​  Congratulations on taking the contest winning photo spotlighted as January in the Ultradent calendar and Facebook cover photo series! Q. Let’s start wi​th the basics. What is your name? A. My name is Andrya Smith.   Andrya Smith   Q. How long have you been with Ultradent? A. 10 years. Q. What is your position here? A.  Quality Control Analytical Team Leader. Q. What kinds of things do you do in your job? A. I supervise the day-shift quality control analysts. 

Every day, dentists from around the world registered on Dentaltown.com (also known as “Townies”), connect—sharing practice ideas, tips and tricks, posing clinical questions, debating topics, and sometimes just connecting with dental professionals like themselves who have become trusted online friends, despite the fact that oftentimes, they’ve never met! It’s become a bustling communication hub for dentists, with the site averaging around 2,515 posts per day. And every year, Townies unite to vote on their favorite dental products in virtually every category possible, from anesthetics, to office equipment, to hygiene and restorative dentistry products, and beyond. 

As a very busy music and choir teacher, Lara Wolford of Piqua, Ohio, says she’s always aware of how her teeth look because she’s always singing or teaching others to sing. However, with that awareness she also now feels immense confidence—thanks to using Ultradent’s Opalescence Go® teeth whitening system. “Having a bright smile is a huge plus when you are in a career where people are looking at your mouth all the time. I teach over 800 students, and when I'm modeling how I want them to sing particular words, or singing along with them, it's nice to know that my smile looks fantastic and bright.” ​ In fact, when Lara’s dental hygienist, Kelly Aufderhaar of Bright Now dental, also in Piqua, Ohio, suggested the Opalescence Go disposable tray whitening system​ as a way to whiten her teeth, Lara jumped onboard right away. Kelly says she loves recommending it to her patients because of the confidence it gives them. She also loves the fact that Opalescence whitening gel contains fluoride, so it helps keep their smiles healthy too. Lara adds that in addition to the confidence boost her brighter, whiter smile gave her, she gravitated to Opalescence Go whitening system because of her busy lifestyle. “I chose Opalescence Go whitening because it was convenient. There was no messing with strips with gel all over them. It’s so easy to put the tray in my mouth and then go about my business until it’s done! I also like that the results were instantaneous. I didn’t have to do it daily for two weeks to see a change. With my crazy schedule, that was a HUGE selling point.” Lara calls her results “glorious,” but says that the biggest change, in her own words, is that “my smile now matches my mood and energy, and it only makes me want to smile more.” ​ ​ Lara Wolford Q&A Occupation: Music Teacher Product Used: Opalescence Go 15%, Mint Results: "Glorious!" ​ Kelly Aufderhaar Q&A Occupation: Registered Dental Hygienist ​ Favorite Thing About Opalescence Whitening: “My patients love how easy and convenient it is to use.” Favorite Thing About Brightening Smiles: ​“I love the confidence boost it gives my patients!"​ ​ ​ Opalescence Go Opalescence Details: One-of-a-kind prefilled whitening trays, ready-to-go right out of the package. Unique Features: UltraFit tray offers a remarkably comfortable fit and easily conforms to any patient's smile. Delicious Flavors: Mint, Melon, and Peach Convenient Concentrations and Wear Times      6% – 60-90 min/day  10% – 30-60 min/day​ 15% – 15-20 min/day ​ ​ Shop Opalescence ​»​​​​​​

If your practice isn’t yet taking advantage of Section 179 of the United States tax code, there’s still time! Here are the four essential things you need to know to save your office (potentially) a lot of money before year’s end. ​​​ ​​​     ​​​​​What is Section 179? Section 179 of the United States tax code allows companies that purchase equipment and technology to depreciate those fixed assets over their useful life. Essentially it’s an accounting method that matches the cost of acquiring an asset with the years the asset earns revenue. This includes equipment purchases like our Gemini® laser, VALO® curing light, and Endo-Eze™ Genius® endodontic motor system.

We hope that as you reflect on the past year, celebrate the season, and look forward to a bright and hopeful future, that you’ll stop to remember that it’s not the things, but the people; it’s not what you say, but how you make them feel; and that it’s not what you get, but what you give that makes this truly the most wonderful time of the year.”        For many people throughout the world, the beginning of November marks the beginning of the holiday season—starting with Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa (and any other way one chooses to celebrate the season), ending with the ringing in of the New Year. Regardless of religion, I would say the marking characteristic of this season is “care”—care for our fellow men. “Care” also happens to be one of Ultradent’s five “Core Values” that we’ve chosen as a company and as individuals to uphold above all else here in the workplace. Seeing that  indeed, another joyous holiday season is upon us, I hope we can all remember that care is the majority of the meaning of love. If you subtract care from love, love ceases to be love. You have to care in major ways to love in major ways.  Let’s remember to care, and in turn, love in major ways this holiday season. With Love and Care, P.S. Don’t miss out on our wonderful holiday catalog that our team put together this year! Enjoy!​​​​

​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.