Industry News

CARECREDIT® PRESENTS FIFTH CONSECUTIVE $100,000 DONATION
TO GIVE KIDS A SMILE® FUND

CareCredit, the nation’s leading patient payment program, continued its support as founding donor of the American Dental Association Foundation Give Kids A Smile Fund with its fifth consecutive $100,000 donation.  The donation was made at the Give Kids A Smile National Advisory Board meeting, February 23, 2011, in Chicago.  The funding will help the American Dental Association Foundation continue to make grants that support the Give Kids A Smile Program.

Read more: CareCredit/Give Kids A Smile Fund

Green Dentistry Association sets goal of 10,000 Pledges
Between World Water Day & Earth Day 2011

Berkeley, CA (March 22, 2011) – The Eco-Dentistry Association™ (EDA), an international membership association formed to promote environmentally sound practices in dentistry, recently announced its goal of obtaining 10,000 pledges for its “Save 90 a Day!” campaign by Earth Day, observed on April 22.  The campaign drive will officially launch on World Water Day, Tuesday, March 22.

The “Save 90 a Day!” campaign encourages dental patients to turn off the water while they brush their teeth, saving an estimated 90 glasses of water a day, per person.  Joining the campaign is free, no special equipment is required, and anyone with access to a computer can participate.

Read more: Celebrate World Water Day with the Eco-Dentistry Association’s “Save 90 a Day!” Water Conservation Campaign Drive

Cologne, Germany, 22 March 2011: At Europe's largest dental trade fair, the
International Dental Show, three companies, Dental Wings, 3M ESPE and Straumann
today announced that they are joining forces to create an open global standard
software platform for use across a range of dental applications. The initiative is
expected to offer enhanced flexibility, simplicity, and convenience for users, while
saving time, costs and investment risk. The need for standardization in digital dentistry
is acute as the number of different systems and software platforms has risen
considerably, adding complexity and confusion for dentists and dental laboratories.
Standardized software is expected to be a main driver of the digital market.
To advance industry standardization, 3M ESPE and Straumann have agreed to adopt
Dental Wings' software platform DWOS as the core operating software in their
CADCAM solutions. The combined resources of several partners can be expected to
achieve significantly more than those of a stand-alone provider. This initiative thus has
excellent prospects for establishing the leading software platform in the field.
Thanks to its focused specialist team, Dental Wings has established itself as a leading
developer of dental software. 3M ESPE and Straumann add strong expertise and
leadership in their fields including digital solutions. The combination of resources will
accelerate the development of DWOS into a best-in-class, preferred system. Both 3M
ESPE and Straumann will continue to build their own specific applications on top of the
core software adding value for their customers. Other companies are encouraged to
join the collaboration and to contribute to shaping the platform's future. Straumann, 3M
and Dental Wings all support the initiative to extend the Dicom standard1 to the
prosthetics value chain.

Read more: Dental Wings, 3M ESPE And Straumann Join Forces