W&H and Osstell: a perfect match
Feb 15, 2017
Interview with Peter Malata, Jonas Ehinger and Professor Neil Meredith in the EDI Journal 04/2016
Source: EDI Journal 04/2016
As a surprise to the market, the Austrian family-run enterprise W&H at EAO in Paris announced its exclusive cooperation with the renowned Swedish company Osstell, together with its presentation of the new lmplantmed generation. The new lmplantmed impresses with numerous optimized features designed to satisfy today’s needs in implant dentistry, periodontal and maxillofacial surgery. On top, Implantmed is available with an optional W&H Osstell ISQ module to measure the stability of an implant and, thus, control the healing period and optimize treatment times. EDI Journal met W&H CEO Peter Malata, Osstell CEO Jonas Ehinger and Professor Neil Meredith, who originally developed the resonance frequency analysis (RFA) method.
What gave you the idea of your cooperation to begin with and which company will benefit more?
Malata: You can speak of a triple win rather than a win-win situation here; We are both family-run or midsize companies with a strong innovative strain, so talks started very easily. With the unique combination of our state-of-the-art technologies, we can bring clear benefits closer to clinicians from all over the world and to their patients.
Ehinger: Another advantage of proprietor-led businesses like ours is that we accept each other’s individualist approaches. We join forces as a winning team, but we also respect the individual history of each other.
What are the crucial benefits for the clinician?
Malata: lmplantmed stands for ease of operation. The guiding principle behind the user interface of the new generation was to integrate innovative functions which support an intuitive use. The aim is to make day-to-day work considerably simpler for both the surgeon and the dental nurse. In addition, the new surgical device presents a number of further improvements, such as an extremely small and lightweight motor, a wireless foot control and the best weight-torque relation you will find in the market.
Ehinger: Optionally, the new lmplantmed can be equipped with the Osstell ISQ module as an efficient, clinically proven and reliable solution for measuring implant stability. Our implant stability diagnostics together with the sophisticated lmplantmed for the surgical placement provides a unique capability benefitting both clinicians and their patients.
Why do you consider it vital for yourself and your patients to measure implant stability and to monitor osseointegration?
Meredith: Today, workflows in implant dentistry tend to be quicker, patients demand chairside solutions, implantations into extraction sites, immediate restorations or even immediate loading protocols. With this, you do not only need to know your implants stability, but you had better also have a good documentation of it, both for yourself and for forensic reasons. With the Osstell, you get a proven diagnostic assurance and great prognostic values for your treatment. Combined with the lmplantmed, which shows advanced ergonomic features I have never experienced before, both for myself and the assistants, it is a perfect match for many of today’s challenges. Not to forget: It is a great tool for teaching, for explaining the biological process of implant stability and osseointegration to our students and dentists in postgraduate training for dental implantology. And the menu and guidance of the combined setting is extremely intuitive and user-friendly.
Malata: For the first time, you have this unique combination of insertion torque control and the initial-stability ISQ measurement. Moreover, documentation of both these parameters by patient ID and tooth position facilitates a comprehensive and more predictable treatment protocol. All these benefits are available with no additional complicated apparatus, instead providing a most convenient working process and surgical environment.