Research Makes It Real

Dr. George Tysowsky, Vice President of Technology, in the Ivoclar Vivadent research lab overseeing product testing

Mr. Omar Nihlawi simulates the effect of thermocycling temperature on dental materials

Clearly, form and function in dental materials have transformed the manner in which dentistry is practiced. For this reason, Ivoclar Vivadent combines scientific developments and interdisciplinary collaboration among ceramic engineers and dental professionals in order to create products and materials that complement and enhance real world conditions not only in the dental office and laboratory, but also in one of the most demanding environments known: the human mouth. At the Applied Testing Center at Ivoclar Vivadent’s headquarters in Amherst, New York, dentists, research specialists and laboratory assistants test materials for hardness, flexural strength, fatigue resistance, wear, adhesion, attrition, corrosion, and many other factors.

Specially designed machines are used that can condense a simulated five years of clinical conditions into just a few weeks. All Ivoclar Vivadent materials undergo extensive tests that far exceed what they would encounter in the mouth, just to determine how they will hold up under such extreme conditions and eventually predict clinical performance. For example, a thermocycling machine moves materials back and forth between hot baths (55 degrees C) and cold baths (5 degrees C), exaggerating any potential expansion and contraction of a material to ensure that a restoration will perform equally well whether a patient is drinking hot coffee or eating a refreshing ice cream cone.

According to Dr. George Tysowsky, DDS, Vice President of Technology, this 2,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art research and testing laboratory contains an extensive array of equipment with the sole purpose of testing dental materials in simulated oral conditions. “Our products are put through their paces in our laboratory, simulating the extremes of the oral environment in as clinically relevant conditions as possible,” he explains. “Once our products pass inspection in the Applied Testing Center, only then are they released for controlled clinical studies at leading universities and field evaluations with select dentists and commercial dental laboratories.”

These extensive laboratory tests and long-term clinical studies are a time-consuming and expensive endeavor, but no product leaves Ivoclar Vivadent without a stamp of “Clinically Tested Quality.”

175 Pineview Drive Amherst, NY 14228 1.800.533.6825 716.691.2285 Fax www.ivoclarvivadent.us.com