A New Approach to Appliances
Daryl Mathias, Cdt, is the Chief Marketing Officer at Accutech, Where he has Been Working for 27 Years.
OP: What types of orthodontic products and services does your company offer?
Mathias: We are a certified dental laboratory (CDL), specializing in orthodontics. We fabricate all of the standard orthodontic appliances such as retainers, expanders, distalizers, spring retainers, Herbsts™, splints, and demo consultation models.
Accutech provides services that are unique in the orthodontic industry. One service is our product-delivery guarantee. All products are delivered anywhere in the country, with only 3 days in the lab, “on time, every time, or they’re free.” We feel that delivering the appliance on time is very important and a huge priority.
Another service we offer is a personalized retainer color chart, which allows patients to select and customize their retainer colors and designs to fit their personalities. The front cover is printed with information about the orthodontist’s practice, not Accutech. In the middle of the page, there are positive messages of encouragement from the orthodontist to the patient. It also includes some simple instructions about their color selection and an expression of excitement about their new smile. It concludes with a friendly invitation to the orthodontist’s practice.
OP: What is Freedom-Lock?
Mathias: The Freedom-Lock system is a system where we took traditionally fixed appliances and made them fixed-removable. It can be integrated into multiple types of appliances. It delivers a rigid and secure appliance for the patient, but it provides the clinical advantage of a quick and easy removal or reinsertion at any time during treatment. It is a new way to insert, maintain, and remove rapid palatal expanders and bite plates. It saves chairtime and materials, and it is more hygienic for patients.
OP: How many different types of splints does your company offer?
Mathias: We offer two types of splints. One is an all-hard acrylic design that can include clasps or not and be trimmed to any custom specifications. The second type is our popular Goldilocks™ splint, which is not too hard, not too soft. Its unique design combines the features of a traditional hard acrylic splint with the patient comfort of a soft vinyl splint. The hard acrylic exterior can be molded to suit your treatment objective (contacts, ramps for cuspid and anterior guidance). The soft vinyl liner includes a system of hard occlusal stops to eliminate the “spongy” effect associated with most soft-lined splints. Some benefits include maximum patient comfort and retention; no impinging or unsightly clasps; great for patients with crowns and bridgework; can be modified with cold-cure acrylic; engages and locks in undercuts, yet flexible enough to take in and out of the mouth with ease; no rocking or warping; and available for the upper or lower arch.
