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Implant manufacturer Straumann has acquired a minority stake of 30% in Dental Wings.
he move underscores Straumann's commitment to developing an open software standard for the dental industry, according to the company.

Headquartered in Montreal, Dental Wings specializes in software for design and manufacturing, in addition to developing and manufacturing 3D scanners. The company is privately owned and, as a result of the transaction, Straumann is now represented on its board of directors.

Straumann's interest in Dental Wings was signaled at the International Dental Show in Cologne, Germany, in March when the two companies announced a collaborative partnership with 3M ESPE to create an open standard software platform for use across a range of dental applications. 3M ESPE and Straumann also announced their intention to adopt Dental Wings Open System (DWOS) platform as the core operating software in their CAD/CAM systems.

"Dental professionals should no longer be locked into specific scanning or manufacturing systems, and we believe that a common platform will revolutionize the dental industry," Naoum Araj, president of Dental Wings, stated in a press release. "There is no doubt that digitalization will drive dentistry in the future, and our goal is to work with multiple partners to perfect an open platform that caters to the broadest range of needs."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a draft guidance describing its intent to exercise enforcement discretion with respect to the premarket notification requirements for certain in vitro diagnostic and radiology devices with well-established safety and effectiveness profiles.
The draft guidance lists 30 different device types identified by the FDA as those for which less stringent oversight would not compromise public health. These products include common urine and blood tests, alcohol breath tests, blood clotting protein tests, and radiology device accessories, such as film cassettes, film processors, digitizers, and collimators, including some specific to dentistry. The FDA intends to exempt these devices from premarket notification requirements through the appropriate regulatory processes.

[Read Draft Guidance on fda.gov]

J. Morita USA has announced the implementation of a new management team to lead the company in continued growth and expansion in North and South America.
Yuzo Hirukawa has been appointed as the new President and CEO of J. Morita USA effective June 15, 2011
This recent move reflects Morita’s commitment to strengthen its market position and expand the J. Morita Manufacturing Corporation product line.

Read more for the full press release

Telerad Tech, the technology division of Teleradiology Solutions, has released RADSpa, a web based dental imaging workflow platform.
RADSpa is a Web-based platform designed to connect all stakeholders and facilitate collaboration. Users can share dental images, patient data, and manufacturer information. RADSpa has an integrated DICOM viewer with features specifically optimized for viewing dental images. It also has an embedded dental customer relations management engine to enable dentists to order implants and track implant deliveries, and thus better determine treatment planning schedules, according to TeleradTech.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. Check out SimPlant's DentalPlanit which was just launched recently by Materialise Dental.

[Visit RADSpa's official webpage]

Dental X-rays of the Queen's family have been withdrawn from auction at the request of the Royal Household. The BBC reports.

"The 18 images of Elizabeth II's teeth, together with those of her mother and father, King George VI, were taken between 1942 and 1946.
The X-rays were found in a house in Leatherhead, Surrey and were due to go under the hammer on Wednesday."

Read more for the complete story.