ORTHO INDUSTRY NEWS Align Optimized OS Kit Offers Technology Simplicity, Predictable Results Buying Privately-Held Dental Company Align Technology Inc., which makes the Invisalign ® tooth-straightening system that is an alternative to tradi-tional braces, has agreed to buy dentistry services provider Cadent Holdings Inc. for $190 million in cash. Cadent provides three-dimensional digital scanning services for dentists and orthodontists. The services allow for digital records storage and digital impressions for making crowns and bridges, veneers, implants and other restorative dental procedures. In January 2011, Align said it teamed up with Cadent to develop Invisalign ® software that will run on Cadent scan-ners. Align said buying Cadent will help streamline the Invisalign ® procedure for patients and orthodontists. Their combination "provides a significant opportunity to create growth and to build value for customers and share-holders," Align said. In America, nearly one million adults get braces every year. The American Association of Orthodontics reported that women outnumbered men by about three to one when it came to adults who sought orthodon-tic treatment. Most adults requested orthodontic treatment for aesthetic reasons, but some understand that properly aligned teeth and a proper bite help keep oral health issues at bay. Fun Fact: Created in collaboration with Dr. Jerry Gildner, KOMET’s IPR Starter Kit (LD0528) contains six hand-selected oscillating instru-ments for optimal interproximal enamel reduction (IPR). As an addition to the highly successful OS System that was introduced early in 2009, the starter kit includes two single-sided OS discs (OS20FH/OS20FV), two double-sided OS discs (OS35M/OS1M), and two new single-sided, exceptionally thin contact breakers (OS18MH/OS18MV) that are abrasive enough to cut through tight interproximal contacts. Used with the KOMET OS hand-piece OS30, the oscillating discs are the ideal collection for simplified and predictable IPR. The first step in the procedure is accomplished with one of the contact breakers, a breakthrough in design engineering that often elim-inates the need for diamond strips in this phase, resulting in reduced chairtime, less stress for the opera-tor, and optimal comfort for the patient. By initially widening inter-proximal spaces to 0.18 mm, the specialized instruments facilitate safe, gradual reduction without diamond strips, which can be clumsy for the user and uncomfort-able for the patient. The single-sided design protects adjacent teeth from damage, ensuring that only the pre-selected teeth are adjusted. Once the initial step has been completed, the 0.20 mm OS disc easily slides into the now-open contact to continue the procedure, followed as needed by the 0.30 mm and 0.35 mm discs to achieve the final desired opening. For more information about the IPR Starter Kit (LD0528), call (888) 566-3887 or visit www.komet-usa.com. www.orthodontics.com May/June 2011 9
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society May-June 2011: Page 9
