In today’s market, CAD/CAM technology is quickly becoming the law of the land in terms of the production of fixed dental restorations. It has always been The Ratava Group’s initiative to provide the most high quality, technologically advanced products to dental technicians and CDTs across North America.

Although High Translucent Zirconia, Chrome Cobalt (Type 4), Titanium (Grade 5), Wax, and PMMA are all necessities for the CAD/CAM lab, RG found that there are a lot of technicians and labs who are looking for other products that are not always easy to find! RG has expanded their product line to include milling machine tools for almost any mill, sintering beads that do not cause yellowing or pinkish hues, and an awesome sintering oven cleaner.

In the past few months, there has been a steadily increasing demand for multi-layered PMMA. RG has recently added a multi-layered PMMA to their all-German product line up. The multi-layered PMMA has a five-layer gradient and is available in VITA shades A1-B2 and comes in the 16mm and 20mm heights for 98.3 with step, 100mm without step, Amann Girrbach, and Zirkon Zahn mills.

In RG’s conversations with customers and at tradeshows, we also found that many technicians are looking for a polishing paste that doesn’t smudge or splatter. RG has since added to the German product line a diamond polishing paste that only requires 1-2g of paste per case and doesn’t leave behind any greasy residues or splatter marks. The product is very simple, but is a necessity and is flying off the shelves!

RG is really excited for these additions to the product line. Getting necessary products that save time and are simple to use into the hands of North America’s skilled technicians is RG’s top priority….after top-notch customer service, of course!!

RG’s German-made wax is manufactured with the dental laboratory technician in mind. Unlike most waxes, this wax is extremely smooth, easy to carve, and is recyclable! This video demonstrates just how smooth milling RG wax is. The wax is so high-quality, that leftover or unmilled pieces of wax can be re-molded and carved or melted down and used as injector wax. The quality of the material and ease of use saves technicians money and, more importantly, time at the bench!

Last month The Ratava Group team attended LabDay Chicago, which for the last thirty years has been held at the Sheraton Hotel on the river. LabDay Chicago is always a great show characterized by its basement setting and whirlwind nature. Over the years, the show in the Sheraton’s basement has become one of North America’s largest annual tradeshows drawing attendees from all over the globe!

Dental lab owners and technicians attend lab day to find solutions for their laboratory needs and to see the latest, most technologically advanced products on the market. This year at LabDay Chicago the hype was all about the multilayered PMMA and multilayered zirconia discs! There were several presentations at the show each day, which focused on different aspects of the dental laboratory business. The Ratava Group delivered an educational presentation on the uses, profitability, and residual business that can be achieved with high translucent PMMA on behalf of Merz Dental.

RG was really hoping to announce the acquisition of Health Canada Approval and Certification for their line of Chrome Cobalt and Grade 5 Titanium CAD/CAM discs, but the approval was not available in time for the show. RG is really hoping the tedious process of obtaining Health Canada Certification will be over soon, so that Canadian Dental Labs and milling centers can have more options when it comes to milling non-precious metals. RG may not have been able to announce Health Canada Approval at the show, but they were able to expand their offerings for long-lasting milling machine tools!

In the evenings after the show exhibitors and attendees gathered, as always, at the Sheraton Chicago Chi Bar to catch up with colleagues and for more CAD/CAM talk. RG attended the CAP (Custom Automated Prosthetics) happy hour in the Colorado room and had the opportunity to meet a few really great technicians and dental laboratory owners and discuss the latest products and trends in digital dentistry. RG also had a chance to meet with Glenn with Roland DGA who is an expert on the milling machines. It is always great to catch up with the Roland team!

After attending the happy hour on Friday evening, RG had dinner at Howell’s and Hood on N. Michigan Avenue with the Delcam team, as well as the representatives from RG’s German manufacturers, Merz Dental and Doceram Medical Ceramics. The freshly-tapped Chicago-brewed beer paired well with gigantic cheeseburgers!

A trip to the Windy City is never complete without deep-dish pizza! RG concluded LabDay Chicago on Saturday evening by attending a meet and greet at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria hosted by Datron. Datrons are advanced, high-tech milling machines, so it was great to have the chance to talk with the Datron team. RG also had the opportunity to meet the owner of iMilling, who has several milling machines, including a Datron, and to get his perspective on the various machines and millable materials.

As always, LabDay Chicago was fun, fast-paced, and really productive. RG is looking forward to exhibiting at LabDay Chicago again in 2015!