Star of the North 2015

Another great show has come and gone! We would like to thank all those who stopped by to visit us at the booth! It is always great to meet new people and hear about how things are going out in the dental industry. This year seemed to be a great turnout, and we appreciate everyone who stopped by and said hi! The Star of the North recognized us this year with a badge to add to our name tags - 40 year exhibitor! That was a great honor to be recognized in that way, and it is hard to believe Renstrom has attended the show for so many years. Thank you to all who make the show what it is, and keep us wanting to attend year after year! 

Thursday was a great night of socializing with doctors, and we were able to talk to doctors we currently work with, and hear how things are going with them. Rick, Randi, and Rob attended, and got to discuss our new service - hand piece repairs! 

Friday was a busy day of classes, and a lot of traffic on the exhibit floor. We got to see everyone from students, doctors, hygienists & assistants, and even some past interns of Renstrom Dental! There was a lot of interest in Removables, and again, hand piece repairs seemed to be the hot topic. Rick and Rob opened the show with Greg, and Randi attended in the afternoon. This was Greg's first Star of the North show - and he got to meet so many people, so thank you for stopping by! 

Saturday was the quietest day in the exhibit hall, but still a great day of meeting some new people. Dr. Jeff Benson was able to attend with Greg, and it gave him a chance to visit with some past, and current, students of his. Dr Benson teaches 3rd year students at the U of M, so it is a great way for him to connect in a different atmosphere. 

As many of you know, we had a drawing this year! We just drew the lucky winners and here they are:

Grand Prize: 2 night stay to Sugar Lake Lodge: Dr Aaron Johnson of Johnson Dental in Northfield! 

3 Hand Piece Repair Winners ($185 value!) 
Dr. Steve Hagerman of Hagerman Dental Care
Shelly Hoeykens of Metropolitan Pediatric Dental Associates
Carrie Ohnstad of Northview Dental

The winners will be emailed, and prizes will be delivered to them. 

Thank you to all those who entered our drawing, stopped  and talked, or even just stopped to grab candy or a pen! We would also like to thank all those who are 'behind the scenes' setting up, and putting all the effort in year round to make sure this show is a success! We received many compliments on how great the overall show was, and we appreciated all the work that is put into it! 

Izir Bridge Training Recap

On October 17th-18th, 2014, Ruth Iverson (Operations Manager) and Brian Nagle (CAD CAM Specialist)  traveled to Boston MA to take part in CAP's Fall Izir Training course.  While there, they learned complete clinical and laboratory protocol for predictable case planning of Izir Bridge fabrication. Training included:

* CAD designing the full arch using 3Shape Dental Designer software

* Finishing of the green state zirconia

* Multi shading green state zirconia

* Sintering large bridges and gum porcelain applications

They were also able to discuss the 2-connect abutment system, used in the fabrication of Izir bridges.  They met a lot of great people during their training, and were able to connect with other dental technicians to discuss what they are seeing in other labs across the country. Upon completion of their training, they were treated to dinner overlooking the Boston Harbor.  

So what exactly is an Izir Bridge? 
Izir crowns and bridges are implant supported screw retained restorations that are milled from a zirconia disc.  Izir incorporates a combination of state of the art CAD/CAM materials and certified talented Izir dental technicians. Renstrom Dental Studio is proud to say they are now an Izir Certified Dental Laboratory.  For more information, please visit: www.izirbridge.com or give Ruth a call at the lab at 651.407.0491 / 800.747.1321

Spear Study Club Symposium, Scottsdale AZ

This past weekend, Dr Benson attended a seminar for Spear Study Club Leaders in Scottsdale AZ.  This was his second Leadership Training at Spear, and his third trip to the Spear Campus. He always returns with wonderful things to say about the training, and great insight on what is going on in the dental industry around the country.  Below he wrote a quick recap on his visit, and if you have any other questions regarding Spear or Study Clubs, please feel free to give him a call! 

SPEAR EDUCATION

As some of you may know, I’ve been leading a Renstrom sponsored Spear Study Club for the last year.  Each year in early September, study club leaders gather at the Spear Center in Scottsdale for seminars on how to implement multidisciplinary care in dental practices.  I was very excited about the speaker line-up for this year’s symposium and I was not disappointed.  In addition to the always excellent Spear staff (Frank Spear DDS, Greg Kinzer DDS, Vince Kokich, Jr. DMD, Jim Janakievski DDS, and Imtiaz Manji) there were great presentations by Gerry Chiche DDS (Comprehensive Esthetic Rehabilitations), Ed Swift, Jr. (Adhesive Dentistry), and Ricardo Mitrani DDS (Ortho-Restorative Interface).  One of the highlights for me is always the “live” treatment planning sessions where the Spear staff (mentioned above) present and treatment plan cases interactively with the audience.  Comedienne Jeanne Robertson gave a meaningful, and hilarious, keynote address titled, Humor: A Strategy for Success.  The combination of up to the minute dental ideas, great food, entertainment and Scottsdale ambience make Spear Education the best value in C.E. today.  Spear also has a phenomenal online learning library.  You can check out all the options that Spear has to offer at http://speareducation.com

Jeff Benson DDS

Renstrom Technical Consultant