Dental Innovator: Zest LODI System answering market need of value and predictability

We talk with Steve Schiess, chief executive officer of ZEST Anchors, about the growing interest in the implant overdenture category.

Q: How have you seen your business evolve over the last 5 years?

A: Clinicians and patients alike are increasingly recognizing implants as a viable and preferred treatment option to missing teeth. This is especially evident in how implant-retained overdenture (dentures retained by implants) treatment has risen, and is one of the fastest growing segments in the overall implant market. More and more people are presenting to clinician offices partially or fully edentulous with ill-fitting traditional dentures and partials.

Frequently, the patient’s chief complaint is his or her quality of life with these non-retained dentures. Clinicians are offering an implant-retained option to satisfy these patients. This edentulous patient population is exactly the demographic that ZEST Anchors Products are tailored to. 

ZEST has tailored our business to this patient population by creating interface compatible LOCATOR® Attachments with a pioneering self-aligning design for more than 350 different implant products. Providing this unique technology across a variety of implant systems has propelled ZEST to be recognized as the premier manufacturer of overdenture attachments.

Q: How has the growing interest in the implant overdenture category shaped your internal product development process?

A: Being an innovator in dental solutions for edentulous patients and repeatedly hearing from clinicians about what a great solution LOCATOR provides their patients focused our attention on identifying new key market opportunities within the overdenture category.

What we found was that the implant-retained overdenture demographic is projected to grow substantially throughout the next 20 years and market research indicated that narrow (less than 3 mm) diameter implants will play an increased role in retaining overdentures. Even today, this type of technology is being used to retain about a third of all implant-retained overdentures.

The LOCATOR Attachment, while currently made for nearly all implant systems, was not available for the narrow diameter implant segment. Recognizing this, we set out to develop a LOCATOR incorporated onto a narrow diameter implant. Thus, the idea of creating a next generation narrow diameter implant system was born-The LOCATOR Overdenture Implant System (LODI).

We used years of collective knowledge in the dental implant market and focused on all the features that were lacking in current designs to create an enhanced narrow diameter implant system designed exclusively for overdenture patients.

Q: The Locator Overdenture Implant System (LODI) has generated a lot of excitement since the launch. What gap in the marketplace were you hoping to fill?

A: In speaking with several key opinion leaders during our research phase, they shared with us their collective experiences with other currently available narrow diameter implant systems- many of which have seen little to no innovation over the last decade.  In the product development stage, the LOCATOR Overdenture Implant was specifically designed to address the most sought after improvements by incorporating the following key features into the LODI System:

The implant is manufactured using the strongest titanium available and has a proven RBM surface. The implant body is tapered and includes self-tapping, cutting edges for easy insertion. The thread design on LODI is unique in the narrow diameter implant market; the threads are aggressive in pitch and gradually widen to the coronal thread terminus to provide increased primary stability.

The LOCATOR Attachment is detachable for simple replacement if tissue height changes or if wear occurs throughout time. It is also the same familiar design that clinicians have used for years, offering dramatically lower attachment height necessary for denture strength and patient comfort when the denture is removed. 

The surgical instrumentation includes easily identifiable laser etched depth markings and drill stops, as well as a simple procedure making osteotomy preparation intuitive and safe while offering the less invasive option of a flapless surgery or the option to create a flap.

All of these features combine together to answer the market need for an implant system designed specifically for patients requiring a cost effective, predictable and long-term implant-retained overdenture option.

Q: Now that it’s been on the market for almost a year, what has been the response?

A: The response has been tremendous and it is clear that clinicians are beginning to realize the unique benefits that a thoughtfully designed, next generation narrow diameter implant system can provide.

We are frequently receiving feedback that clinicians feel LODI is providing them with the ability to tailor the system to the patient rather than the other way around. Denture patients with narrow ridges who refuse bone grafting and have limited finances are definitely the patients that LODI is helping, while providing meaningful benefits to the clinicians who treat them.

FEATURED PRODUCT

LOCATOR^® Overdenture Implant System

With a two-piece coronal design, the LOCATOR^® Overdenture Implant System (LODI) is said to offer a less invasive, predictable and durable implant retained overdenture for patients requiring an effective, cost-conscious technique for securing their dentures.