	Committed to training dental lab professionals, PTC Dental offers a wide range of not only e-learning opportunities, but also books and hands-on courses. The digital side of the business includes online training courses focused on anatomy. These can be between 20 minutes and an hour, vary in price, and can garner a lab technician anywhere from 3 to 8 CE credits. The site, 

, also features multimedia training modules that labs can buy. These include multimedia course materials with matching digital video demonstrations on DVD.

	What made you decide that entering the realm of digital education was an important step?

	It is a way to reach people worldwide with our training content. In the past we have offered only complete training systems. Our online CE content has allowed us to reach out to anyone and everyone in the dental field, from dental technicians to dental assistants.

	In creating your digital offering, what were some of the primary needs you hoped to achieve?

	Through our 30 years of training dental laboratory technicians we discovered that the common denominator behind low quality and consistency is not having a common understanding of the technical fundamentals, and among those fundamentals the most prominent is the understanding of anatomy and terminology.

	What do you feel sets your online CE apart from others in the field?

	There’s really nothing like it in the field. In particular, the constant review and correction until the student can demonstrate their understanding of the subject is key.

	In your opinion, what are some of the benefits of online education versus traditional live courses?

	It’s immediate. You don’t have to wait to get the physical product in hand.

	It’s affordable. By paying only for that exact piece of knowledge that you wish to acquire, it’s available to anyone.

	The computer is a patient tutor. It never makes you feel inadequate, and it is never grumpy or cross with you. When you don’t understand something, the program shows you the error, shows you the information that you missed or forgot, and gives you another chance at it.

	With a human teacher a student can sometimes be embarrassed to ask for more help. If the class moves on before you’ve mastered the topic you may be left behind. With the computer, you can click a button to review any section before moving on.

	What do you see as the next step in advancing the popularity of online CE?

	More content, as well as the always improving capabilities of the hardware, which will allow for larger and clearer demonstrations.

	As vendors in the dental industry continue to roll out online products the notion of online CE will become more and more normal. Right now we find that the majority of people who contact us about our online CE do not know how it works.

	Where can our readers go to find more information about the education archived or upcoming on your site?

Articles

 Committed to training dental lab professionals, PTC Dental offers a wide range of not only e-learning opportunities, but also books and hands-on courses. The digital side of the business includes online training courses focused on anatomy. These can be between 20 minutes and an hour, vary in price, and can garner a lab technician anywhere from 3 to 8 CE credits. The site, ptcdental.com, also features multimedia training modules that labs can buy. These include multimedia course materials with matching digital video demonstrations on DVD.

Education evolution: PTC Dental

	(Bogota, NJ) – Dentists and technicians from across the country recently traveled to Beauty & Beast Dental Lab in Bogota, New Jersey to attend a hands-on Korean-language course on ceramic layering on alumina and zirconia substructures.

	Led by VITA Certified Instructor, Rodrigo Monsano from Kim Esthetic Dental Lab in Brazil, each attendee learned how to create esthetic restorations using the VITA 3D-Master shade system and photographic references. A brief lecture covering the theory and practice of proper shade determination and porcelain layering with VITA VM7 and VM9 porcelain was presented, followed by the production of single  centrals and molars with alumina and zirconia cores.

	Vident has been a provider of innovative dental products since 1985 and is the North American subsidiary of VITA, manufacturer of the internationally recognized Classical Shade Guide, 3D-Master Shade System, VITA Easyshade Compact digital shade-taking device and quality VITA restorative materials.

	To register for a course or for information on a specific course, call Norma Tinajero at 800-828-3839 x238. For information regarding Vident and VITA products or courses call 800-828-3839 or visit Vident’s web site at 

 (Bogota, NJ) – Dentists and technicians from across the country recently traveled to Beauty & Beast Dental Lab in Bogota, New Jersey to attend a hands-on Korean-language course on ceramic layering on alumina and zirconia substructures.

VITA presents hands-on ceramic layering course

	Over the past 35 years, Jensen Dental has grown from an alloy company into a comprehensive provider of quality products, systems, education and services across the entire spectrum of the dental lab industry, including a digital solution. Jensen has a reputation for providing world-class education including Jensen Education Day during the Chicago Midwinter meeting, tradeshows, hands-on courses and online webinars.

	In talking with customers, we discovered that they were looking for alternative means to access education in light of the economic climate, and the inability to justify the travel and the expenses associated with education. Education in this industry has traditionally been ‘expensive,’ ‘time-consuming,’ and ‘advanced.’

	We saw a need to provide our customers with relevant education aimed at helping them grow their capability and the efficiency of their lab, delivered in a convenient cost effective manner.

	Over the years, Jensen has built a core competency around educating and helping customers be successful with ceramics, so we translated that capability to include Alloy, Refining, Occlusion and Investment, and delivered it through Live and Recorded Webinars. We’re doing things that are untraditional as it relates to education. It’s not just about technique, it’s about identifying the right solution and bringing it to the customer in a way that can have the most direct and immediate impact on their laboratory.

	Jensen Webinars are all real-time and allow participants to address questions that are important to them. Each webinar is registered with the NBC and CE Broker, and eligible participants receive one CE credit per webinar.

	Typically, we provide several Webinars over the course of a month, and have a library of over 40 Recorded Webinars that are available on-demand and cover a variety of topics. 

	We also have a more structured e-curriculum through our Virtual Study Club (VSC) Program. The VSC consists of a series of Webinars hosted over several weeks, all focused on helping customers become more successful. If the customer doesn’t benefit then the Webinar is irrelevant. The Webinar is simply a medium to exchange information and ideas to trigger new ways of thinking.

	The entire lab staff can learn first-hand without the prohibitive costs associated with taking the entire team offsite. You’ve got everybody in the room, so there’s immediate gratification. Many of the participants in the Jensen Webinars project the course to their entire lab team to maximize the learning in an efficient and effective manner.

	We plan on developing our platform with video to make our Webinars even more interactive and dynamic.

 to view our library of Recorded Webinars as well as to view our calendar of upcoming Live Webinars

	How long have you been hosting and/or organizing your own live CE courses independent of tradeshows?

	Jensen has always relied heavily on educating our customers. In 1993, when we added Willi Geller Creation Porcelain to our product portfolio, we recognized the need for organized hands-on courses.

	How would you describe your company's signature event?

	The annual Jensen Dental Education Day during the Midwinter Meetings in Chicago is often quoted by customers as a must attend educational event for dental technicians and laboratory owners. The knowledge attendees gain can be used to hone their technical skills, grow their capabilities and grow their laboratories.

	What do you hope this experience provides for the dental laboratory professional?

	By investing in education, our customers will have the tools and knowledge they need to take advantage of today’s opportunities to position their laboratories for continued success.

	What are dates of the next event (or events) and how can our readers go about getting more information for registration?

	Jensen Dental’s commitment to education and training continues beyond Jensen Dental Education Day. Visit Jensen Dental online at 

 to sign up for Webinars as well as to download educational tip sheets, find out where the next hands-on courses are or to enroll in one of Jensen’s virtual study clubs.

 Over the past 35 years, Jensen Dental has grown from an alloy company into a comprehensive provider of quality products, systems, education and services across the entire spectrum of the dental lab industry, including a digital solution. Jensen has a reputation for providing world-class education including Jensen Education Day during the Chicago Midwinter meeting, tradeshows, hands-on courses and online webinars.

Education evolution: Jensen Dental

	Electronic gadgets and all manner of cutting edge technologies are embraced in Japan in a way not really equaled anywhere else around the planet. The country is known for being a few years (or sometimes decades) ahead of the planet in how they’re using their electronics, and many of the world’s leading manufacturers are Japanese companies with at least some production based in their home country.

	The loss of lives and the toll the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the country in March took on the country’s people and infrastructure were certainly the primary concerns of a shocked world. Rescue and recovery efforts were quickly in place and the world spent a week or so watching in amazement at both the amount of devastation and the way the technologically equipped Japanese people were able to document and broadcast it. Of course the nuclear disaster at the quake-sticken Fukushima Daiichi also kept the world focused on Japan with the tension of a possible meltdown grabbing headlines and becoming a regular presence in cable news scrolls.

	Now Japan is quickly moving from rescue and recovery mode toward rebuilding and an eventual return to normal. However, the impact of a natural disaster this size will be felt for some time and in numerous ways. One of those ways will be how the interruptions at Japanese technology manufacturing facilities will impact supplies, shipments and possibly even the development of consumer technologies including computers, digital cameras, cell phones and of course the smartphones that are really all three of those in one.

	Just days after the disaster, the electronics supply analysts at 

 began issuing reports on the status of manufacturing facilities in Japan. The reports look beyond the finished products to their components and even raw materials used in those components. While iSuppli reported on a range of manufacturing disruptions, the firm predicted few imminent shortages due to large stockpiles of some materials and alternative production sites for many components.

	Still, the impact won’t be a small one. Probably the largest effect comes in the area of semiconductors and the silicon wafers used to produce them. Immediately after the quake the plants that produce 25% of the world’s silicon wafers were offline. With semicondutors being a foundation of just about every technology, and the factories that shut down specifically fabricating wafers for use in flash memory chips, iSuppli said flash memory shortages were possible and a spike in orders followed. However, the companies hardest hit by the quake were able to shift some production elsewhere and production of flash memory is expected to meet demand this year, even as that demand and production capacity continue to grow.

	Other shortages caused by the quake include the manufacture of CMOS and CCD imaging sensors for cell phones as well as the sensors for higher end DSLR cameras which are reportedly in short supply for the time being. Additionally large LCD screens for televisions as well as digital compasses used in Apple’s iPad 2 have also faced production difficulties and shortages. In fact Apple seems to be one of the company’s most deeply affected, as the popular iPads make use of numerous components produced in Japan.

	Supply of the company’s second generation tablet aren’t keeping up with demand and iSuppli recently downgraded their prediction for how many units the company would ship this year by 9%. Of course that still has the company moving almost 40 million tablets, an 163% increase over the 15 million they shipped in 2010. According to iSuppli, Apple avoided a far more severe supply impact by quickly securing alternate sources for impacted components in the quake’s aftermath, even if that meant paying higher prices and upsetting competitors.

	“Apple’s fast action to lock up much of the available capacity of the leading component suppliers has left many competitors scrambling for needed components, particularly touch screens,” reported iSuppli.

	But just as Apple was able to scramble to secure supply lines for the parts it needs to meet the continuously growing demand for its gadgets, other companies will surely find ways to get what they need to build their latest attempts to create and sell millions of whatever the next must have device happens to be.

	Sure they may run up against some constraints, whether quake-related or due to some other factor. But when the parts are being put together to form a gadget of the moment, supply never quite keeps up with demand, and that’s probably by design as a way to continue stoking that demand.

	Apple’s quick action was about saving some of an already healthy profit margin, and the fact the company was ready to make such moves so quickly shows just how fluid and truly global the electronics industry is today. There are certainly going to be some items in shorter supply than planned, but the high tech world moves quickly and in most cases alternatives can be procured when they are needed.

	Japan is still just beginning the process of recovering from one of the biggest natural disasters to hit a first world nation in quite some time. The full impact of the quake and tsunami will continue to be felt and realized for many years, but Japan is far better off than many less affluent and developed countries that have suffered through disasters of a similar scale.

	The event did show that while a massive natural disaster can have a great impact on first world industries such as electronics, the industry is mobile and global enough to withstand such an impact with consumers possibly not noticing or feeling the effects in any real way.

 Electronic gadgets and all manner of cutting edge technologies are embraced in Japan in a way not really equaled anywhere else around the planet. The country is known for being a few years (or sometimes decades) ahead of the planet in how they’re using their electronics, and many of the world’s leading manufacturers are Japanese companies with at least some production based in their home country.

dlpmagazine.com-2011-04-01

Education evolution: PTC Dental

VITA presents hands-on ceramic layering course

Education evolution: Jensen Dental

Tech Smart: In short supply