COVID-19 UPDATE: Dentek, Inc. Dental Laboratory is fully operational at this time.

Home  /   Tag: NADL

Tag Archives: NADL

Any First 3 Crowns FREE
(including BRUXER (Zirconia), e.max or PFM) with FREE Overnight FedEx Delivery Both Ways
– Click Here to Print Coupons –

Hide-

coupon

Click coupon to print

A Kansas City based dental laboratory is proud to be a Donated Dental Service (DDS) volunteer.

DDSA Kansas City based dental laboratory is proud to be a Donated Dental Service (DDS) volunteer.  The Donated Dental Services (DDS) program provides free, comprehensive dental treatment to our country’s most vulnerable people with disabilities or who are elderly or medically fragile.  These are people who cannot afford necessary treatment and cannot get public aid.  The program operates through a volunteer network of more than 15,000 dentists and 3,600 dental labs across the United States.  Since its inception in 1985, the DDS program has surpassed $250 million in donated dental therapies, transforming the lives of more than 120,000 people.

Dentek, Inc. Dental Laboratory located just outside of the Kansas City area has been proudly serving people in need for many years.  The state of Kansas alone has 370 dentists and 136 dental laboratories involved with the amount of $649, 865 in donated dental services.  Dentek Lab is proud to be a part of the heart and soul of this program.  Just knowing the amounts of lives that are being transformed by the crown and bridge work that Dentek Lab is donating is truly incredible.  Donated Dental Services has provided $250 million in services since it began in Colorado in 1986.  More than 120,000 vulnerable people in all 50 states have benefited from the care that Dentek Lab and others have generously donated.

Many DDS patients need dentures, crowns, or bridges, which require fabrication by dental laboratories.  The National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL) endorses the DDS program and many labs volunteer to donate these appliances.  To find out how you can get involved and give these patient something to smile about is easy!  As a dentist, you review patient cases in advance, choose to see or decline any patient, and determine your own treatment plan.  You see patients in your own office, never pay lab costs, and the program requires no extra paperwork from your staff.  You treat the patient and Donated Dental Services takes care of everything else.  As a lab, you donate the appliances our patients so desperately need – including dentures, crowns, and bridges.  Several companies will then donate materials for these appliances, such as: Argen, Ivovlar, Dentsply, Nobel Biocare, Patterson Dental Supply, and Straumann just to name a few.  When donated materials are available, Donated Dental Services then makes all the necessary arrangements.  Dentek Lab couldn’t be more proud to be involved with such an amazing company that helps all of these people who are desperately in need all over the United States.


Read More

The Importance of Knowing Where Your Dentist is Sending Your Dental Restorations.

The Importance of Knowing Where Your Dentist is Sending Your Dental Restorations.

SocialMedia_ads_HermanIf your Dentist is using Dentek, Inc. Dental Laboratory located in Lenexa, KS for your crown and bridge work then you are guaranteed that your Dentist has chosen a Certified Dental Laboratory to fabricate all of your dental restorations.  National Board of Certification awards its certification only to laboratories which demonstrate the adherence to the highest standards.  Your dental restoration is always custom designed and handmade in the USA by highly trained and experienced technicians.  Only the finest dental materials available today are used in the fabrication process.  Have your Dentist contact Dentek, Inc. Dental Laboratory today.  Read the article below to see the importance of knowing where your dentist is sending your dental restorations.

Dental Work Made in China Might Contain Lead

By ROBERTA BASKIN and SANDY BERGO

When Faye Lewis became concerned about her painful new bridgework, she had it checked out and received some disturbing news: Her bridge was manufactured in China and tainted with lead. More dentists are using crowns and bridges made in China. According to the United State Customs Office, the number of dental products coming into the United States from China has doubled in the last year. An investigation by ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV found that at least some of those dental products contain lead. Lewis initially went to have a chipped tooth fixed, but her resulting bridgework fit so poorly and painfully, she couldn’t chew her food. The 73-year-old told her dentist what she wanted to do was chew out whoever built her bridge. According to Lewis, her dentist replied, “That will be a little hard to do because they’re in China.” As a grandmother, Lewis was aware of news reports about the recall of lead-tainted toys from China. Lead accumulates in the body and can affect kidneys, eyes, heart, the immune system and cognitive function. So Lewis sent her dental work to a lab for testing. The results showed that it did indeed contain lead. Ricki Braswell, co-executive director of the National Association of Dental Laboratories, said there is little regulation when it comes to dental work. “Because you have an unregulated industry, you really don’t have standards,” Braswell said. “You don’t have standards in the domestic industry. You certainly don’t have standards in the foreign industry.”

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Tony Prestipino, who owns Artifex dental lab in Virginia, ordered 10 crowns from three dental labs in China on behalf of WJLA. Crowns from China sell for $30 to $50 to dentists, who then can charge up to $1,200 to patients who don’t know the crowns were made in China. A Chinese lab representative told Prestipino over the phone, “We follow this military ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.” Within five days the crowns arrived. “The first thing I see is that this is a horrible color and a horrible shape,” Prestipino said. Those crowns had problems similar to Lewis’. They didn’t match the prescription and never would fit properly. When that happens, Prestipino said, “bacteria seeps right into it. You will end up needing a root canal.” If Lewis’ bridge hadn’t fit so poorly, she never would have had it removed or tested for toxic materials. Next, WJLA had the China-made crowns tested for lead at NSL Analytical in Cleveland. Using a sophisticated process that takes days to complete, the lab did not find lead in any of the metal portion of the crowns. But in every case, lead contamination was discovered in the porcelain parts of the crown at some very high levels. “We never expected to see lead in teeth,” said NSL president Larry Somrack. In the crowns tested, the lead levels were as high as 490 parts per million. That’s five times higher than the 90 ppm a Congressional committee wants the U.S. to set for toys. Faye Lewis believes that money is behind the increased use of dental work from China. “It’s a cost factor. It’s the big dollar,” she said.

ADA Conducting Investigation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it does not believe the lead levels found pose an immediate health risk and isn’t recommending people delay dental work, or have prior work redone. Meanwhile, the American Dental Association is conducting an investigation of its own. The ADA plans to analyze up to 100 crowns blindly, about 50 percent will be from the U.S. and the other half from foreign countries. Cliff Carey, an analytical chemist with the ADA, says the organization hopes to finish the study within a year and will provide the results to the CDC. In the testing conducted so far, Carey said that no lead was found in the crowns. The ADA is testing porcelain powders and has found traces of lead, but in very small amounts, he said. The ADA encourages patients to discuss any concerns about the safety of their dental crowns or other prostheses with their dentists and will continue to share information on this issue.

Read More