Survey Confirms Traditional Dental Wax Is Obsolete and Will Be Discontinued by the Orthodontic Profession

Survey Confirms Traditional Dental Wax Is Obsolete and Will Be Discontinued by the Orthodontic Profession

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – March 26, 2019 – OrVance LLC, a developer of proprietary orthodontic products, announced preliminary results from its survey of U.S. orthodontic residents regarding products used for the treatment of pain and irritation caused by orthodontic appliances.

Major findings include the following:

• 100% of residents agree that “mitigation of pain from irritation is an important part of orthodontic treatment.”

• The majority of residents surveyed said it is no longer appropriate to dispense dental wax to patients with none of the following quality and safety features: unit-of-use hygienic packaging, tamper-evident packaging, product traceability and disclosure of ingredients.

• None of the residents surveyed could name another healthcare product, other than dental wax, that is lacking all of the aforementioned features.

• Over 80% of residents say that unit-of-use packaging is essential for chairside application within their practice.

• 88% of residents say they intend to use OrthoDots® CLEAR as the replacement for commodity dental wax in their practice.

According to Dr. Mike Silver, OrVance’s Director of R&D and Technical Affairs, “These survey results confirm that traditional dental wax is not only obsolete in performance and aesthetics, but it is literally the last product we know of in healthcare that has seen no innovation in over 50 years. Generic wax totally missed the increased quality and safety standards that were adopted during the ‘80s and ‘90s by virtually all healthcare products. Additionally, orthodontic appliances have evolved; patients are not wearing the same appliances they did 50+ years ago.”

“OrthoDots® CLEAR is the first product that is designed to perform best with all types of orthodontic appliances, ranging from the many advancements in fixed appliances to the growing clear aligner market. Plus, OrthoDots® CLEAR provides the aesthetic benefit of transparency over commodity wax, which is a feature that today’s patients demand.”

“Our research confirms that the orthodontic profession is demanding a better solution for their patients,” said Ron Schutt, OrVance’s CEO. “We are the world’s first company to deliver a better performing orthodontic wax that is compliant with the current Medical Device Directive and the upcoming Medical Device Regulations (MDR) that will soon be implemented in the European Union (EU). As a Class I Medical Device, the common unlabeled dental wax is in violation of current and upcoming regulations in the EU. So we are partnering with leading suppliers globally to immediately bring them into compliance with current regulations and healthcare product standards. With our partners, our goal is to replace all noncompliant wax in the orthodontic industry by early 2020, before the new MDR goes into effect in May of 2020. Now that OrthoDots® CLEAR is available from leading suppliers, we are encouraging practices to immediately stop dispensing commodity dental wax to their patients and return it to their suppliers.”

Orthodontist, Author and Advisor to OrVance Dr. Mart McClellan added, “Scrutiny of our profession is certain to increase if we continue to ignore the noncompliance and poor performance of the most commonly dispensed product in our profession. We need to demand a better solution from our suppliers.”

More information on the performance, quality and compliance benefits of OrthoDots® CLEAR can be found in the white papers at orvance.com. Suppliers and retailers interested in carrying OrthoDots® CLEAR can contact OrVance at sales@orvance.com.

About OrVance

OrVance LLC is a developer of proprietary orthodontic products and is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is over 90% owned by orthodontists, dentists and its managing partners. OrthoDots® CLEAR are available from leading suppliers and retailers. Learn more at orvance.com.

Contact: Ron Schutt (616) 446-3598 ron@orvance.com