The IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Council has announced that axpDental Inc. will begin providing IdentCeram certificates to all dental labs purchasing its Zirconia milling block products.

	“We welcome axpDental to the ranks of IdentCeram licensees in the United States,” commented Charles Yenkner, Executive Director of the IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Council.

“Labs, dentists, patients and insurers are all showing increased interest in the make-up of restoration materials,” noted Axel Pomeranz, President and CEO of axpDental. “IdentCeram certificates will provide even more value to our products by supplying important verification of their content, thus enabling labs to add more value to their products – without any added cost.”

	axpDental focuses on providing dental laboratories with products and services that allow them to stay ahead with the latest in scientific advances and market opportunities.

	The IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Council is a nonprofit organization formed to raise healthcare standards through the documentation of alloys and ceramic materials used in dental restorations. For more information about the Council's materials documentation program and other activities, please call 888-577-2634 or visit www.IdentAlloy.org. IdentAlloy and IdentCeram are trademarks of the IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Council.

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    The IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Council has announced that axpDental Inc. will begin providing IdentCeram certificates to all dental labs purchasing its Zirconia milling block products.  “We welcome axpDental to the ranks of IdentCeram licensees in the United States,” commented Charles Yenkner, Executive Director of the IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Council.

IdentCeram Certificates now offered by axpDental

WIESBADEN, Germany-Fascination Ceramics has long been closely associated with Oliver Brix and for the exclusive seminars he has conducted for ambitious dental technicians throughout the world for many years. Now in order to better convey his knowledge and expertise to the steadily increasing number of interested dental technicians, Oliver Brix opened the International Training Center Oliver Brix in Wiesbaden, Germany, in July 2010.

	The courses at the center are designed to showcase how today's modern dental materials more than ever provide the means to create restorations with a true-to-nature appearance. They are necessary because other courses conducted by Oliver Brix are more coveted than ever, due to the increasing demand for high-quality ceramic restorations that are virtually indistinguishable from the remaining natural dentition.

	The Training Centre is housed in the complex of the laboratory center run by MDT Stirn, where the annual appraisal of the best practical exam for the Master Dental Technician certificate in the Federal Republic of Germany, which has been initiated within the framework of the grant awarded by the Klaus Kanter Foundation takes place. This competition is often also referred to as the “Oscar Award of Dental Lab Technology”.

	The intensive seminars will be capped at 6 participants per course. The individual supervision provided-comparable to private tutoring-ensures course participants are able to apply the methods learned immediately in their everyday work.

	The courses offered are divided into the following segments:

	More detailed information about the individual seminars and the course dates can be found at 

 WIESBADEN, Germany-Fascination Ceramics has long been closely associated with Oliver Brix and for the exclusive seminars he has conducted for ambitious dental technicians throughout the world for many years. Now in order to better convey his knowledge and expertise to the steadily increasing number of interested dental technicians, Oliver Brix opened the International Training Center Oliver Brix in Wiesbaden, Germany, in July 2010.

Oliver Brix opens International Training Centre

	PFORZHEIM, Germany-Weiland is adapting its successful veneer ceramics, REFLEX and ZIROX, to the current technical and contemporary requirements. They are being made digitally compatible, can be stored in the C Box, and will provide users with all the freedom that they need. They are now called Reflex dimension, for metal ceramic veneers, and Zenoflex dimension for zirconium oxide veneers.

	In this context, Unlimited Dimensions means that WIELAND has squared the circle of cost-effectiveness, creativity and flexibility for both veneer-ceramic systems.

	In terms of cost-effectiveness, the two single-coat ceramics of the Reflex dimension One and Zenoflex dimension One are starting in a new dimension. They enable time-saving and easy-to-manage coatings with just one ceramic compound and therefore have a high cost-effectiveness potential. It is the same with the Stain- and Body-Stain-Set for the coating of monolithic ZENOSTAR work, as well as metal ceramic and zirconium oxide veneer ceramics. The possibility of a modular configuration also means new users can use this product cost-effectively for the first time.

	Additional modifiers which were previously only available for the veneering of oxide ceramics are now being extended to the metal ceramic, Reflex dimension. This means that an even better adaption between fully ceramic and metal-ceramic work is achieved. The slightly increased intensity of the basic colors with the Zenoflex dimension means that colors are shown more brilliantly in the event of restricted space conditions.

	The visual qualities, such as the fluorescence from depth and a very natural opalescence strengthen the excellent attributes of the new materials. With new modifiers which are similar to mother-of-pearl, Wieland has succeeded in making an additional contribution to the naturalness of anterior restoration.

	With the X-ceramics, flexibility attains endless dimensions. With the C-Box, a compact, ergonomic and trendy design system takes the stage. It represents the centerpiece and a creative storage place for the ceramic materials. This modern ceramics system is compact and limited to what is really necessary and can also be equipped individually.

	Freestyle is just one of the possibilities, however. The ready-made modules make the first-time use of the product easier-depending on laboratory requirements. The dimensions for creativity and cost-effectiveness are endless. Yet all modules and sizes fit into the C-Box.

	It is certain that this ceramic concept doesn‘t just enthuse users during their everyday work. It also offers safety systems such as the REFLEX NP safe for the conditioning of racks made from NEM alloys in order to prevent uncontrolled oxidation processes from occurring. Zenoflex dimension for the veneering of zirconium oxide work contains a changed microstructure with anti-stress minerals (ASM) - to name just a few.

 PFORZHEIM, Germany-Weiland is adapting its successful veneer ceramics, REFLEX and ZIROX, to the current technical and contemporary requirements. They are being made digitally compatible, can be stored in the C Box, and will provide users with all the freedom that they need. They are now called Reflex dimension, for metal ceramic veneers, and Zenoflex dimension for zirconium oxide veneers.  In this context, Unlimited Dimensions means that WIELAND has squared the circle of cost-effectiveness, creativity and flexibility for both veneer-ceramic systems.

Wieland offers new dimensions in porcelain

	When it comes to achieving success in the dental industry, partnerships can be a huge factor. Whether it’s the collaborative relationship between a GP and an oral surgeon on a complex implant case, the cooperation between a dentist and a laboratory technician working on a smile design case, or a dental lab relying on accurate production from a trusted milling center, in every case both parts of the equation focus on their specialty in order to produce the best possible outcome.

	It’s this same spirit that brings dental manufacturers such as Nobel Biocare to form partnerships of their own. The Swiss company has built its global reputation as a leader in CAD/CAM processes and implant solutions, but rather than attempt to expand its expertise into in-house produced materials for finishing their industrially milled restorations, the company instead reached out to industry leaders with its Preferred Partner Program that has solidified close working relationships with VITA, Ivoclar Vivadent and Noritake.

	“There’s a lot of commonality and synergy between the companies in terms of philosophies based in science and education,” said NobelProcera Product Manager Peter Murphy.

	“We really try to drill it down to what’s in it for the end user. It’s all about making patients happy, making doctors successful and making laboratories successful as well,” added Nobel Biocare Senior Product Manager – Professional Marketing Robert Riggs. “We are the leader in what we do, and Ivoclar, VITA and Noritake are clearly the best at what they do as well. It’s nothing but a win for the end user.”

	While Nobel Biocare initiated the partnership programs, they made perfect sense to the other companies taking part. Andy Klein, Laboratory Marketing Manager for Vident, a VITA company, said it basically came down to the fact that while Nobel Biocare creates great frameworks and other products they don’t have their own porcelain to finish off the esthetic and functional restorations.

	“They realized it was not one of their core competencies, and certainly precision CAD/CAM processes is not a core competency of VITA. It’s really a classic case of two heads are better than one. It made perfect sense to become partners in materials.”

	Murphy pointed out that the partnership is about much more than two companies with products and reputations they stand behind. Rather for the two entities to work in concert they needed to have similar approaches to the industry and to the way in which their products are developed and brought to market.

	Of course, in the case of Nobel Biocare and VITA, Klein pointed out that geographical proximity didn’t hurt either. While in different countries, Nobel Biocare’s Zurich headquarters is just 40 minutes away from VITA’s headquarters in Bad Säckingen, Germany. Proximity is just one factor that allows Nobel Biocare and its partners to work closely on a wide range of projects and initiatives.

	“As far as R&D, engineering, product development and the creation of worldwide educational curricula, the opportunities are endless,” Klein said.

	The ties between Nobel Biocare and its Preferred Partners go deep into product development for each of them. Murphy said it is important for everyone to know that the frameworks, copings, abutments and other products that can be produced through NobelProcera will work seamlessly when paired with the porcelains, denture teeth and other products created by partner companies, so while products may be marketed under one company’s brand, they often are designed and tested in conjunction with a corresponding offering from the other side of the partnership.

	“They are connected at the very early stages. It’s not something that’s just folded in at the end. This partnership is something that extends far into the companies,” he said.

	Vident Technical Sales Director Jim McGuire said a very noticeable outcome of this partnership is on display in the precise shade matching available when using NobelProcera produced substructures with Vident’s porcelains. Because they’ve been tested together, labs can use the products from two sources with the same confidence in their continuity that they might have using one system.

	“There’s many combination cases that clinicians and labs do together, and it’s important that they can rely on predictable materials that are cost effective and fit together such as with VITA and NobelProcera,” McGuire said. “Our products are really the end point for Nobel Biocare’s end-to-end solutions.”

	The key to this working so well is that neither company is diverging much from their areas of expertise, Riggs said. VITA focuses on materials development and precise shade performance, while Nobel Biocare is able to focus on the precise medical device manufacturing processes they make available through NobelProcera.

	The collaborative relationship and shared expertise comes into play in more than just product development. Klein said Nobel Biocare will be the sponsor of a Vident panel discussion at the upcoming Lab Day meeting in Chicago in February. The event will bring together Nobel Biocare’s audio-visual expertise and experience running large-scale interactive multi-media with Vident’s hands-on education style to hopefully create a lively discussion.

	“We want to present the best opportunity for customers to ask questions and to get answers that are objective,” Klein said.

	While they continue to solidify their connections with regular meetings and collaborative efforts, neither company is tied completely to the other. While the products and services they develop may be optimized to work cohesively, the partnership is fluid and open, so each company is free to market and promote separately under their own brand and in their own way.

	The bottom line with the Preferred Partner Program is always the customer who will put the products from Nobel Biocare, VITA, Ivoclar Vivadent and Noritake to use in their lab or practice, Riggs said. Just as Nobel Biocare took its time in carefully selecting and solidifying its Preferred Partner relationships, the company is aware that dentists and labs will take a similar approach to choosing the manufacturers they will partner with to find success.

	Riggs said Nobel Biocare sought out the materials partners it felt were the best at what they do, and the most capable of enhancing what can be done through the NobelProcera system. He hopes dentists and labs make a similar consideration when looking for a manufacturing partner to enhance the high quality work they are already doing.

	“What we truly want to communicate is that the dentists and the technicians are choosing us as their CAD/CAM vendor not only because we have selected the very best materials partners, but because we are best-in-class when it comes to automated manufacturing and CAD/CAM processes,” he said.

	Dental Lab Products Senior Editor Noah Levine can be reached at 

 When it comes to achieving success in the dental industry, partnerships can be a huge factor. Whether it’s the collaborative relationship between a GP and an oral surgeon on a complex implant case, the cooperation between a dentist and a laboratory technician working on a smile design case, or a dental lab relying on accurate production from a trusted milling center, in every case both parts of the equation focus on their specialty in order to produce the best possible outcome.

dlpmagazine.com-2010-11-01

IdentCeram Certificates now offered by axpDental

Oliver Brix opens International Training Centre

Wieland offers new dimensions in porcelain

Picking partners