California doc captures 100,000th digital impression via 3M ESPE's Lava C.O.S.

Today 3M ESPE announced that more than 100,000 digital impressions have been captured via the company's Lava Chairside Oral Scanner C.O.S. systems. This worldwide milestone was reached when Dr. Richard Cordano captured an impression with the C.O.S. he had added to his practice last October.

The Lava C.O.S. reached the 100,000 impression milestone barely 4 years after its 2008 debut, truly an impressive feat in an industry that has been slowly embracing digital impression technologies. DPR sends its congratulations to everyone at 3M ESPE working on the Lava C.O.S. and related digital and material technologies. The only question now is will they hit 200,000 digital impressions prior to 2016?

Read the full press release below:

3M™ ESPE™ Lava™ Chairside Oral Scanner C.O.S. Exceeds 100,000 Digital Impressions Worldwide

Dental CAD/CAM system reaches milestone in digital dentistry

ST. PAUL, Minn. - January 9, 2012 - 3M ESPE announces that its groundbreaking digital impression system, the Lava™ Chairside Oral Scanner C.O.S., has exceeded 100,000 clinical cases worldwide. This milestone number of digital dental impressions marks a historical moment for dental CAD/CAM systems, digital dentistry and customer satisfaction with 3M ESPE.

Dr. Richard Cordano, of Cordano and Spears Dental in Yuba City, Calif., scanned the 100,000th digital impression. He purchased the Lava C.O.S. in October 2011 and has already completed more than 97 cases using the system in combination with Trevi Dental Studio, which uses CAD/CAM dentistry.

“The fit of restorations made with digital impressions captured by the Lava C.O.S. is phenomenal. We have a great lab but the Lava C.O.S. takes it to the next level,” said Dr. Cordano. “Digital impressions speed up the initial appointment because you know right away if you need to rescan. At final seating the contacts are right. Everything is right. We’ve been very happy with the results.”

Dentists using the system have noted improved productivity through faster seating times and more predictability when scheduling because of accurate digital impressions. In addition, the Lava C.O.S. connects to several leading dental lab scanners and CAD/CAM systems, which allows an open connection to a variety of restorations and materials.

Launched in 2008, the Lava C.O.S. features 3D-in-Motion technology, a unique tool in digital dentistry. Unlike current point-and-click technology, 3D-in-Motion allows the Lava C.O.S. to capture continuous real-time 3D video images that create a digital impression, sent directly to any laboratory, which is then used to produce precise-fitting restorations.

About 3M ESPE

3M ESPE manufactures and markets more than 2,000 dental products and services designed to help dental professionals improve their patients' oral health care. 3M Health Care, one of 3M’s six major business segments, provides world-class innovative products and services to help health care professionals improve the practice and delivery of patient care in medical, oral care, drug delivery and health information markets. The recently created 3M Digital Oral Care Department, part of the 3M ESPE Division, aims to accelerate and strengthen 3M’s efforts to lead the digital dental transformation that is occurring in oral care. For more information on the complete 3M ESPE line of dental products visit the 3M ESPE Web site at www.3MESPE.com or call the 3M ESPE Technical Hotline at 1-800-634-2249. Products are available for purchase through authorized 3M ESPE distributors.

About 3M

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $27 billion in sales, 3M employs about 80,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter

3M, ESPE and Lava are trademarks of 3M or 3M Deutschland GmbH. Used under license in Canada. (C) 3M 2011. All rights reserved.