Collaboration between dental laboratories and dental offices plays a significant role in the future of the dental industry. Advancement in digital tools has increased collaborative abilities via sophisticated dental technology and virtual communication innovations. There is no guarantee that patients will accept a treatment plan. Patients’ reluctance to accept treatment is primarily due to their misunderstanding of the problem and its severity, however, digital tools can change this issue altogether. Collaborating helps make the scanning and impression creation process more manageable and effi ..read more

By Tony Prestipino, CDT Do denture wearers still need to see their dentist twice a year for hygiene? The quick answer is yes, and here’s why. We all know when we go to the dentist for our bi-annual teeth cleaning that it is for our oral health. Oral health is much more, however, than just a hygienist cleaning teeth. For dentate patients (people who have teeth), the hygienist will clean the teeth, often take x-rays, check to make sure the bite is in its correct functional orientation, check for oral diseases, and evaluate for any anomalies that may be present in the mouth. These are all very im ..read more

By: Bennett Napier, CAE For most people, at some point in our lives we will use the services of a licensed dentist. This blog is intended to help you determine the right dentist for your needs. It’s important for patients to know the alphabet soup of designations and specialties within dentistry. The DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) and DMD (Doctor of Dental Medicine) are both dental degrees. They are awarded upon graduation from a dental school to become a General Dentist. The majority of dental schools award the DDS degree; however, some award a DMD degree. The education and degrees are by and ..read more

How Does Smoking Affect Your Oral Health? People who smoke are at risk for oral health problems. Cigarettes and tobacco can cause gum disease, oral cancer, and tooth loss.1 They also have a higher risk for complications following mouth surgery and tooth removal. Smoking affects your teeth and other structures in the mouth. The most common oral health problems affecting people who smoke are: Periodontal (gum) disease Oral cancer Smoker’s keratosis (whitening of the mouth’s soft tissues) Dry socket (poor wound healing after tooth extraction) Tooth loss Tooth decay Tooth dis ..read more

Over the last decade, the implementation and optimization of digital workflows have played a vital role in our business. Although we still have several traditional, “analog” components to our workflow, digital integration has delivered a remarkable level of accuracy, consistency, and efficiency across thousands of projects. As a lab that strives for continuous innovation, we were an early adopter of Align Technology’s iTero® intraoral scanners to help improve our digital scanning and file management. Since that time, our workflows have increasingly grown, improving how we collaborate with our ..read more

NBC, NADL, and FDLT are extremely pleased to dedicate the month of June to the appreciation of dental technicians and Certified Dental Technicians (CDTs). Dental technicians and CDTs develop specialized skills in order to provide care to patients in need. The reliability of that care is fortified by dedication to standards of excellence and continuing education. In the dental laboratory, dental technicians and CDTs are defined by their problem solving abilities and creativity. They show great adaptability, transferring these skills to the altogether different demands of industry wide change. I ..read more

By: Lorne Lavine, DMD   As anyone who follows me online knows, I believe that ransomware is the biggest threat to the dental industry right now. For those unfamiliar with ransomware, they are a class of malware, like viruses, that attack your computers and network. What makes them unique is that they lock your files and require that you pay a fee, or “ransom” to get the files unlocked. The ransom can start as low as a few thousand dollars, but in many cases, it’s significantly more than that. If you live on the East Coast, then you are very familiar with these, as Colonial Pipeline was re ..read more

Introduction Although many aspects of dentistry have seen massive improvements in technology, process, and efficiency, shade communication and determination have been largely unchanged. The introduction of Mobile Dental Photography has not only expedited a technical jump, but has also opened the door to stark process improvements. Accelerated by a pandemic and the near extinction of the point and shoot camera, the use of mobile cameras in the dental office is no longer “coming soon”; it is here. The question now is not should I use it, but how best to use it. Consistency and quality of dentist ..read more

By Eric Thorn, Esq. Well to start off with, no a 510(k) is not some type of retirement plan, that’s a 401(k).  Section 510(k) is a section of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) that requires device manufacturers to provide the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with at least 90-day advance notice of their intent to market certain medical devices. This advance notice is known as a Premarket Notification or a 510(k) submission. Once the FDA receives notification the FDA begins the process to determine whether the device is the equivalent of a device that has already been classif ..read more

By NADL Executive Director Bennett Napier, CAE This general timeline of activities, covering key moments in the last ten years, is intended to provide clarity on the classification system of occupations used by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), including dental laboratory technicians. For background, the O*Net system classifies occupations based on the following criteria: how much education people need to do the work, · how much related experience people need to do the work, and · how much on-the-job training people need to do the work. 2010 – The U.S. DOL adopts a new Standard Occupationa ..read more