The Total TAD Kit
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Craig Beach is general manager at Dentaurum USA, Newtown, Pa, which is the US affiliate company of Dentaurum, Ispringen, Germany. Craig has been with Dentaurum for 7 years and was previously national sales manager and finance manager at Dentaurum USA.
OP: What is the tomas® auxiliary kit, and what does it include?
Beach: The tomas® auxiliary kit is the only complete custom TAD auxiliary kit on the market. We have a pool of more than 1,500 tomas users from which we gained valuable feedback, information, and ideas about the development of the kit.
The auxiliary kit includes 10 of each of the following:
- tomas Coil Springs (light/medium/heavy);
- tomas Monkey Hooks;
- tomas Nikodem Springs (7 mm/11 mm/14 mm);
- tomas 4-Level Crimpable Hooks (left/ right);
- tomas Stop Screws;
- tomas Power Arms (round/square);
- tomas Cross Tubes;
- tomas Crimpable Stops;
- tomas Molar Uprighting Springs; and
- tomas T-wires.
The kit also includes one auxiliary tweezer and one auxiliary box.
Each of the auxiliaries is specifically designed to provide time savings and reduce chairtime while treating TAD indications. The auxiliaries may also be purchased separately.
The auxiliaries can provide TAD users with more treatment options and alternative mechanics. They allow 95% of TAD placements to remain in the premolar region, which is the prime location for placing TADs. The cross-slot bracket head design of the tomas pin, together with the customauxiliaries, allows endless possibilities in setting up TAD mechanics using either “direct pulling” mechanics or the added option of “indirect stabilizing” mechanics as shown in our seminars and Atlas handbooks. Even though the auxiliaries are specifically designed for the tomas pin, they are compatible with other TADs that are on the market.
OP: According to your Web site, the O-Atlas has been updated. What new content and information does it include for orthodontists?
Beach: The O-Atlas is a complete resource that has been designed and published with a focus on the needs of in-house lab technicians. It provides a one-stop resource to help detail the look, design, and manufacturing of all of the most widely used lab appliances (removable and fixed). We offer the book for $69. A free version is also available online at www.o-atlas.de.
OP: How do the FDI designations help identify brackets?
Beach: Dentaurum owns the patent on the ability to laser-etch our bonding base directly into all of our singlepiece brackets. The bond retention of a laser-etched bonding base is superior to a mesh-base or sandblasted base, because it allows us to build “intelligence” into the etched pattern of each bracket base.
For example, we can cut micro- and macro-etched boxes into the base of each bracket in the specific design and patterns, which are proven to improve the bond retention of the bracket.
The patented laser-etching process allows us to have the flexibility to also etch the FDI tooth number into the base of each bracket. By using this identification system, we make it very easy to see the actual FDI tooth number on each base. The orientation of the FDI number also shows which end of the bracket is gingival and which is occlusal.
OP: What training do you offer in the use of your products?
Beach: We offer 15 to 20 free seminars a year on our tomas anchorage system. In 2008, we made the decision to stop charging seminar fees for the lecture segment of our courses and to provide these seminars as a complimentary courtesy to the market.
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For information about TAD auxiliary kits, see our Buyer’s Guide. |
The only remaining fee we charge is a $199 fee to cover the cost of the materials used in the optional “hands-on” segment, which allows the practitioner to physically place TADs and auxiliaries on a clear patient model. At the conclusion of the hands-on segment, the participant keeps the completed model, which can be used as a great aide in a future patient consultation.
We also offer training through our Web site, www.tomasforum.com.
