President and CEO David J. Marks discusses how OrthoSynetics™ helps orthodontists and pediatric dentists to maintain and grow their practices

What is the main focus of OrthoSynetics?

Marks—Our mission is to provide the highest quality, non-clinical management services to orthodontic and pediatric dental practices throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada, while increasing the practitioners’ professional satisfaction and personal quality of life. The vast majority of orthodontists and pediatric dentists are solo practitioners, and we understand that they attended dental school and their respective residency to be clinical practitioners, not business professionals. With the ever increasing demands of the business side of the practice such as the need to constantly update marketing efforts, being price competitive

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Every few years, new technology is introduced that revolutionizes the way we live our lives or the way we conduct business. In 1991, the world was introduced to email, and 20 short years later, we are sending over 60 billion of them per day. In 1995, texting was created, and today, it is the number one application worldwide with more than 2-billion users. In 1999, Invisalign® (Align Technology Inc.) changed the treatment options for patients forever and actually brought more awareness to the consumer about the importance and convenience of a beautiful smile. In the early 2000s, the orthodontic industry was introduced to digital scanning, and that technology is forever changing appliance fabrication.

DynaFlex, a St. Louis-based commercial orthodontic laboratory founded in 1965, is leading that revolution as one of the only labs capable of fabricating any orthodontic appliance from all major scanner companies including Cadent™, Motionview 3D, 3Shape, and even SureSmile®. This means that if a practice owns a scanner or is storing models digitally, DynaFlex can upload those files in raw form or finished form, load them into its digital system, make any correction necessary, and send them to one of their state-of-the-art prototyping printers for model creation. Once the model is printed or “grown,” it is sent to one of 50 lab technicians for appliance fabrication.

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Every day, orthodontists and dental professionals are entrusted with the smiles of patients seeking to make them healthier and appear brighter. Smiles have the power to communicate success, a warm personality and attractiveness, yet many patients don’t seem to understand how they should have an active role in their oral health maintenance.

In December of 2010, Philips Holdings USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Philips Electronics (“Philips”), acquired Discus Dental, LLC. Discus Dental joins Philips Oral Healthcare, Inc. (“POHC”), makers of the Sonicare power toothbrush, as part of the Philips Oral Healthcare business. Now, Philips offers a full product portfolio of oral health and whitening solutions to dental professionals, combining the cutting-edge products and deep industry relationships of Discus Dental with the research-driven, design-oriented culture of Philips.

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From the newly introduced Accu-Force™ and Shape-Fit™ products, to the new Resolve® line of brackets, these products are the result of considerable dedication, determination, and the resolve to overcome a challenge like no other we’ve faced. The Resolve® name represents both the culmination of a goal to prevail and the starting point of a continual journey. And, while the Resolve® line is but one of the many products that make up our complete offering, we feel it is an accurate representation of who we are and what we stand for. So as you join us for a journey to explore a little bit about who we are, we simply ask that you keep the word “resolve” in the back of your mind. Because it’s the word, the action, and the mindset we keep “top of mind” in everything we do. And so far…that’s working out pretty well.

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