Funding Boost Offsets Increasing Demand

(Toronto)–The Bloorview MacMillan Centre in Toronto has received $170,124 from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to meet growing demand for its cleft lip and palate/craniofacial dental program. The program, which provides orthodontics, prosthetics and surgical rehabilitation to teens and young adults has seen a 3% to 5% growth in demand over the last three years.

“We suspect more children who are born with serious congenital anomalies are surviving,” says Dr. Doug Johnston, dental director. “Also, people with inherited craniofacial differences are probably less apprehensive to have children today because the surgical repairs have become so sophisticated.” Of the funding, $60,000 is an ongoing base adjustment to the program’s budget, while the remainder covers what the program spent to meet increased demand last year. The program’s total annual budget is $1.8 million. In addition to its work at Bloorview MacMillan, where about 250 clients are served each month, the program flies specialists to four Northern Ontario cities each year to provide a “one-stop” assessment clinic for clients from birth to age 22. It also funds community-based care for most of Northern Ontario. “This new funding will ensure we don’t have to turn any children down,” Dr. Johnston says.

DENTSPLY Acquires AstraZeneca Line

(York, PA)–DENTSPLY International Inc., has acquired the dental injectible anesthetic assets of AstraZeneca for $136.5 million and royalties on future sales of AstraZeneca’s anesthetic product for scaling and root planing (Oraqix), currently in Stage III clinicals. The transaction is expected to add $65 million to DENTSPLY’S annual sales.

AstraZeneca’s dental injectible anesthetic business has a worldwide market share of 40 percent and the company has drug registrations in more than 60 countries.

Business Combo Receives Approval

(London, ON)–3M Dental and ESPE Dental AG have completed the combination of the two companies and now operate globally as 3M ESPE, a division of 3M Health Care Markets. The combined organization manufactures more than 2,000 dental products.

Excellence in Design

(Toronto)–Dr. Don Coburn (r), 5T1, CEO of Coburn Dental Systems Inc., received a Silver Award at the National Post/Design Exchange Awards dinner in January. He received the award for Danse, an ergonomically sound, high performance treatment room system designed and manufactured by Coburn Dental Systems. Presenting the award was Dr. Tobias Nickel, corporate communications manager, BMW Canada.

The award program judges the commercial and social effectiveness of designers’ work in order to encourage business and public appreciation of the impact of design excellence on the economy and quality of life.

Dr. Coburn practiced dentistry for 42 years in Hamilton, ON, and served on the editorial board of Oral Health for 22 years. DPM

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