The Bosworth Company was founded in 1912 and is still family-owned. Herbert Pozen is the executive vice president of Boswortth, where he has been working for 24 years.
OP: What types of orthodontic products does your company offer?
Pozen: Our company offers plastic and stainless-steel trays, Aegis® crown and bridge resin cement with amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) filler, orthodontic adhesives, topical anesthetics, orthodontic glitter, pressure pots, plastic chair covers, patient drapes, and patient-safety glasses.
OP: Is there an orthodontic technique that your company takes pride in?
Pozen: The Aegis Pit And Fissure Sealant, an opaque 35% filled modified bis-GMA–Urethane Dimethacrylate-based light cure resin, is the first dental material of its kind to include ACP in its formulation.
The goal of the application is to not only seal pits and fissures from the ingress of bacterial acid by-products, but to promote remineralization of tooth structure internally by the release of calcium and phosphate ions into the tooth surface. The sealant cures to an opaque film on the enamel. Aegis is applied with the same technique that most dental sealants require.
OP: Where do you see your company 5 years from now?
Pozen: The Bosworth Company, 5 years from now, will celebrate its 99th year in existence. The company expects to continue to expand on many levels. We expect to expand worldwide in Internet training capabilities and international sales, and to build solid relationships with our fellow members of the dental-industry workforce. We continue to seek new knowledge and ideas to continue the forward movement of dental health.
Master and Expander
Lewis Klapper, DMD, MScD, DSc, has been practicing orthodontics for 37 years. A former chairman of the Loyola University orthodontic program, he is vice president and head of research and development at the SUPERscrew SUPERspring Co.
OP: As an orthodontist, what made you dissatisfied with the expansion screws you were using?
Klapper: Most of the patients I was treating had maxillary constriction relating to an inadequate airway. They were mouth breathers. The appliances available to me did not, in my opinion, adequately allow me to widen the airway sufficiently to make the patient change from oral breathing to nasal breathing. The appliances did not expand widely enough and were not sufficiently rigid to allow parallel expansion, which would extend to the nasal airway. The appliances would often flex, allowing the maxillary halves and posterior teeth to tip outward, resulting in dental extrusion during expansion. It was also very frustrating to me and the parents/patients as to how difficult it was for them to activate the appliance with the pin, which had to be inserted into a capstan in the middle of the appliance pushed to the rear of the palate. Often they were not successful, and fearful [of hurting the patient], they had to return to the office to seek help from the orthodontist.
OP: What’s different about your expansion screw?
Klapper: The SUPERscrew telescopic expander is different in the following ways.
1) It has three overlapping parts instead of two, which allows greater expansion in a much smaller space. It is the only expander to have three mutually overlapping parts.
2) The SUPERscrew is activated with a wrench from the front of the mouth and outside, which is much easier and safer for the parent/patient to accomplish the expansion.
3) The SUPERscrew has been shown by the University of Graz, Austria, to be the most rigid maxillary-expansion appliance of all those tested. This is the result of the design and special materials used in the manufacturing.
4) The design of the SUPERscrew—with no openings—prevents food from being trapped, as is the case with others during expansion. Is is more hygienic, since expanders are often left in place for weeks to months.
OP: Are there any changes planned to your product?
Klapper: We have made changes to the product in the last year, which we are very pleased about. Previously, the two sizes of expanders we offered required the use of different wrench sizes, as the hex portions were different dimensions. We re-engineered the product, making the hex diameter the same for both sizes, enabling users to use just one wrench. The advantage was to our customers, as they did not have to inventory two different wrenches. We also are now able offer one size of lock nut for both expanders, again making things easier for our customers. We call this new version the SIMPLEX Hex, which is a unified design.
