Dental Tribune South African Edition

7Press ReleasesDental Tribune South African Edition - August 2014 3M Espertise: Driving Innovation into Clinical Success JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: 3M ESPE, a global leader in dentistry, has been named as the most innovative company in worldwide dentistry for the ninth consecutive year. At the company’s recent Espertise event, aimed at educating professionals on aesthetic solutions in modern dentistry, Dr Rainer Guggenberger, a Corporate Scientist at 3M ESPE, gave insight on how 3M brings innovation to life, from idea to clinical success, as well as on the future of African dentistry. 3M invests significantly in research and development with an annual spend of over 1.7 billion US dollars dedicated to innovative product development. 3M ESPE, the dental division of 3M, has two dedicated R&D laboratories, one in Germany and one in the United States, with more than 200 dedicated developers that have, together, created over 2 000 dental products, ranging from anaesthetics to polishing. Reflecting on the conceptual development of innovations, Dr Guggenberger remarked that: “Innovation and developing high-quality products is not just a flip of a coin or a coincidence; it is the result of combining creativity, technology and customer intimacy, along with a large portion of process discipline,” further adding that an idea is worthless until it is realised. Part of 3M ESPE’s global success lies within the integration and synergism of 3M’s different global technologies, half of which are used in the development of dental products. ‘Nanotechnology’ provides a great example for this technology power. 3M invested about half a billion US dollars upfront to become a technology leader in this field, a perfect basis to develop the first nanofilled composite in dentistry. During the development process of every product, 3M ESPE utilises three key factors to drive clinical success: firstly, ‘safety of professionals, patients and products’; secondly, ‘function’ – both physical and aesthetic; and thirdly ‘economy’, which considers the price of material, ease of use and longevity of product. 3M ESPE strives to achieve the best possible combination of these three factors in all of its products. Another attribute of 3M EPSE’s market success is a result of extensive procedural and in-practise testing during the product development phase, which sometimes takes more time (and money) than the development itself. The needs of the global dental industry are ever-changing and have pushed 3M to realign its dentistry goals accordingly. Increased life expectancy and stronger focus on aesthetics, for example, demand that restorations need to last longer while maintaining their aesthetic appearance. 3M ESPE achieves this with its Filtek™ Supreme Ultra Universal Restorative, based on Nanotechnology, as mentioned above. Furthermore, dentists and patients want various procedures to be done faster, which has led 3M ESPE to introduce easy to use cements and adhesives as well as a range of digital materials and scanners which can standardise and add more accuracy to the process. “3M EPSE is able to develop products that fulfil these changing needs by not only relying on key opinion leaders, but by conducting regular dentist-shadowing to discover first-hand where dental processes can be improved,” comments Dr Guggenberger. This tailoring of dental products and procedures to address real-life pain-points is mirrored in Africa, specifically where markets are price-sensitive. “In these markets, one has to balance quality and best of breed technology with price. The range of products also needs to be robust, last longer and be easy to use.” 3M’s new adhesive for both Total-Etch and Self-Etch applications, Scotchbond™ Universal Adhesive, addresses these concerns by offering one, simple adhesive application technique for both direct and indirect indications and bonds to all surfaces – without additional primer. In addition, the flip top vials and unit dose delivery enhance its ease of use. 3M ESPE is committed to further advancing the dental industry with its forum, Espertise, where dental professionals and scientists can access authoritative information, prevention techniques as well as the latest research and findings the dental industry has to offer. The online resource also hosts online dental CE courses, and information on 3M ESPE’s entire range of products. Dr Rainer Guggenberger, Corporate Scientist at 3M ESPE, explains how 3M brings innovation to life, from idea to clinical success. Premier implant scalers - engineered for reliable implant maintenance Premier® Implant Scalers are made from fiber reinforced graphite that will not scratch implant surfaces. The tips are thin and sharp with well-defined edges. The graphite is strong yet slightly flexible, allowing the tips to access tight areas effectively and safely. The redesigned handle has textured grips and a larger diameter for greater comfort and control. Premier Implant Scalers can be reused and are autoclavable (273˚F / 134˚C). Available from The Dental Warehouse (A Henry Schein Company). Tollfree: 0800 111 796 The Dental Advisor “2014 Preferred Product Award” The universal registration material METAL-BITE® made by German manufacturer, R-dental Dentalerzeugnisse GmbH, has developed into a standard for occlusal registrations within the last decade. The dark grey A-silicone (VPS) has earned several awards of excellence in 2012 and 2013 (www.realityesthetics.com), with The Dental Advisor awarding the “2014 Preferred Product Award” to METAL-BITE® for the second year in succession. METAL-BITE® is indicated for a broad variety of universal registrations, and is recommended by, amongst others, the German opinion leader Prof. (HR) Dr. Alexander Gutowski. The material is predestined for bite plate applications of the facebow registration system (www.sam-dental.de) and for manufacturing surgical guides for implantology (www.sicat.de). It is used successfully for the fitting of para-occlusal tray adapters in CMD-therapy. The extremely fast and hard material is easy to trim, very suitable for cutting and contouring. The material is tasteless, radiopaque and offers an excellent dimension stability. The product is available in standard 50 ml auto-mixing cartridges and is dispensed with a commercial mixing pistol (dispenser). METAL-BITE® is available from Wright-Millners: 0860 100 200 Futurabond® M+ – the universal one-component adhesive in bottles Fast and universal: Futurabond M+ is the all-rounder of the bonding world. The universal adhesive in bottles scores with its ”plus“ in content, its ”plus“ in reliability and its ”plus“ in abilities. New technology This applies, on the one hand, to the etching technique: total-etch, selective-etch or self-etch – the dentist is free to choose and apply the etching technique depending on indication or according to personal preference. Thanks to a new type of monomer technology, overetching of the dentine is impossible, preventing postoperative sensitivity. Reliability and flexibility On the other hand, Futurabond M+ is also considerably more flexible than conventional bottled bonding agents with regard to its spectrum of application: not only can it be used reliably for direct and indirect restorations, but it also offers secure adhesion to various materials such as metals, zirconium or aluminium oxide, as well as silicate ceramics – and it requires no additional primer. In combination with Futurabond M+ DCA, the activator available for dual curing purposes, the adhesive is fully compatible with all methacrylate-based self and dual curing composites. Manufacturer: VOCO GmbH, P.O. Box 767, 27457 Cuxhaven, Germany, www.voco.com DT_Issue2-2_Aug2014-rev_Layout 1 2014/08/11 4:42 PM Page 7

Dental Tribune South African Edition

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