Laboratory Technician solves missing link for dental implants

Oct. 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Bite registrations over preparations are effective, accurate and cost-efficient when a dentist needs a jaw relation record for a patient with implants. The problem begins when preparations aren't available for implant cases. Occlusal records taken over tissue and healing caps are problematic at best and most experienced technicians would testify to that experience. Tissue and healing caps do not lend themselves to accurately recorded occlusal records and case adjustments and remakes are the result.

LeBeau explains: “For the bite record taken over the healing cap to work at all, the dentist needs to supply the laboratory is with an identical healing cap to mimic how the bite registration was made in the mouth. The challenge with this process is that each implant platform has various lengths and diameters of healing caps, so the cost is quickly driven up. Even if the extra cost is acceptable, the system still is not very accurate.”

Besides being pricey and not very accurate, this older system causes acute confusion in keeping an accurate inventory of healing caps and takes a toll on doctor/lab communication. Many dentists and lab teams are perfectionists when it comes to providing accurate bite registrations - LeBeau’s new technology, called the ‘Implant Bite Post’, provides a simple yet effective remedy that allows dentist’s to capture a stable and accurate bite each time. The Implant Bite Post consists of titanium or surgical steel posts that are reusable, easy to use and extremely accurate.

“The post bottoms out to the platform in three easy turns and the round contour solves any thread timing issue. All that’s left for a dentist to do is send the bite registration to the lab with the post enclosed and the lab technicians will be able to take it from there,” says LeBeau, who developed the implant bite post over the course of a few years.
Dr. John Kois, a renowned dentist that maintains a private practice in Seattle and lectures internationally on the subject of restorative, aesthetic and implant dentistry, agrees that the implant bite post is a game changer in the dental industry.

“Implant bite posts are very easy to use and reduce the challenges encountered while making jaw relation records from implant cases,” comments Kois.

This new technology has come at an exciting and important time, seeing as the dental implants represent the largest growth area in all of dentistry. According to iData Research from the U.S. Market for Dental Implants the worldwide dental implant market is expected to reach USD$7.9-billion by 2015.

“This new remedy has been developed to address the problems associated with previous attempts to manage the inaccuracy of implant bite registrations – and many dentists who have used it agree that it hits the mark. I'm encouraging all dentists and labs to try it out in order to see whether this is something that could make their job easier and the process simpler, cheaper and quicker,” concludes LeBeau.

About Dene LeBeau

Dene opened his laboratory in 1974 in Renton, Washington. By 1984 the energy of excellence had taken hold and he began the foundation of what was to become a "career of total passion". During the 1980'S Dene presented cavo surface and bonding courses for dentists on the West Coast.  Today, Dene co-manages LeBeau Dental while doing patent design and product development on products like Implant Bite Posts and JKAD abutment design.  

For more information about the implant bite post, visit http://www.lebeaudental.com/implant-bite-registrations.html