WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sensable Dental, maker of digital dental restoration design and production solutions, announced Attenborough Dental Laboratories, Ltd. of Nottingham, England, has joined the Sensable Intellifit™ Production Center Partner program. A 98-year old firm that is one of Europe's largest dental laboratories, Attenborough will provide 3D printing, milling and pressing services to dental laboratories for partial dentures, crowns, bridges, veneers and other types of restorations designed with Sensable’s Intellifit Digital Restoration System. The partnership further expands Sensable’s global network of production centers, and ensures that Sensable’s customers have access to the latest fabrication methods and innovative materials to deliver precise, high quality restorations to their doctors, without the overhead required for in-house production equipment and staff.
With aging demographics and heightened demand for high-quality dental esthetics helping to drive expected global lab revenues to over US$14.5 billion by the year 20151, Attenborough is enabling more labs to deliver the most aesthetic removable and fixed restorations – ones with Intellifit’s precision fit, and fabricated in a broad range of materials. These materials include the increasingly popular non-metal options for crowns, bridges, veneers and more.
“Dental labs prefer to focus on where they can add the most value by achieving artistry in their designs, and be free from time consuming tasks which can be delivered by a production centre using CAD-CAM. We have already been working with leading universities to produce custom made medical devices, fixed and removable dental prostheses and orthodontic appliances, maxillofacial devices, and other types of specialty appliances, from replacement mandibles to intra- and extra-ocular devices. We’re now delighted to offer our extensive portfolio of production techniques and materials to the growing Sensable Intellifit lab community,” said Ed Attenborough, managing director of Attenborough Dental Laboratories.
“We share Sensable’s commitment to giving dental labs more choice and applying the best of the industry’s impressive technology advances to deliver even greater productivity and precision,” Attenborough said.
As digital dentistry expands globally, Attenborough’s partnership with Sensable makes it easier for an even greater number of dental labs to transition from manual to digital processes – with the increased accuracy and consistency that CAD/CAM provides – and to offer new products and services to their clients. With Intellifit, labs can purchase the Scan-only or the Scan/Design system configuration and then send the files electronically to Attenborough for 3D printing or milling. The printed patterns can either be returned to the lab for fabrication in the materials of their choice or Attenborough can complete the job by providing the final restorations in a variety of today’s most in-demand materials including glass fiber polyamides, IPS e.max®, various Vita® all-ceramic products, cobalt-chromium (CoCr) alloys (both milled and laser sintered), Zirconium Oxide (both green state and pre-sintered), Crystal Diamond Zirconia, and titanium.
“Today's dental labs want the benefit of using the latest materials without having to invest in expensive fabrication systems. Relying on state-of-the-art production centers allows labs to add their value in the design and finishing. With our Intellifit scan and design systems and network of milling and 3D printing partners, we are meeting that need," said Joan Lockhart, vice president of sales, marketing and customer service at Sensable. "Attenborough has a long, successful track record of being a leader in their market. We are pleased to add them to our network of trusted Intellifit production centers that support and expand our dental customers' fabrication choices. Today's dental labs want the benefit of using the latest materials without having to invest in expensive fabrication systems.”
About the Sensable Intellifit Digital Restoration System
The Intellifit™ TE (Touch Enabled) Digital Restoration System, from Sensable Dental, offers dental labs even more choice, performance and flexibility in digitally designing and fabricating a wide range of dental restorations. Intellifit – formerly named the Sensable Dental Lab System – is the first and #1 selling solution for the design of partials and more, enabling labs to complete more cases in less time. Its intelligent software and system integration across scan, design and fabrication deliver precise, consistent results. Its unique touch-enabled (TE) CAD/CAM approach to 3D on-screen waxing lets labs maintain design control while easing the transition from manual to digital waxing. Intellifit allows labs to fabricate restorations in the materials of their choice, either in-house or outsourced to an Intellifit Authorized Production Center.
About Attenborough Dental
Formed in 1913, Attenborough are the longest established independent lab in the UK. They were the first (April 2000) UK production centre to launch an in-house CAD-CAM service and over 300,000 restorations later, they remain one of the largest digital production centers in the UK. The laboratory pioneered the fabrication of revolutionary yet extremely cost-effective full arch implant frameworks, as well as mass customised made medical devices using optical scanning and CAD-CAM subtractive and additive digital manufacturing technologies. They also use CT computer guided implant placement software with rapid prototyping for stent making.
All work at Attenborough is produced to the highest standard, being ISO13485:2003, ISO9001:2008, DAMAS, and IIP accredited, and participating in the DoH bursary scheme as a vocational training facility with their own poly-clinic and training centre on site. www.attenborough.com
About Sensable
Founded in 1993, Sensable remains the leading developer of touch-enabled solutions and technology that allow users to not only see and hear an on-screen computer application, but to actually “feel” it. With 44 patents granted and over 9,000 systems installed worldwide, Sensable helps people innovate with human touch solutions. The company markets and sells the Intellifit™ Digital Restoration System for dental labs; a suite of 3D organic design solutions that includes its flagship product, Freeform; and the Phantom® and Omni™ lines of haptic devices, used in surgical simulation and planning, stroke rehabilitation, medical training, and a range of research and robotic applications. With an unparalleled commitment to partnering with customers, Sensable brings a human touch to innovating and implementing customer-centric solutions. Sensable products are available through direct and reseller channels worldwide. www.Sensable.com.
Intellifit, Freeform, Phantom, Omni, Sensable and Sensable Technologies, Inc. are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sensable Technologies, Inc. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
1 “Dental Laboratories: A Global Strategic Business Report, Global Industry Analysts, June 2010, as published in Dental Tribune, June 30 2010.