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exhibitors22 Greater New York Dental Meeting — Nov. 30, 2015 By Greg Minzenmayer Chief Operating Officer n Since placing his first implant nearly 45 years ago, Dr. Jack Hahn has spent much of his career as an implantologist thinking of ways to make treatment more accessible to the practitioner as well as the patient. Implant design has improved dra- maticallyduringthattime,withHahn spearheading key innovations that have helped make implant therapy the essential mode of dental treat- ment it is today. From the early blade-form implants he helped develop in the late’70stothenewlyreleasedHahn™ Tapered Implant (Glidewell Direct; Irvine, Calif.), Hahn’s efforts have been driven by a desire to continually improve products and procedures in order to make treatment simpler and more predictable. The original tapered implant “The easier we make it to position the implant for a restoration that looks like a natural tooth, the better results we’ll have,” Hahn said in a recent interview. It was this line of thinking that inspired his idea for the first tapered implant. After a long day that included several cases in which he had difficulty placing parallel-walled implants in the limited bone of the anterior maxilla, Hahn had an epiph- any: “The tooth I was replacing was taper-shaped, so why was I putting in a square peg?” That very night, he sketched out the concept. “I called the president of Steri-Oss at that time and told him, ‘I’ve got an idea that’s going change the way we make implants. It’s tapered; it looks like the root of a tooth. You’ll be able to put it in anatomically constricted areas, it will have a wider prosthetic table, and it’s going to be stable because it’s like a wedge.’ “Iwantedtocallit‘Replace,’because that’s what we do — we replace teeth.” Ultimately, Steri-Oss, which was later acquired by Nobel Biocare, agreed to produce some prototypes, which Hahn eagerly began placing and mon- itoring, achieving excellent results in all areas of the mouth, including the anterior maxilla. “The implant came to market in 1997 and took off like gangbusters. Replace became their No. 1 implant.” The advent of the Hahn Tapered Implant System “I had been placing implants for decades, and there were still prob- lems we could solve with a new design. I had this implant that would be even easier for doctors to place, with a simpler drilling protocol and a thread design that would allow for efficient placement and a high degree of primary stability.” To take his design concept to the next level, Hahn began pursuing alternatives, an effort that led him to the implant manufacturing division of Glidewell Laboratories. “I couldn’t have it manufactured on my own, and certainly not at a price that would make implant therapy affordable for more patients.” Thus began a series of meetings that reunited Hahn with some of the same engineering personnel and business leaders with whom he had successfully collaborated in the past. “It was immediately apparent that their manufacturing capabilities are state-of-the-art,” he said. “Their engi- neering team has the technology and know-how to bring design concepts to life with astonishing speed and precision, and their expertise on the prosthetic side of implant dentistry has been invaluable in creating an implant that is as simple to restore as it is to place. “We were able to fine-tune a design that accounts for everything I’ve learned since the original tapered implant came out nearly 20 years ago. They translated my conceptual drawings into prototypes and then into implants that could be placed withgreatefficiency,zeroinginonthe exact thread design needed to keep theimplantengagedwithamaximum amount of bone. “This keeps the implant right where you want it during placement and helps achieve the positioning and stability that are essential to a predictable outcome.” In Glidewell Laboratories Presi- dent and CEO Jim Glidewell, CDT, who is also well-known for introducing industry-changing innovations, he found an individual equally commit- ted to enhancing the quality of treat- ment while reducing the cost of care. “After meeting with Jim, it was clear that we shared the same goal of expanding the availability of high- quality treatment to more patients.” he said. With a career that speaks volumes on the importance of continual inno- vation. Hahn is proud to have his name associated with an implant that contributes to the forward progres- sion of implant dentistry. “The better we make implant design, the more accessible we can make implant den- tistry to doctors so they can improve their practices and the quality of life of their patients.” The Hahn Tapered Implant: 45 years in the making Here at the GNYDM For more information on Hahn Ta- pered Implants and other Glidewell Direct products and technology, visit the Glidewell Direct booth, No. 5600. 5 Dr. Jack Hahn in his Cincinnati office holding the patent for the original tapered implant design. (Photos/Provided by Glidewell Direct) 5 Dr. Jack Hahn and a team of engineers discuss implant design features at Glidewell Laboratories.