Glidewell Laboratories today announced that it has re-entered the implant market effective January 1 after a thirteen-year hiatus. The lab has not actively promoted implant dentistry since 1993, when James R. (Jim) Glidewell, president and CEO of Glidewell Laboratories, sent a letter to his entire customer list stating that he was no longer accepting implant cases.
“I had never written a letter like that before in my career,” said Glidewell. “As a lab owner you never want to turn away cases or risk your relationship with customers, but, at the time, I felt that the state of implant dentistry often left the dentist and patient in a compromised position.”
In 1993 the accepted method of placing implants was with screw-retained prosthetics. These were often elaborate designs having superstructures that fastened into substructures with screws that threaded into other screws. These fixed-removable restorations typically required multiple parts and several screwdrivers and wrenches, and came with a heavy price tag. To make things even more complicated, the understanding of bone biology at the time required that implants be placed where the bone was, often having little relation to where the teeth needed to be.
The industry has come a long way in the thirteen years since Mr. Glidewell’s letter. What was once a complicated and clumsy treatment option is fast becoming the standard of care for patients who are missing teeth. The increase in acceptance among both patients and general dentists is largely due to significant advancements that have taken place in the industry. A greater understanding of bone biology has lead to improvements in bone-grafting techniques, and now implants can be placed where the teeth need to be rather than where the bone happens to be.
Advances in implant surface technology have also improved healing response and reduced recovery time, and what was once a complex restorative process has given way to more friendly procedures that closely resemble common crown and bridge techniques.
“We took notice of these real improvements about three years ago,” said Glidewell, referring to the period when the company first began considering a re-entry into the implant business. “We started in a fairly limited way at first, not wanting to promise something we couldn’t deliver.” The company adopted a conservative approach and limited their services to only a few of the major implant brands, carefully adding systems as their technicians became more proficient.
In spite of this slow and deliberate approach to the market, implant services became one of the fastest growing areas in the lab in just two years. Now in year three, it is apparent that things are not slowing down. In September of 2006, Jim Glidewell hired Greg Minzenmayer, former director of marketing for Nobel Biocare, to transition his implant team into a separate full-service dental implant department.
“It didn’t take long to refocus this experienced team of dental technicians and technical advisors,” said Minzenmayer. “There is a lot of great talent here at Glidewell, and we will continue to add staff as needed.”
The current plan for the Glidewell Laboratories implant department is to establish products and services that will provide easy, affordable solutions for dentists and their patients by simplifying and improving the overall process of delivering implant treatment.
“There’s a lot of noise in the market surrounding implants right now and treatment can get pretty confusing,” Minzenmayer said. “It’s our job to cut through the confusion for our customers and to find new technologies and services that will provide predictable and profitable implant solutions.”
One example of how they have already accomplished this is with CAD/CAM custom abutments. Using this technology, Glidewell has found a way to provide a custom solution for virtually the same price as an off-the-shelf abutment.
The lab has other projects underway as well, all designed to bring higher value to their customers. Two projects in particular look promising in the short term. One involves single-stage implant systems such as Straumann and Nobel Biocare’s Snappy and Easy abutments. “We are testing a proprietary process that will allow us to systemize a restorative procedure for single-stage implant systems,” said Minzenmayer. “We’re confident it will reduce turnaround time and provide a nice savings to our customers.”
The second project involves implant-supported overdentures. “A simple implant overdenture often provides a life-changing experience for patients,” Minzenmayer said. “We are working hard on a solution that we hope will significantly bring down the costs associated with this treatment.” Jim Glidewell continues, “This is the reason we have invested so heavily in research and development. Our mission is to help ensure that affordable solutions are available for all patients who can benefit from advanced treatment.”
The company has several long-term research projects underway as well, including exploring ways to improve CAD/CAM technology for implant dentistry. “The CAD/CAM systems of today provide a very important service,” said Minzenmayer, “but, when it comes to implant dentistry, we are already pushing these systems to their limits.”
Minzenmayer believes that while research on the surgical aspect of implants is advancing at a record pace, the restorative side is lagging behind. He notes that implant companies are aggressively promoting immediate loading, offering excellent, well-researched solutions, but the challenge of finding restorative solutions that enable immediate restorations is typically left to general dentists and their labs.
“Immediate loading is a nice solution and patients love getting their teeth right away,” said Dr. Mike DiTolla, director of clinical education and research for Glidewell, “but general dentists typically have to either block out chairtime on the day of surgery just to make a temporary crown, or take time away from their practice to be at the surgeon’s office on the day of implant placement.” Thus, DiTolla explained, immediate loading cases often become scheduling challenges and consume valuable chairtime that could be used more productively.
Glidewell plans to incorporate CAD/CAM technology and CT-based 3D treatment planning technology into its processes to provide general dentists with real-world, immediate solutions that will help them succeed in the growing dental implant field. “We are focused on the future,” said Jim Glidewell, “and we are committed to using new and emerging technologies to bring affordable dentistry to the market.”