Glidewell Laboratories to Produce Custom Abutments for BIOMET 3i Encode® Impression System
Glidewell Dental Lab signs a license agreement to produce patient-specific implant abutments for the Encode® Impression System from dental implant manufacturer BIOMET 3i.
Newport Beach, Calif. — Glidewell Laboratories, an industry-leading provider of dental laboratory products and services, announced today a license agreement with BIOMET 3i, a global frontrunner in the design and manufacture of dental implants and related restorative components. This agreement allows clinicians working with the popular Encode® Impression System to prescribe cases directly to Glidewell Laboratories and receive a custom abutment.
The Encode Impression System eliminates the need for implant-level impressions, effectively streamlining the treatment process for the surgeon, restorative clinician, and patient. Rather than exchange the healing component for a separate transfer coping during the restorative phase, the clinician simply takes a standard or digital impression of the Encode Healing Abutment. This abutment is “encoded” with special markings that, when scanned, relay abutment design and milling information. In addition to saving chair time and reducing inventory requirements, the simplified Encode process serves to minimize component swapping, mitigating gingival trauma and potentially helping to preserve soft tissue critical to an esthetic outcome.
Encode impressions are used in the design and manufacture of CAD/CAM custom abutments, presenting patients with a fully customized, end-to-end treatment solution. With its new license agreement, Glidewell Laboratories is fully authorized and equipped to directly receive and process Encode impressions at its facility in Newport Beach, California. In addition to fast turnaround times for a custom abutment and crown, clinicians will benefit from a set price of $359 for the prescribed abutment, which includes a genuine BIOMET 3i Gold-Tite® Screw, an acrylic positioning index to aid in delivery, and all labor and materials involved.
"The Encode Impression System is a unique treatment concept with an excellent record of documented clinical success,” says Dave Casper, Vice President of Business Development at Glidewell Laboratories. “It has brought an entirely new wave of general practitioners into the implant restoration space, who prefer this simple way of restoring implant cases. No parts, nothing new to learn.”
Available in titanium, all-zirconia, or zirconia with a titanium base, each patient-specific custom abutment from Glidewell Laboratories is carefully designed using the proprietary Encode CAD library for optimal support of the final restoration, a natural emergence profile, and long-term gingival health.
The terms of the license agreement, while highly detailed and technically complex due to the intellectual property involved, came together relatively quickly. According to Casper: “At the end of the day, both Glidewell Laboratories and BIOMET 3i are committed to enhancing the treatment experience for patients and providers alike, by optimizing outcomes while reducing the time and cost involved.”
For more information about the Encode Impression System or any of the products and services from BIOMET 3i, please call 800-342-5454 or visit http://biomet3i.com.