Longtime Vident CEO Wayne Whitehill has retired, effective August 1. He will stay on as a Vident board member and consultant for the near term. President Fred Ketcho has taken over as the new CEO. Whitehill, along with Ray Morrow and Vern Hale, launched Vident in 1984 to represent the Vita product line in the U.S. All three had worked with Vita in one capacity or another and were looking
Editor’s note: Dr. Doniger’s column, Dental Diaries, appears regularly on the HuangshanDental.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion. I recently visited my good friend Jean at her summer home in New Jersey. We had planned a total “girls weekend” that included golf, a shopping trip in New York City, and a night at the theater. We bought New Jersey corn and tomatoes (since, according to the local legend, they are
Building on a partnership that began in 2010, Plackers will sponsor the first Oral Health America (OHA) Smiles Across America (SAA) Innovation Grants. This SAA-affiliated program awards grants to five SAA community partners in recognition of their innovative methods for delivering oral health preventive services to children at increased risk of oral disease, the company noted. In addition to providing financial support for OHA’s Smiles Across America and Fall for
Researchers from the University of Leeds School of Chemistry have developed a peptide they say could be used to remineralize teeth. The peptide, known as P 11-4, assembles together into fibers under certain conditions. In practice, this means that when applied to a tooth, the fluid seeps into the micropores caused by demineralization, where it forms a gel. This gel then provides a scaffold that attracts calcium and regenerates the
Light-curing composite resins used to be a straightforward process, when halogen lights were used to cure composites for 40 to 60 seconds. But the situation has become more complex over the past two decades; light-emitting diode (LED) curing lights have nearly replaced halogen lights, new materials keep coming on the market, and companies are marketing shorter and shorter curing times. “Situational awareness is what you need to have now,” said
Keystone Dental is gearing up to begin a five-year study to evaluate the long-term success of its Genesis Biomimetic Implant System. The study will be conducted at eight U.S. centers with an expected enrollment of approximately 120 patients, according to the company. Genesis dental implants will be surgically placed and assessed at defined time points beginning at one year postsurgery. Additional safety and performance end points for the implant system
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) is introducing federal legislation that would let the government fine and imprison for up to one year U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration employees who intentionally fail to follow infection-control practices, according to a story in the Dayton Daily News. Turner is introducing the bill following revelations early this year that hundreds of veterans were put at risk by alleged poor infection-control
Dental professionals in California, take note: New infection-control regulations took effect August 20, and without making some significant changes in certain aspects of your everyday routine, you could be in violation of the state’s minimum standards for infection control. The guidelines are a product of the Dental Board of California and the Dental Hygiene Committee of California, as mandated by California law. The revised guidelines are the result of a
Two chemists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered the most naturally variable protein known to date in a bacterium that is a key player in the formation of dental plaque (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 22, 2011). The chemists believe the extreme variability of the protein they discovered in the bacterium Treponema denticola evolved to adhere to the hundreds of different kinds of other
Orthodontic Specialists of Florida is joinging Gov. Rick Scott in honoring Florida’s military veterans by offering discounts on orthodontic care to patients who present the new Florida driver’s license for veterans. The new feature, which is designed to give veterans an easy way to show proof of their veteran status, was announced last month. “We hope that retailers and restaurants that offer discounts to military veterans will accept the license
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers a noninvasive approach for localizing the most representative site to biopsy in a suspicious oral lesion, according to a study in Lasers in Medical Science (August 18, 2011). Selecting the most representative site for biopsy is crucial in establishing a definitive diagnosis of oral epithelial dysplasia, noted the study authors from Queens Mary University London. Because current methods of clinical examination can result in sampling
Dentsply International has received regulatory approval from the relevant national competition authorities to proceed with the acquisition of Astra Tech, a provider of dental implant and urology products, from AstraZeneca. The previously announced transaction is now expected to close on August 31, 2011. The company had originally expected to finalize the deal by year’s end. Dentsply is selling $1 billion in debt securities to help fund the $1.8 billion acquisition.