Kodak Files for Bankruptcy but not in Dental

All is well in the dental industry from the Kodak perspective ( except I cant get my old Kodak digital camera repaired). Onex (Carestream Dental) is actually Kodak Dental. Here is the official word that was sent to me:

As you likely have already read, Kodak announced this morning that they are filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. We will no doubt receive many questions about the potential effects Kodak’s recent financial challenges might have on our business. For the record, all of the assets of Kodak’s Health Imaging business were purchased in 2007 by Onex, the parent company of Carestream Dental, including more than 1,000 patents and the manufacturing facilities. Carestream Dental simply licenses the right to use the KODAK name on some of the products that we manufacture.

Carestream Dental is solely responsible for the design, manufacture and service of all Carestream branded and KODAK branded products that we sell. Please be assured that Kodak’s financial challenges do not affect Carestream in any way, and that we are as committed as ever to our customers’ success and advancing the state of dental care around the world. More information can be found at the link below. Many thanks for your continued help and support!

http://www.carestreamdental.com/kodak

Wyatt Wilson - My Friend at Acteon

Wyatt passed away suddenly last weekend at age 39. I spent time with him at the Greater NY meeting just 2 weeks ago when we were talking about his young son and daughter and the holidays. I met his son Logan over a year ago and like Wyatt he was a giant kid. Wyatt, although quite serious in his quest to constantly improve his company, always had time for me and others and loved to combine work stories with his life stories.

There are some people who you meet and immediately feel they are your new friend. This was Wyatt. He will be sorely missed of course by his family, as well as his far reaching dental family. This was way too soon soon to lose you big guy. Say a prayer for Logan, his daughter Rachel and wife Lauren.

Back Again

This has been my busiest year of lecture and travel. That along with some changes in the administration of my office as well as getting my son graduated from High School and off to College, I have let this blog slide. I have been to many dental meetings including the IDS in Cologne, Germany as well as looking at numerous new products and now have to get back to the reporting here. I hope to have more before the Greater NY Meeting right after Thanksgiving, where I will be seeing even more new products.

This year has brought us new innovations in intraoral scanning as well as several new entries. Conebam CT has taken off especially in the endodontic world. The Cloud has opened new vistas for practice management and patient education, while the iPad and clones are invading our everyday existence. There will be a lot of catching up to do here. As they say, stay tuned.

Wash and Disinfect Your New Keyboard from Econo-Keys

How about this great little keyboard/mouse (touchpad) I found at the Greater NY Dental Meeting. Small footprint and wireless. I put the little USB dongle into my computer and was typing in less than a minute. It seems like the perfect input device for a dental treatment room. Look at their website for an array of products like this. http://www.econo-keys.com/

3M moving Brontes unit out of Massachusetts

I worked with the Brontes team from the beginning in 2005 (or was it 2004?) and helped develop the clinical aspect of the intraoral impression scanner. It was acquired by 3M four years ago and the operation is now being moved to St Paul as, according to those I spoke with at 3M, it will allow better control of development and marketing of the LAVA COS product. I remember the first time I saw the "unit'- about 6 feet of wires and circuit boards that would ultimately be housed in a hand-held wand. The move is chronicled in an interesting article in the Boston Globe.
Brontes office closing is latest bite out of the Bay State’s R&D lab
http://bit.ly/ayvZaX

ADA Annual Session quick update

I am off to the airport and will be busy catching up at home. Here is a very brief summary of a few new things I saw at the ADA meeting in Orlando that is ending today 10/12. As I go through my notes there may be additions and of course more information.

Cariescan- a new caries detector that uses electrical impedance similar to apex locators. It shows porosity and ccan give an acccurate rendering of the location and size of the carious lesion but usingthe probe from occusal, buccal and lingual. www.cariescan.com

Orascoptic Freedom- new loupes with battery pack in the headset www.orascoptic.com

CAO group- new home bleaching product with wax forms that stay on securely ( you have to leave them on for an hour) www.caogroup.ccom

Philips Acquires Discus - This was the big news. It will be interesting to see if Discus stays as a whole or if parts are spun off.

http://www.newscenter.philips.com/main/standard/news/press/2010/20101011_discus_holdings.wpd

Eco Dentistry Association www.ecodentistry.org go green in your dental practice. It goes beyond fewer disposables- dental manufacturers are looking at ways to redesign products to reduce energy consumption and waste.

Oragenics- www.oragenics.com probiotics to reduce periodontal and caries producing oral organisms with simple daily mints.

Dental Sharing www.dentalsharing.com HIPAA compliant simple system to allow exchange of dental images and information among offices over the internet instead of email.

Eaglesoft releases version 16 patterson.eaglesoft.net . Users have many off their suggestions included in this update

Vidar xray scanner www.vidar.com unit digitizes xrays -fmx in (clear) mount, pan or other sizes. Not only scans but digitally enhances.

DentalEz (Star) www.dentalez.com change over to LEDs in the swivel connector for brighter and longer lasting fiberoptics.

Myray www.myrayamerica.com introduces X-Pod- a digital sensor attached to an iPod type device that displays and stores the images. Interesting entry for non networked offices.

Brush and zoom

Reported this AM. Philips has acquired Discus Dental. These rumors have been around for a while. It is an interesting fit for Philips as they are in the consumer health care market.  Discus also has many other dental products and processes. They recently got into the laser market with the acquisition of Zap laser. Should be interesting. Since I am at the ADA meeting today the buzz should give more insight for more info.