Vatech has been checking the usage history of its products and offering tips on using their products in a smarter and safer way.
 
“It is important for manufacturers to develop ‘untact’ (online) service methods to maintain high quality service regardless of any sudden challengeable situation,” says Esther Lee, Managing Director at Vatech Australasia.
 
The ‘untact’ service, enabled by smart digital devices and advanced technologies, is a new concept of facilitating customer encounters without the need for face-to-face contact.
 
Accessible training – E-learning Centre
 
To promote contactless training, Vatech has established its E-learning Centre on Facebook exclusively for its users.
 
“Facebook is easily Australia’s most widely used social network, which more than 80 per cent of Australian adults visit. We wanted our users to visit our learning platform easily with less sign-up barriers, so established our E-Learning Centre on this popular site,” says Roy In, Sales & Marketing team manager at Vatech Australasia.
 
Through the easy-to-navigate online Centre, dentists can find software demonstration videos of actual clinical cases such as implant treatment, TMJ, wisdom tooth extraction, and so on. They can also find positioning guide videos to capture X-ray images more clearly and safely.
 
Taking the necessary precautions
 
During the launch of the Vatech Assurance Program last year, Esther was commenting on how the company was taking the preventive approach in product training.
 
“The idea is to build a training program that helps dentists predict what may go wrong and taking necessary precautionary steps to make sure that they don’t,” Esther explains. “Why wait until it’s too late if you can nip it in the bud?”
 
In the same way, Vatech is playing a constructive role to their partners and customers during the pandemic crisis.
 
They are highlighting the ways in which their innovative products and services can usher the Australasian practice into a COVID-Safe work environment, and by providing the kind of reliable support that is badly needed in a time of uncertainty.
 
Just like their maxim for maintaining an Vatech equipment, a COVID-Safe practice is ultimately one that takes the necessary precautions – now, before it’s too late.
 
For more information, contact Vatech Australasia (1300 789 454).

By Danny Chan
 
Dr Derek Mahony is a world-renowned Registered Specialist Orthodontist and expert in Dentofacial Orthopaedics who has trained thousands of dentists. He is also the Owner and Practice Principal at Full Face Orthodontics & Dental Sleep Medicine, a group practice based in NSW with six locations.
 
In this interview excerpt, Dr Mahony shares his insights on what orthodontic practices can do in advance of lowered restriction levels in the post-coronavirus environment.
 
Most, if not all, of the ideas and examples shared by the Specialist Orthodontist are drawn from pre-existing and enhanced infection and hygiene control protocols adopted in his own clinics:
 
1. Call patients
 
We make the effort of ringing every patient to say that we have re-opened and inform about the changes that they can expect. We’ve got a prepared script/checklist that our staff use when making these calls.
 
The calls are designed to:

• Reassure patients by providing an overview of our sterilisation and sanitisation procedures.

 

• Point them to our social media posts and emails to help them stay informed of latest practice updates.

 
2. Book short appointments
 
With 5000 patients in active treatments, we’re making short in-person appointments (each lasting about 5-10 minutes) to provide them an update, evaluate where they are in their treatment, and advise on what the next step is.
 
This way we’re seeing all of them without too much of a delay. We have stopped our operations for six weeks now and the patients are getting a bit antsy.
 
3. Re-organise office

• Most orthodontic clinics have an open plan in which multiple chairs are positioned right next to each other. Due to social distancing rules, our dental chairs are moved apart by a minimum 6-foot (1.8 metres) distance.

 

• Re-organised our waiting room such that all the non-essential items – like magazines, toys, coffee/tea station, etc. – are stowed away. This is to minimise the potential spread of infection through contaminated objects so anything that people are prone to touch is put away.

 

• Limit certain procedures in the office. For orthodontists, the only procedure that we do that has the potential to generate aerosols is the removal of braces, so we’ve put a hold on that for the moment.

 

• Incorporate the use of a new electric motor handpiece (for removal of braces) because it generates lesser aerosols than a high-speed handpiece.

 

• Upgraded waterlines using ozone, which effectively provides sterile water in every dental chair.

 

• Stagger the scheduling of patients in such a way that abides by social distancing regulations.

 

• All patients need to sanitise their hands at the sanitisation station located near the entrance of every clinic, before entering the premises. 

 

• Patients are asked to rinse their mouths with a 1% hydrogen peroxide rinse that reduces the bacterial flow of saliva.

 

• Instead of checking in via a computer terminal at the clinic, which is our usual practice, patients now check-in via a text message – usually done in their cars. We also respond via text to inform them when it’s their turn to come inside. 

 

• We see a lot of young patients who are accompanied by adults. To maintain social distancing measures, we now limit each appointment to allow only one adult per child.

 

• We’re now using N95 masks, which is an expensive change (from $1– $10 per mask). The clinicians and nurses are required to change an outer mask for each patient they see, and an inner mask every hour.

 
4. Pre-screening
 
Before patients come to the office, we will pre-screen them over the phone.
 
We ask patients whether they:

• Have recently participated in any large gatherings.

 

• Travelled outside of Australia.

 

• They or any member of their family have been sick or had a fever in the last 14 days

 
We would consider re-scheduling anyone who answers ‘yes’ to these questions. The only exception applies to high-school students answering the first question, because some children were still going to school during this period of time.

Combining ergonomics, reliability and aesthetics in a very competitively priced package, Swident’s Friend Easy has all the makings of a BFF

By Danny Chan

The dental unit has been an indispensable tool of a dentist’s trade since the dawn of the teeth-fixing profession. Gone are the days when dental patients received treatment in modified versions of barber chairs. Today’s dental units come in an assortment of colours, constructions and configurations. Amazingly, an ever-growing dental armamentarium has done nothing to diminish the central role played by the dentist’s chair, whether as the surgery’s centrepiece equipment or in the daily functions of the practice. To say that the dental unit is a dentist’s ‘best friend’ is hardly an exaggeration. 

Just like a friend, choosing a dental unit comes down to a personal choice. There is no one-size-fits-all chair, which explains why dentists still agonise over chair selection in a seemingly saturated dental unit market. Still, every now and then, you come across a dental chair that strives to serve a broader market – offering more ‘friendship benefits’ than what the price tag suggests.

Swident’s Friend Easy is the aptly named treatment unit that combines the key attributes of ergonomics, reliability and aesthetics in a very competitively priced package. In other words, it has all the makings of a BFF.

If a Europhile lurks inside of you, you’d be pleased to know that the Swident chair boasts Swiss Precision and Italian Design. Swident is a manufacturer and designer of innovative products that are durable and easy to maintain.

Dr Peter Wilkinson, Owner of Wilkinson Orthodontics, is someone that found all the attributes he wanted in a Swident chair. Last year, the Specialist Orthodontist celebrated 15 years of establishing his Gold Coast practice that offers traditional outside braces, Incognito lingual braces and Invisalign.

Operating out of two purpose-built practices – one located on Ashmore Rd in Benowa and the other on Discovery Drive in Helensvale – Wilkinson Orthodontics has grown from a team of four to its current strength of 22. 

Opened in October 2019, the Helensvale Practice is a double-storey, 450-sqm Specialist Clinic with five clinical chairs located on the lower level and two consultation rooms upstairs as well as an onsite dental laboratory. Having an onsite and dedicated orthodontic lab technician allows the practice to offer custom-made appliances and the ability to make immediate onsite adjustments as needed throughout treatment.
 
The Gold Coast practice purchased their first Swident Friend Easy chair from Ampac Dental in 2018 before moving to the Helensvale location. They installed another two Swident Friend Continental delivery system chairs the following year after the new building had opened.
 
Dr Wilkinson’s reasons for making both purchases boil down to the unit’s user-friendliness and straightforward functions:
 
“Due to our clinic being open, we needed a compact chair that was aesthetically pleasing since they are always on show. Functionally the chairs are simple to use and, according to our dental maintenance technician, parts can be easily sourced.”

Whether you choose the Traditional or Continental delivery system, the Swident unit comes equipped with a well-balanced arm that provides smooth manoeuvrability. The operator has access to a control panel with four distinct user programs that manages all of the unit’s functions.

The dentist table on the Swident Friend Easy is equipped with Luzzani triplex syringe; one high-speed fibre optic line, one low speed line and space to accommodate a scaler. An optional second fibre optic line can be configured. The unit also comes with: Faro LED dental light (optional wall or ceiling mounted lights are available); pneumatic foot control that allows progressive regulation of the micro motor as well as spray and chip blower.

Regarding patient comfort, Dr Wilkinson compliments the ergonomic design: “The patient headrest easily adjusts and supports the neck. It is easy to adjust the lay down position and program this into the touch pad.”

To fit into his open-planned clinic, Dr Wilkinson wanted a chair that has a small footprint and "wasn’t bulky”.

"The Swident chair ticks this box as well as being aesthetically pleasing," he attests.

The smaller price tag of the Friend Easy was also a decisive factor, says the Orthodontist:

“Initially price played a large factor in the process. In Orthodontics we don’t require a lot of the features available on most dental units. Ampac dental were able to customise our order and provide us with a dental delivery system that suits our requirements at a competitive price.”

The Gold Coast Orthodontist says the purchase decision was helped by Ampac’s “exceptional customer service and support” from the outset.

“Their product knowledge and punctuality in communicating from enquiry to installation has been excellent. They tailored a package to suit our needs with no aggressive sales pitch – they really put us first as customers.”
​
Dr Wilkinson’s satisfaction with the Swident chairs and Ampac’s service is instinctively conveyed by his consideration to replace the practice’s existing chairs with new Swident units in the future – when the former units have reached the end of their lifespan. Sounds like another dentist has made a new best friend.
 
 

AVANT Dental Leaders challenges the “business-as-usual” mindset of dentists left behind the technology curve
 
By Danny Chan
 
What’s in a company name? It’s often the first point of differentiation between your business entity and those of your competitors. It also reflects your corporate identity, which means that it should succinctly capture the outlook, ethos or function of your business.
 
That is true of Avant, the lab formerly known as Australian Dental Lab. Most commonly used as a subset of the term “avant-garde” – defined as “new and experimental ideas and methods” – the new moniker suggests a breaking away from old ways of doing things and taking them to another level. This name change reflects the bold direction the established lab of 40-plus years has embarked on.
 
Besides an embodiment of their future-oriented business plan and outlook, Richard Salter, Avant’s Managing Director, says there’s another practical reason for the name change:  
 
“Most brands in our space have the words “dental lab” in their names and many get abbreviated like ADL. We wanted to define our own position in the market.”
 
Richard believes that in step with building brand awareness, Avant must also ensure a smooth transition for existing customers.
 
“We have very strong relationships with our current customers, some of which have been sending cases to our team for over 40 years. We leverage 40-plus years of experience and relationships to always treat our customers as the first priority.”
 
As well as helping dentists adapt to an evolving marketplace, the rebranding exercise heralds Avant’s enthusiastic adoption of cutting edge digital equipment, business processes and delivery platforms. 
 
Ian Feigen, Avant’s General Manager, says the growing impact of digital dentistry precludes dentists and labs from having a “business-as-usual” mindset:
 
“High quality dental materials like Zirconia are increasingly being made with CAD milling and 3D printing in mind. Digital technology is revolutionising the way dentists prepare and transmit their cases while enhancing the speed and accuracy with which cases are being processed and delivered.”
 
“Dentists and dental labs that remain on the old paradigm will find it harder to compete. Whichever industry you’re looking at, the trend tends to favour the more tech savvy – and the dental industry is no exception.”
 
One of Avant’s responses to the tech revolution is to partner with a Chinese lab, which Ian claims is one of, if not the most, digitally focused manufacturing labs in the world. Based in Shenzhen, the Mainland’s high-tech hub, the lab’s level of technological sophistication is difficult to match or replicate in Australia.
 
“Due to the sheer size of their international volume, output and manpower, our Chinese manufacturer can afford to invest in the very latest and most advanced equipment available.”
 
“That’s the kind of leverage that Avant will use to support Australian dentists who are looking for high quality products with speedy turnarounds.” 
 
Richard proffers that not only labs are bracing themselves for the digital impact, dentists too are required to reinvent and adapt:
 
“From the way they market themselves to how they on board a patient to how they capture an impression, dentists must embrace technology, or they will be left behind. Patients assume the best dentists will embrace this technology.”
 
Outsourcing dental work to emerging economies like China remains a sticking point, especially with regards to the question of quality control and technical oversight. Both Richard and Ian contend that times have changed.
 
“30 years ago, the offshore labs were not as good and used inferior products. That is not the case today. Modern digital lab processes have levelled the playing field to the point where you would find increasingly negligible quality differences between digitally-equipped manufacturers,” Ian explains.
 
Richard adds: “This digitisation has meant that offshore providers through greater scalability and access to technology and materials have surpassed the quality of what can often be produced onshore. Avant gives access to this. Dentists must embrace this change and pass on these advantages to their patients.”
 
Still, in terms of quality control, Avant leaves nothing to chance. Local lab technicians check every case before it reaches the customer. This serves as a final checkpoint to provide customers an additional layer of assurance, as with production-side QC stipulations.
 
“Although the quality of work at the offshore lab is very high, we stipulate to all the manufacturers that they must use the exact same products and materials as we use in our own labs. All these products must have accreditation certificates that conform to international standards,” Ian emphasises.
 
To fully embrace the opportunities and cost benefits that outsourcing provides, Richard believes, demands a shift in mindset:
 
“The question of outsourcing must be viewed in the context of a dental lab and their relationship with dentists. Dentists must be open-minded to modern technology and materials and think more-so on a global scale.”
 
“Globalisation and technology have opened up the ability for a dentist to send a dental restoration case digitally to China, America or Europe in minutes – what in the past would have taken a couple of days.”
 
To help dentists navigate a dynamic business environment, he believes that Avant customers have a distinct competitive edge. Banking on the lab’s scalability, quality products and assurance as well as close client communication – led by Ian, formerly a Ceramist with 43 years of experience – Richard supports his claim with dollars-and-sense reasoning:
 
“Quality restorations means patients will be happy. Serviced by, and access to experienced technicians saves critical clinical time which, in turn, saves money. Competitive pricing allows dentists the flexibility to be more competitive or increase margins.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gallant Autonome is a fully integrated dental unit that practice owners with limited floor space have been dreaming about. 
 
By Danny Chan
 
The feature “plug-and-play” has never been used to describe the attributes of a dental unit – until now. That’s right. Imagine a dental unit that practically works out of the box, with no complex installation process necessary. The Gallant Autonome is a dental unit that does not require connections to air supply mains; vacuum mains; water supply mains; and sewerage system. The truly standalone unit includes a built-in compressor, suction system, aspirator and container for secretions. Housed within a soundproof cabinet, the oil-free compressor and suction system is exceptionally quiet.


Judging by the main features alone, there are two scenarios that immediately spring to mind where this chair would be a great fit:
 
Scenario One: If space comes at a premium cost to you, this high-tech Italian dental chair offers a unique space-saving solution that can also potentially save thousands in annual rental expenditure.
 
Scenario Two: If new space for a non-plumbed suite suddenly opens up in your clinic, you no longer need to engage a plumbing expert to extend the existing pipe-works into the room – which entails yet more savings. All this dental unit needs is an Australian standard 240-volt power plug.
 
Tecnodent is the Italian chair maker of Gallant Autonome. Founded in 1966, Tecnodent has a long tradition of chair designs for the dental/medical market that are renowned for their fine Italian craftsmanship. Tecnodent purportedly pioneered several innovations, including: Seamless upholsteries, knee-break seats (Linda Chair); as well as memory foam moulded upholsteries without seams.
 
In case you’re not entirely familiar with Tecnodent, perhaps you would be with the ensemble of European brand-name products that the unit comes integrated with:
 
Dürr Dental: Amalgam separator CAS 1; filter and place selection valve; Dürr Comfort assistant block with large and small suction hoses and extension capacity with any instrument; intraoral camera; modular suction tips; suction hoses (11mm/17mm)
 
Bien Air: Brushless micromotor
 
Satelec: Ultrasonic handpiece
 
Luzzani Dental: Suction unit with a bactericidal filter mounted in the hydroblock ; Minilight 6-way syringe with hot/cool water, air and spray.
 
Ekom: Oil-free compressor with a stainless-steel body, 5-litre corrosion-resistant tank and an automatic condensate drain
 
Tecno cer: Ceramic swivel spittoon bowl with flush and electric glass refill
 
Mectron: LED polymerization light
 
These branded wares are housed within a 10mm-thick, glass-reinforced polyester shell, alongside other modular parts like: 2-litre clean water system; 6-litre water tank; 5-litre capacity for secretions.
 
The sleek modern appearance of the chair is accentuated by the glossy surface of the ceramic cuspidor with anti-bacterial coating and luxurious Italian upholstery. Available in two versions, dentists can select between the “Sting” dental chair (available in suspended and floor-mounted models) or “ECO.next” dental chair (floor mounted version). Both versions offer a great selection of colours and upholstery to provide users what the company calls “chromatherapy”.
 
For all its whiz-bang tech and pleasing exterior, the biggest drawcard of the Gallant Autonome is undoubtedly the fully integrated solution it offers. That is certainly the feedback from Dr Kevin Morris, Specialist Periodontist at Northern Periodontics & Implants.  Dr Morris worked as general dentist for 15 years before becoming a Specialist and currently co-owns NPI, a six-location group practice with two other periodontists.
 
He purchased the Gallant Autonome from local reseller INZ Dental for his second permanent clinic location in South Morang, an old 200-sqm residential house that was converted into a single-chair practice. To avoid damaging the rental property with a view for future expansion, Dr Morris found the Gallant Autonome tailored for his needs.
 
“I believe INZ Dental is at present the only supplier of fully integrated dental chairs in Australia that features built-in suction and compressor.”
 
“With this chair, under-floor plumbing is not necessary which represents some savings in terms of build cost.”
 
Pleased with his purchase, Dr Morris is impressed by the “great chair ergonomics and operator comfort”, while surprised by the small footprint, being “only slightly larger than a “traditional chair””.
 
The periodontist is just as complimentary about his buyer’s experience:
 
“(INZ Dental) is a very attentive and responsive company. Their after-sales support is excellent and they offer honest advice. The price of the chair is VERY (emphasis Dr Morris’) competitive. The installation was fast with minimal delays. The chair looks great and was well installed.
 
“I like to support emerging businesses to ensure that there is competition in Australia. Both Borys and Nadiya (owners of INZ Dental) are fantastic to work with.”
 
As well as great support, he reiterates the main feature that makes the Gallant Autonome the ideal chair:
 
“I believe the chair can fit a normal size dental clinic very easily. The fully integrated system, along with all the equipment, is compatible with Australian connections.”
 

SDI embraces broad-ranging reforms while staying committed to local manufacturing
 
By Danny Chan
 
There comes a time in the life of every company the need to reinvigorate and refocus its business for the future. This applies to even the most successful companies from Netflix to Amazon to Apple, all of which have famously undergone major transformations to keep up with technology, customer trends and market changes.
 
In the dental orbit, change is afoot for one of our industry’s most celebrated companies: Australia’s very own SDI is in the midst of a big transition. If you have been paying attention, you would already have noticed significant changes made to its product images, brochure design and packaging – right down to logo design. They stem from a total rebranding exercise that extends from SDI’s corporate look and feel through to all of the company’s major product lines and marketing collateral.
 
More than a cosmetic makeover, Adrian Atyimas, SDI’s Sales Manager for Australia and New Zealand, says the company is implementing ongoing and broad changes across the business spectrum: 
“SDI is committed to continuous improvement and optimising outcomes and has identified several opportunities across the business to achieve these goals; from changing reporting structures and streamlining production processes to creating new roles and functional teams, recruiting new talent and harnessing and upskilling the talent that lies within.”

“As a global business we are implementing technology to standardise information sharing and processes to enable us to simplify communication and logistics within and external to our business. We are bolstering the foundations of our business in order that we achieve our short, medium- and long-term vision: Pioneering and driving the science of dentistry.”

It is not an exaggeration to claim SDI as one of the most beloved homegrown companies in the region; its evergreen product lines always find a ready and appreciative audience in Australian dentists. To the Aussie dental community, SDI will always be the company that gave us such familiar brands like Pola and Riva. Even as these products continue to thrive at home, we forget that they are also well received overseas. Until, of course, we are reminded that 90% of SDI’s indigenous production is exported and sold into 110 countries.

The Pola professional teeth whitening range, for example, continues to lead both here in Australia and across several global markets, most notably the UK. Adrian adds that Pola’s Australian marketing gained considerable traction from cross-platform exposure this year:

“Our partnership with the Miss Universe Australia pageant has enabled us to market the Pola brand through social media channels to combat ineffective, poor quality and misleading OTC products, whilst educating the importance of visiting the dentist for a professional whitening result,” Adrian says.

Meanwhile, the Riva range of GIC’s continues to grow with Riva Light Cure, which he adds, is “a real standout in innovation providing clinical, economic and processing benefits underpinned by several unique features.”

Referring to their composite range as “the sleeping giant of (SDI’s product) categories”, Adrian highlights two aesthetic lines: Aura, the simplified high-end range; and Luna, the company’s universal vita shaded range.

“Both these lines have a growing clinical following both across Australia and New Zealand and across other key global markets.”

Of course, the biggest question regarding SDI’s ongoing reforms is whether they will impact Australian dentists and if customers can expect new offerings?

Adrian began his response by emphasising the company’s proud Australian roots – backed by their insistence to locate an R&D base in Melbourne.

“We have a world class, highly trained and educated team of scientists that are continuously working on our pipeline of new products.”

Beyond R&D, Adrian believes that being a local manufacturer actually delivers “tangible benefits” to Australian customers:

“We can provide products with the longest possible shelf life and minimise backorders. Without expensive import costs, we are able to pass on the savings directly to our customers to provide exceptional value across our range of manufactured products.”

The local advantage also applies in the arena of continuing education, where SDI harnesses its global network of clinical educators to host regional education and product training courses, featuring the likes of Professor Laurence Walsh, Dr Marcelo Alves, Dr Andrew Brostek, Professor Edward Lynch and most recently Dr Linda Greenwall.

“Our aim is to provide education and training supported by the latest clinical science whilst providing new techniques and clinical protocols to overcome clinical challenges and improve and optimise clinical outcomes.”

As for new product rollouts, he effuses: “We are currently launching our latest flowable composite Aura Easyflow to complement our Aura restorative composite range. The range offers easy shade matching, strong mechanical properties and high visibility on radiographs.”

“We are also launching Zipbond, our new Universal Adhesive, that offers protection against clinical variability by providing consistent bond strengths across all dentine and enamel bonding techniques.”

Not forgetting the company’s better-known product lines, other upcoming releases include categories like Glass Ionomer Cements (Riva), teeth whitening (Pola) and small equipment.

“However, these new innovations remain ‘top secret’ at the moment. Suffice to say, we will have some exciting new products to announce over the coming years.”

Circling back to SDI’s proud “Australian Made” stance in light of its ongoing transition, we ask whether it’s strategically viable to continue making products locally. Despite wide-ranging challenges facing Australian manufacturing, the answer remains emphatically positive:

“We absolutely pride ourselves in being Australian Made and to clarify, we manufacture our products on-site in Bayswater Victoria from the raw ingredients right through to product dosing and packaging,” Adrian attests.

“We remain viable for several reasons: We are a learning organisation that embraces continuous improvement; we continue to innovate our product offering; and we are able to produce high quality products that are able to and continue to be globally competitive. As a further insight we actually manufacture for overseas companies under their own brands.”

When I interviewed SDI’s CEO Samantha Cheetham in 2016 – two years after she assumed the mantle from her dad and SDI Founder, Jeffery Cheetham – she briefly mentioned that her team would be preparing SDI for “the next level of growth” but couldn’t reveal too much at the time.
 
Fast forward to present: With SDI’s transition in full swing, Adrian sheds light on the broad impetus:
“In such a global marketplace with disruptive technologies and changing business models, companies need to be always looking ahead to the next change in order to remain relevant to all stakeholders,” he explains.
“Any company that wants to remain relevant in the current global business environment must review its strategic direction on a regular basis.”

These future-oriented improvements, the ANZ Sales Manager insists, will by no means alienate SDI’s entrenched customer base:

“Whilst we have changed our Vision and Mission statements, we have not moved away from the founding principles that have guided our great company to where we are as a global manufacturer of high quality dental products.”
“If anything, we have simply better articulated our vision: Pioneering the science of dentistry and our mission; to innovate dentistry for better health.”
 

Impression Healthcare Limited introduces Seazona – an online portal for ordering custom-fitted oral devices. 
​
By Danny Chan
 
Offering custom-fitted oral devices at your dental practice can add tremendous value to the service menu. At the same time, it can also become a headache if:

1. The ordering process is cumbersome;
2. Communication with the lab technicians isn’t smooth or
3. Product quality is erratic due to poor oversight or dubious quality control.

 
Those apprehensions may be down to the fact that most dental labs specialising in crown and bridge prosthetics only ‘dabble’ in the delivery of specialty oral devices. For their oral device orders, some labs operate more like courier services, dispatching cases to and collecting them from an overseas facility, with the more responsible ones adding a cursory checkpoint before the case returns to the dentist.
 
For practices that prefer teaming up with labs that solely focus on oral devices, then an outfit like Impression Healthcare Limited certainly fits the bill. IHL is a Victoria-based company that specialises in the delivery of some of the most popular custom-made oral device products on the market, including: Sports Mouthguards; Night Guards for Teeth Grinders; Teeth Whitening Trays; and Mandibular Advancement Splints and Devices.
 
And if their product specialisation isn’t enough to put your mind at ease, the fact that IHL is a fully Australian owned and run lab that only delivers locally made wares might. As an added measure of trust and stability, the ASX-listed company consistently sets the bar for price competitiveness and fast turnarounds.
 
IHL’s continuing efforts to build on top of its esteemed reputation, says George Leighton, Group Marketing Manager, Impression Healthcare Limited, keep it responsive to changing production and customer trends.
 
“Our systems and processes are under constant scrutiny, enhancement and improvement to ensure the highest quality product is produced for all our customers with both overall unit cost and production timeline in mind.”
 
“We understand that production timeline is an important factor for dentists and thus running a fully staffed Australian-based lab ensures both efficiency and security for dentists across Australia. We use Australian lab technicians and products are made here in our Melbourne Lab. This ensures that we are able to quality check throughout several stages of production along while ensuring we are being as efficient as possible.”
 
Insistence on quality materials and timely deliveries, George says, has been the company’s trademark difference. Adding a digital feather to her cap, IHL recently rolled out an online ordering portal to enhance the customer’s buying experience.
 
The new order management software portal system, named Seazona, allows dentists a convenient platform to log on and place orders 24/7. Once signed in, dentists can easily access and manage their customer account: See invoices, check prices, view orders’ progress within the lab (including a due date) and track all shipping data in real-time.
 
Once the impression has been taken or scanned, the dentist only has to order the product through the online portal and the rest is pretty much taken care of. It’s even easier for dentists utilising digital scans: They simply order the desired product and upload the scan – no shipping required. 
 
For all traditional impressions, the customer service team would organise for impression courier pick-up. With Seazona, the dentist can keep tabs on the progress of their order throughout all production stages. The finished product would then be sent back to the dentist and ready for fitting on patient.
 
The Seazona portal is available for ordering IHL’s entire range of popular oral devices. While athletic and sports mouthguards enjoy brisk sales in the lead-up to winter sports season, George says the company’s year-round best sellers are their Night Guards, Occulsal Splints and Mandibular Advancement Splints.
 
One of IHL’s most popular and successful products is the affordable Silensor-sl® anti-snoring device. Manufactured in Melbourne, the product boasts quality-grade material that precisely conforms to teeth and gums for a comfortable fit – the key criteria for a successful patient outcome. According to Impression Healthcare, this popular oral device has “helped over 4 million people stop snoring”.
 
Designed for bruxers to wear during sleep, The Knight Guard is a custom-fit night plate available in a variety of thickness and soft/hard materials so that dentists are better equipped to treat individual symptoms.
 
“Our products are not only comfortable and easy for the end customer to use. With Seazona, we complete the ‘peace of mind’ purchase for dentists by making it simple to place their orders while ensuring a highly customisable solution for their patients along with order and production tracking.”
 
In the rare circumstance that the product does not fit properly, George says dentists can find assurance through their helpline manned by local lab technicians.
“Besides having  your orders processed and delivered faster than if dealing with an overseas supplier, our customer service teams are integral and central throughout the entire process and always on standby to answer your requests in a timely fashion.”
 
If that still doesn’t work – which again, George stresses, is a remote possibility – the company is more than happy to receive another impression from the customer and remake their product at no extra charge.
 
For more information on Impression Healthcare Limited, please call 03 9090 7993 or email to admin@impression.healthcare.
 
 

“The most important person to you should be the one sitting right in front of you.” Brendan Guthrie lives by this patient care maxim that has earned him the type of loyal support that most dentists only talk about.
 
By Danny Chan
 
The recent sale of Dr Guthrie’s practice presented an opportunity to gather the Brisbane dentist’s thoughts and reflections on what it takes to maintain a decades-spanning dental career and practice. Speaking to the personable Practice Co Principal, you immediately realise that customer service ranks high on his topical agenda.
 
“It’s amazing to see how much we spend on marketing to bring a patient through the door and yet we often do not treat the patient that is already there in front of us as the top priority,” Dr Guthrie bemoans.
 
Over the last 25 years – out of 33 years spent in total as general dentist – Dr Guthrie has been serving as one of the partners and Practice Principals at Toowong Dental Group, a thriving 50-year-old practice operating in Brisbane’s inner suburbs. Together with fellow TDG stalwart Brendan Nasser, the partners recently sold the family-focused surgery to Ekera Dental while choosing to remain as practice principals. 
 
Apart from the financial aspects, the three main reasons Dr Guthrie and his partner picked Ekera Dental over half a dozen other contenders were: (1) Autonomy to run the practice as practice principals; (2) TDG’s branding to remain largely unchanged after transition; and (3) Ekera’s unassuming style of leadership.
 
Not surprisingly, all three points converge on a subject matter close to Dr Guthrie’s heart: Customer service. Indeed, as the dentist ruminates over his dental career and business, the thing that keeps coming up is his clarion call to “put the customer (patient) first.”
 
What may sound passé on a practice webpage is proof in the pudding for someone like Dr Guthrie. Not only can he point to a loyal patient following at TDG, some of his most ardent supporters have been following him since his first practice location in Annerley some 30 years ago.  
 
More tellingly, the beloved dentist currently treats the teenage offspring of several long-time patients, who themselves were only kids when he first attended to them. How many dentists can say that?
 
That’s probably why Dr Guthrie proffers that private dentists have much to gain from cultivating kiddy clientele early on in their careers. The most organic way to expand your patient base, he avers, is to look after the little ones well. Over time, parents tend to follow the clinic that takes good care of their children, typically out of sheer convenience but also because their confidence in your skills and professionalism is pegged to the impression that you leave on their children.
 
Dr Guthrie believes his enduring career has something to do with his graduate posting in the Cairns countryside as a fledgling dentist back in the 1980s, where he and 5 dental auxiliaries attended to over 4,000 primary school going children, including those from State and Aboriginal mission schools.
 
Although he had grudgingly accepted the posting – the prospect of working with kids was an unwelcome challenge at the time – Dr Guthrie believes that’s where he found his feet as a child-friendly dentist, and from there, went on to build an enviable career as a trusted family dentist
 
Once again, pulling the frame of reference back to customer service, he continues:
 
“You simply cannot afford to neglect any segment of your customer base. If you value and invest time in your patients – including the youngest and smallest of them – they will give you the support in return.”
 
“Conversely, if you don’t value your customers enough, you are not only selling them short but also devaluing your own business in the long-run.”
 
Interestingly, Dr Guthrie’s warning against taking customers for granted actually played out in real life, except with the roles reversed.
 
When TDG was put on the radar of several acquisition suitors, including big-name corporate entities, Dr Guthrie and his business partner had rightly expected the level of attentiveness that they were accustomed to giving their own customers. As it turned out, only one of them – Ekera Dental – was up to the mark.
 
Revealing that they were initially on course to sell their practice to a larger corporate, Dr Guthrie says they had a change of heart in the eleventh hour due to the company’s slowness in responding to their inquiries.
 
“If this company isn’t giving us the due attention before the sale, imagine the kind of treatment we would get if we were to continue working under their management?” he recalls asking Dr Nasser, before the duo decided to revisit Ekera’s offer.
 
Ekera’s congenial management team clearly stood out in stark contrast to the rest. In other words, their demeanour and working style closely aligned with the partners’ positive vision of a reliable acquisition firm – and future colleagues.
 
“Not only was Tony Coulepis (Ekera’s CEO) and his team highly responsive and attentive to assist all our enquiries, their “business as usual” model gave us the assurance that we could carry on as practice principals without unnecessary top-down interference when running the clinic’s day-to-day affairs.”
 
The “business as usual” model further extended to TDG’s image branding following the handover: As far as patients are concerned, nothing has changed. This way, the practice principals stay on as “the face” of the practice, thus ensuring minimal disruption to the painstakingly cultivated dentist-patient relationships – something the partners take earnest pride in.
 
Having the right attitude to customer service, Dr Guthrie presses on, is critical not only to the longevity of the business. He believes it has also impacted the culture of Toowong Dental Group as a whole. 
 
“There have been a total of 8 partners throughout the 50 years TDG has been in existence. To my knowledge and it’s certainly true from my own 25-year experience here, the partners and their entire staff team have always enjoyed a good working relationship with minimal fuss.
 
“Due to our culture of ‘putting the patient first’, we have found it easier to set aside our own petty idiosyncrasies, perhaps in service to a higher calling.”
 
Having relinquished his former role as TDG’s co-owner, Dr Guthrie now has more time to spend with Kerri, wife of 33 years, and four adult sons. Outside the family, the keen offshore fisherman can usually be found stealing moments with his “second wife” – a boat that he has owned for nearly 15 years – or occasionally firing up the BBQ pit for buddies from his close-knit neighbourhood that has remained together for over 20 years.
 
For the sentimental dentist, perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the post-sale experience is to know that his beloved patients remain in good hands.
 
“Thankfully, Dr Nasser and myself have found a like-minded partner in Ekera Dental, who shares our commitment to strive for the patient’s well-being. For as long as the ‘patient-first’ ethos remains, we know that TDG will continue to do well long after our own departure.” 

Find out how NSK’s Dentalone (a.k.a. “Dentist’s Office Mobile Cart”) performs in the field for expanding mobile dentistry company 
 
By Danny Chan
 
Imagine how much more exciting and fulfilling your dental work would be if your “clinic” is not confined to the four walls of the surgery but could literally be transported to wherever your expertise is in demand. That was one of the motivations that led Caitlin Wainrib to start a risky business venture in mobile dentistry but as the interview for this article progressed, it soon became clear that it wasn’t the main one.
 
Resisting well-meaning opposition from family and friends, the gutsy Oral Healthcare Therapist set up Mobile Dental Clinics Australia (MDCA) not simply to free herself from the physical confines of a clinic – though she admits feeling “a little claustrophobic” at times – but in response to a growing realisation that certain demographics were underserviced by dental professionals, particularly that of aged care home residents.
 
Caitlin felt the dental plight of seniors living in aged care facilities more acutely than most, as it was the subject of her thesis as a Bachelor of Health Sciences undergraduate. The subject got personal when her own grandmother who was in respite care found it “practically impossible” to receive timely or affordable help for a broken tooth, despite her accessible location in Metropolitan Melbourne.
 
Although the world of mobile dentistry couldn’t have been more distant or foreign at the time, Caitlin was determined to unravel its possibilities from a logical standpoint that “mobile dentistry provided the most straightforward and affordable solution for delivering critical dental services to those who were missing out on them”.
 
To say that Caitlin made good on her research findings would be an understatement. They practically laid the foundation for a business that grew from a modest three-person team in 2016 to a nation-wide mobile dentistry network that today employs 80 staff, including over 30 dentists. Besides providing convenient and affordable dentistry to aged care facilities – which account for 90% of the work they do – MDCA also delivers much-needed oral care services to schools, workplaces, remote areas, prisons and many more places with limited dental access.
 
A significant portion of Caitlin’s research was devoted to finding the right type of equipment that could support the rigorous demands of an itinerant dental team. Taking a less trodden path also meant that she couldn’t turn to peers or Internet forums for help when technical issues arose for her mobile-specific dental equipment, hence it was imperative for her to locate a reliable supplier that could provide critical technical support at the drop of a hat. After trying out several products and suppliers, hitting several bumps along the way, the dental entrepreneur says she has found the ideal equipment and supplier in NSK.
 
The Japanese dental MNC, better known as a high-end handpiece manufacturer, is also the maker of Dentalone. Marketed as “the dentist’s office mobile cart”, Dentalone is created as a portable multi-instrument equipment box for dentists who practice on the go. More specifically, Dentalone caters for operative or preventive dentistry in the field such as humanitarian, home care, schools, army and hospitals.
 
Inside Dentalone’s compact luggage-like cart, the practitioner has access to a wide range of NSK’s high precision instruments including: Illuminated LCD control panel Multi Pad; autoclavable brushless NLX nano micromotor; integrated multi function ultrasonic scaler Varios170 with LED light; VA2-LUX-HP handpiece; 3-way air/water/spray syringe with LED light; saliva ejector; 500ml water tank; and 1-Litre waste container.
 
For an outfit like MDCA that on any given day, dispatches eight mobile dental teams to disparate locations with unpredictable weather and work conditions, via various modes of transport (including vans, ferries and planes), Dentalone has proven itself to be a rugged and reliable companion on the road.
 
“There’s no doubt that we work the (Dentalone) units very hard, pushing it to the limit. For a travelling dental team, we need them to be robust and the instruments must hold up despite the “rumble and tumble” nature of our work,” Caitlin attests.
 
“The fact that they have “survived” bears testimony to Dentalone’s excellent build quality.”
 
The MDCA teams are booked solid six months in advance so any last-minute cancellations due to equipment failure would entail huge financial costs plus it’s not as easy or feasible to reschedule patients when the operation sites are not permanent. Facing such stringent demands, the reliability of NSK’s products and support team is not taken for granted, Caitlin stresses:
 
“In the three years that we’ve been using NSK handpieces, not a single one has broken down and we use more than a hundred units of them. The robustness of these products is critical to the smooth delivery of services that we render on a daily basis.”
 
In terms of technical support and customer service, Caitlin sums up NSK’s performance in one word: Phenomenal.
 
“Whenever an equipment breaks down, we get instantaneous response from NSK’s technical team. Where necessary, they will even courier a part to be delivered the next day just to service your product.”
 
“We have had bad experiences with other suppliers and all I can say is that to compare their ineffectual after-sales support with NSK’s is like comparing apples and oranges – there’s just no comparison whatsoever!”
 
MDCA is currently trialling a more portable iteration of NSK’s mobile dentistry innovation known as Viva 8. Caitlin says of the nifty lightweight model, tipping the scales at 9.5kg:
 
“The fact that they are able to pack an entire surgery into a box that only weighs 9.5kg is a marvel, yet we benefit from its practical application every day. When you’ve got young women lugging these carts onto planes and ferries, having to load and unload them, the increased portability is a much appreciated feature.”
 
Ultimately, whatever improved convenience must be passed on to the patients themselves, Caitlin says, not forgetting the roots of her calling to start MDCA.
 
The same way the licensed pilot made a point to absorb the costs of flying out to under-serviced locations, she emphasises the need for the business to remain true to its volume-based model: “Make less per patient but see more patients.”
“I believe that if you practice ethically and professionally, success will surely follow. If I had gone into business with expectations of becoming a millionaire, I don’t think I would have derived as much job satisfaction and fulfilment as I have.”