Neil Jessop, Ultradent’s Vice President of Research and Development, recently spoke about the evolution of the VALO curing light. “There’s a sense of urgency that I constantly feel to keep an eye on what is right and on staying advanced. It’s not a free ride.” Ever innovating, Ultradent most recently released the VALO® Grand curing light, which offers a 50% larger lens that measures a whopping 12 mm. This larger lens allows clinicians to cover and cure an entire restoration with the light’s highly efficient 395 nm–480 nm LEDs. The story behind the VALO light’s development, however, started almost two decades ago, in 1997.

It's the most wonderful time of the year where we celebrate cherished traditions, reunite with family and beloved friends, eat our most favorite (often sugary) foods, where we shop 'til we drop, stay up late wrapping presents and baking cookies, and give gifts to those we love. Could there be a better time to look and feel your best? Opalescence is here to help! Here are our top ten reasons to whiten your smile this holiday season:

“Having grown up in red rock country, just across the southern Utah border in Page, Arizona, I took the beauty and majesty of the landscape for granted,” says Marv Begay, a formulator who has worked at Ultradent for three years. “It wasn’t until I moved away and came to college up north that I realized what I had.” Marv Begay Marv took the breathtaking Ultradent December cover photo in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park last year as he passed through the area on his way back to Salt Lake City from Page, Arizona. A skilled photographer, he knew the perspectives of the park were something he couldn’t miss. “It had just snowed, so I knew I needed to go out of my way to get a few shots,” he says. “I went there at the perfect time. No one was there and the freshly fallen snow looked beautiful. It’s a rare sight to see,” he remarks.

“It’s giving back. I feel so lucky and blessed to have what I have and to be able to do something with a great group of people that at the end of the day, leaves someone else far better off than they were before. It is incredibly fulfilling to me,” says Karen Phillips, Ultradent’s Director of US sales, of her recent humanitarian trip to the Dominican Republic as part of the Crown Council’s Smiles for Life Foundation.

With the holidays beginning, especially at Thanksgiving, we hit pause, even if it’s just for a moment, and reflect on things we’re thankful for in our lives. Here is a peek at what some of the many people that work here at Ultradent are grateful for this year… Here’s wishing you a wonderful and bounteous Thanksgiving holiday from our table to yours.

The importance of making a quality impression cannot be understated, as the caliber of an indirect restoration depends on the precision of the impression on which it is based. Thermo Clone™ VPS impression material , Ultradent’s newest restorative product to come to market, is an exciting new advancement in prosthodontics and restorative dentistry. Thermo Clone material makes it easier to take accurate impressions, which I believe is the most important step in the indirect restoration process.

“I can tell you that volunteer humanitarian dentistry is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done,” says Dr. Clyde Larsen of the extensive dental humanitarian work he’s performed worldwide since his formal retirement.

In her 20+ years with Ultradent , Melanie Jones has certainly worn many hats—and that’s practically an understatement. “A great part of our culture is that the company gives everyone an opportunity for growth. I’m a person who didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she says with a laugh.

Shannon Pace Brinker travels the country and even the world lecturing on dentistry, but during one of her stops last year in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she happened to be lecturing on Ultradent’s Opalescence Go 6%--a ready-to-go, pre-filled, disposable whitening system, when she met a family she won’t soon forget. It was a connection that she says, changed her and changed them forever.

Megan Barnes, a chemist in Ultradent’s Quality Control lab for the past 21 years, loves to travel and explore. In fact, she says she spends more weekends on the road visiting a new site or exploring a new national park than she is actually home. She’s also traveled all over the world, exploring the pyramids of Egypt, the rich history of Athens, Greece, and many other exotic locales.