Sirona Dental Systems Expands its InfiniDent Services

New Management, More Indications and More Material Choices

to Include Ivoclar Vivadent^®’s IPS e.max CAD Material

Long Island City, NY (August 28, 2010) – Sirona Dental Systems, LLC (Nasdaq: SIRO), the company that pioneered digital dentistry 25 years ago and the world’s leading producer of dental CAD/CAM systems, announced today the expansion of infiniDent, an Internet-based laboratory service that caters exclusively to Sirona inLab^® and inEos^® Blue users, which will now include Ivoclar Vivadent’s IPS e.max CAD material.

Sirona laboratory customers can upload the digital impressions they receive from CEREC^® dentists to infiniDent, located in Charlotte, NC, for fabrication of all restoration types. The Sirona-operated facility then returns the completed work to the laboratory within three business days.

Under the new management of Bob Vasile, the range of materials and indications have been expanded from framework materials to include full-contour materials made from Ivoclar Vivadent^®’s IPS e.max^® CAD lithium disilicate and VITA^®’s new RealLife^® material.

Mr. Vasile recently joined Sirona as the CEREC Laboratory Manager for infiniDent, and brings a unique set of skills to Sirona. He most recently worked for a major manufacturer of custom CAD/CAM-fabricated implant abutments. Additionally, Vasile owned and operated his own dental laboratory for more than 20 years.

Under Mr. Vasile’s management, and starting from September 15, 2010, infiniDent will offer even more services and an expanded list of materials. Initially limited to providing only copings

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and bridge frameworks, infiniDent now provides a number of complete restorative applications, including recently added full-contour restorations and veneers. New materials now include Sirona CEREC Blocs, IPS e.max CAD lithium disilicate, VITA Mark II, VITA TriLuxe forte, and VITA RealLife.

“infiniDent provides an extremely wide variety of indications,” remarked Vasile. “We’re flexible; if a laboratory owner has only our inEos Blue scanner, for example, they can send the case over to us and we will send back their finished product. We’ve also added full-contour materials to meet the growing demands of our inLab and inEos customers.”

infiniDent continues to support existing materials, such as pure zirconium oxide (ZrO₂), aluminum oxide (AlO₂), and laser-sintered non-precious metal, as well as fully anatomic wax patterns.

infiniDent enables current inLab and inEos owners to derive additional value from their technology investments by providing access to a continuously expanding menu of materials and indications, as well as providing customers with complete design control of their restorations.

infiniDent is an ideal solution for various lab groups, such as:

1. Labs that have their own inLab system, but no sintering furnace: These labs can utilize infiniDent to offer pure zirconium oxide crown and bridge frameworks to their dentists without giving up design control, as they would when sending their work to an outsourcing lab. infiniDent allows them to build their volume to a level that enables them to buy their own sintering furnace, if they choose.

2. Labs looking for a low-investment, but expandable, entry model into CAD/CAM: In this case, a lab buys only an inEos Blue scanner. They would then scan and design their work in their own lab and have infiniDent fabricate their restorations. As their volume grows, they can purchase their own inLab MC XL milling unit, as well as their own sintering furnace.

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3. inLab users who want to gain access to future indications and materials: infinDent protects their investment in inLab technology by enabling lab owners to order new materials as soon as they become available.

According to Roddy MacLeod, Vice President of CAD/CAM for Sirona, “Sirona strives for continuous innovation and improvement in our technology. Laboratories that may not have the newest technology are able to expand their business and take full advantage of complete services by partnering with infiniDent. Sirona offers an economical entry into the digital restorative revolution.”

The infiniDent service was named one of 2006’s most innovative products for the dental laboratory industry by the Journal of Dental Technology (JDT). Some of the winning features highlighted were infiniDent’s ease of use, time savings, and increased accuracy. More efficient use of labor hours put infiniDent on the winning list for its time-saving aspects. The technology improves quality by freeing up technicians’ time for more labor-intensive work. The money-saving aspect was detailed by the fact that technicians are able to save money by eliminating the need for ancillary equipment. Also, shipping costs are lowered due to the electronic transfer of information.

Sirona continues to provide additional value to its inLab and inEos Blue customers with service options such as infiniDent, as well as free software updates. The company believes the only way it can be successful is by making its customers successful. Sirona strives to achieve this mutual success through innovation, which ensures that all of its customers stay on the cutting edge of technology.

For more information about any of Sirona’s CAD/CAM and digital impression solutions or to schedule a free demonstration, call your local Patterson branch, 800-873-7683, or visit www.inLab.com.

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Sirona Unveils New Exclusive Material, VITABLOCS® RealLife®, at the CEREC® 25th Anniversary Celebration in Las Vegas

VITABLOCS RealLife® Feature Dentin Core with a Complementing Enamel Coat for Natural Esthetics Right from the Milling Machine

Long Island City, NY (August 28th, 2010) – Sirona Dental Systems (Nasdaq: SIRO) announced the availability of new VITABLOCS RealLife at the CEREC 25th Anniversary Celebration, a milestone event celebrating the 25-year anniversary of its CEREC CAD/CAM system.

VITABLOCS RealLife are the first and only all-ceramic blocks that incorporate a unique, spherically curved dentin core with a complementing enamel coat within the block. The layered structure of VITABLOCS RealLife effectively simulates the optical characteristics of natural teeth.

Used in conjunction with Sirona’s new V3.80 software, VITABLOCS RealLife provide the dentist or laboratory technician with virtually unlimited options for designing anterior restorations of unsurpassed esthetic quality.

With a few simple clicks of the mouse to define labial wall thickness, the V3.80 software directs the milling machine to automatically position the VITABLOCS® RealLife block on the enamel-dentin border of the block, thus reducing milling time while simultaneously achieving a perfect shade effect with the correct ratio of dentin and enamel.

Only VITABLOCS RealLife have the ability to reproduce the desired shade effect in regard to translucency, chroma, and lightness. What’s more, The V3.80 software allows the dentist or lab technician to quickly and easily change the position of the restoration in the block as needed to reproduce very fine shade nuances, which can be verified on-screen before milling begins.

The result is a finished, highly esthetic restoration that is ready to be seated directly upon removal from the milling machine, with no need for additional characterization, staining, or individualization steps.

VITABLOCS RealLife is a registered trademark of VITA Zahnfabrik H. Rauter GmbH & Co.

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Sirona Launches New CEREC® Software with Biogeneric Capabilities

I got a chance to see the new Cerec software version 3.8 at the Chicago Midwinter meeting last week. This update is impressive! If you are a Cerec Service Club member, you should be receiving it around May.

Rather than give you my opinions after 30 minutes of time with the product, I'll let the Sirona Press Release give you the pertinent info:

• Easily and Precisely Reconstructs Natural Occlusion

• Automatic Design Procedure is Fast, Reliable, and Compatible with all Restorative Indications


Charlotte, NC (February 25, 2010) – Sirona Dental Systems, LLC (Nasdaq: SIRO), the company that pioneered digital impressions and dental CAD/CAM 25 years ago and the world’s leading producer of dental CAD/CAM and digital impression systems, is pleased to introduce user-friendly software developed for its CEREC® chairside system. The new software is based on Sirona’s patented Biogeneric technology.

Like fingerprints, no two human teeth are identical and each tooth has its own unique characteristics. A group of researchers led by Professor Dr. Albert Mehl (Zurich University) and Professor Dr. Volker Blanz (Siegen University) have unraveled the rules that shape natural teeth, and these rules are based on a patient’s genetic makeup. Sirona has harnessed this understanding into the new Biogeneric CEREC 3D software.

Version 3.8 of the CEREC software enables dentists to create lifelike reconstructions – even while working with completely damaged occlusal surfaces. On the basis of a single intact tooth, the program extrapolates the natural morphology of that tooth to the patient’s damaged tooth structure. CEREC 3.8 software can be used for all single-tooth restorations and for three-unit bridges.

“Biogenerics is based exclusively on the patient’s individual dentition status,” remarked Professor Mehl. “This is a major advantage in terms of clinical reliability. The more individual the occlusion, the better the resulting functionality.”

Currently, all occlusal design approaches are based on limited dental libraries and databases containing data records of various standard teeth. Conventional CAD/CAM programs retrieve a matching tooth from the archive, and then generate a design proposal for the given clinical situation. The user then manually edits and adapts this proposal. No objective principles exist to justify this selection, and using matching databases can be subjective and time-consuming.

Explains Professor Mehl, “These standardized teeth are comparable to off-the-rack garments manufactured in standard sizes. Frequently, such garments do not fit properly in all places and require subsequent alteration. By contrast, a biogenerically designed tooth is a made-to-measure product; ‘tooth couture,’ if you will.”

“Biogenerics will revolutionize occlusal surface design,” remarked Bart Doedens, Vice President, Dental CAD/CAM Systems at Sirona. “With a single mouse click, the user will obtain a natural and individually designed restoration that requires hardly any manual adjustment. Such made-to-measure restorations are simpler, quicker, and, above all, more precise than their ‘off-the-rack’ equivalents.”

The Biogeneric design feature will replace the “dental database” feature in previous CEREC software versions. With Version 3.8, it will be possible to easily create crowns, veneers, and anatomically sized bridges. The user will simply require an intact reference tooth of the similar type – i.e., anterior or posterior.

The time-consuming process of selecting tooth morphology from dental databases has been virtually eliminated. Moreover, due to the standardized and largely automated routines, the software is easy to learn and use.

For more information about any of Sirona’s CAD/CAM and digital impression solutions or to schedule a free demonstration, call your local Patterson branch, 800-873-7683, or visit www.cereconline.com.

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