Last month, RG journeyed from sunny Florida to sunnier California for LMT’s Annual LabDay West in Garden Grove. Although LabDay West only has one day of exhibits, it is one of the most fun, productive shows of the year! The day before the exhibition hall opens to west-coast dental laboratory owners, technicians, milling centers, and vendors, the show hosts several workshops and classes throughout the day. These are great for learning more about the latest technologies manufacturers have to offer, for dental technicians to collaborate, and for networking!

RG attended the Datron classroom to learn more about what makes the Datron machine so different from other machines in terms of efficiency, restoration quality, and material (i.e. milling tool) preservation. The team also discussed their ROI calculator and analyzed what type of usage is required to justify purchasing such a machine. This was particularly interesting to those who have been outsourcing a lot of custom abutments and titanium implant bars.

RG also attended the Core3d Centres aCADemy classroom where Mr. Mark Ferguson discussed 3Shape and the fundamentals of scanning and design, as well as implant and implant bar design. He threw in several shortcuts and tricks of the trade, which seemed to be much appreciated by the technicians in attendance.

In the evening, RG attended the Anaheim Ducks vs. L.A. Kings NHL Playoff Game seven at the Honda Center with clients. It is our philosophy that fun must always be mixed with business!

The following day, the exhibition hall was flooded with LabDay attendees from all over the west coast who are searching for the right materials and tools for their CAD/CAM laboratories or are looking for the right vendors to help them set up CAD/CAM. RG loves exhibit day at LabDay West, as it gives us a chance to have face-to-face meetings with our west coast customers whom we don’t always get to see. We also have a chance to meet new customers. It is one of RG’s passions to not just sell products, but to work with customers to help find the right solutions to fit their needs, goals, and growth.

Since RG goes to California only a few times per year and the team members crave In-N-Out burgers, the company’s President, Allison Raver, decided to order 100 cheeseburgers and fries (held the Animal style, as we didn’t think the Hyatt would be too pleased with the mess!) and served them to tradeshow attendees who shared the same California In-N-Out craving! We think they were a hit…we certainly enjoyed them!

RG jetsetted back to headquarters in Tampa, Florida after the show, but not before taking a scenic detour up the California coast and getting dinner at Captain Jack’s in Sunset Beach with our friends and colleagues at Core3d Centres.

The trip to Cali was fun, fast, and really productive. RG is very excited about the old and new connections that were made at the show and hope that it is not too long before we head back to the west coast!

Ratava Group (RG) is excited to announce that we have welcomed a new account manager, Mo Atfeh, to our ever-growing team! Mo joins RG with Bachelors Degrees in Biomedical Science and Psychology from The University of South Florida, as well as a customer-oriented approach! Mo is responsible for sales initiatives and product inquiries in the state of Florida for RG. “I look forward to combining a customer-focused approach with strong product knowledge, to deliver the best possible solutions to our clients!”—Mo Atfeh. It is RG’s philosophy that providing customers with above-and-beyond service is essential to company growth and to satisfied, life-long customers. This growth in our sales team will undoubtedly add a new level to the personal, hands-on element of our existing customer service initiatives. Allison Raver, President of RG, is excited to be expanding RG’s team and stated “I look forward to continuing to work with Mo and am confident that he will be a valuable resource for Florida-based labs and milling centers.” RG is a distributor of German-Made Dental CAD/CAM products to dental laboratories in U.S. and Canada.

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!

RG’s goal and philosophy is to make getting high quality, German-made products into the hands of skilled technicians faster and easier and to provide the best customer service possible. Since its founding in 2011, RG’s product line and business have grown based on customer demand to become the North American Distributor for five German manufacturers of CAD/CAM products. What began as a zirconia provider, has evolved into a distributorship for everything from zirconia and sintering accessories to non-precious metals to PMMA, wax, and milling machine tools!

To better serve and accommodate RG’s ever-growing customer needs, RG has relocated to a new, larger office and warehouse space. “RG is passionate about great products and unbeatable customer service. I believe this new location will allow our team to continue to grow and maintain the great level of service that we already provide to our happy milling customers!” Says The Ratava Group President, Allison Raver.

The Ratava Group is based in Tampa, Florida and can be reached at:

The Ratava Group
3614 West Cypress Street
Tampa, FL 33607

Direct Office: 813-877-6455
Toll-Free: 855-472-8282

 

While most of the United States recovered from turkey and shopping overdoses, The Ratava Group and the dental world prepared for one of the world’s largest dental tradeshows of the year: The Greater New York Dental Meeting (GNYDM). GNYDM is traditionally a tradeshow for domestic and international dental product vendors, manufacturers, and dentists that takes place in the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. This year GNYDM added a new section to expand its attendee listing to include products and services for those in the dental laboratory industry.

RG loves NYC and to promote their innovative, high-quality products every chance they get, so RG decided to exhibit in the Collaboration section of the show, which was newly designed to promote products to dental laboratory owners, technicians, and students.

The booth was busy and the show was a SUCCESS! RG had the opportunity to connect with current customers, new customers, meet prospective customers, and see a lot of new products launch into the market, including multi-layered PMMA and multi-layered zirconia.

RG’s German manufacturers joined RG at the booth, traveling all the way from Dortmund, Woerth, and Luetjenburg, Germany! It is always great having the product experts from the manufacturing companies present at the booth! After the show, we visited La Pulperia in Hell’s Kitchen and had a great time! The food and service were amazing…not to our surprise…it is NYC, after all!

RG is planning to exhibit again in 2014 in the Collaboration portion of the GNYDM and continue to promote their current and new product offerings. RG is always adding new, innovative, and highly-demanded products to their product line!