Solvay’s move into medical devices has begun with a dental care business line.
Smile Solvay
Solvay’s entry into medical devices builds on its portfolio of high-performance polymers with a new dental care business line. Solvay Dental 360 includes innovative material to replace metal in removable partial denture frames, up to enabling a digital workflow that accelerates the work of dental laboratories and dentists.
Removable partial denture (RPD) frames replace missing teeth and are typically made of metal. Under Solvay Dental 360, Solvay’s new high-performance material allows for metal-free, biocompatible, more comfortable, natural-looking RPD frames which the company says are over 60% lighter than a metal frame.
Solvay uses its new Ultaire AKP (aryl ketone polymer) material to make its Dentivera milling disc. From this device, trained and qualified dental lab technicians use software tailored to this material to design and mill the RPD frame. This is said to enhance speed and efficiency as fewer manufacturing steps are needed compared with the metal frame.
“Solvay’s entrepreneurial initiative to launch into medical devices is driven by our innovation power as a world leader in metal-replacing materials and their proven track record in healthcare,” said Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, CEO of Solvay.
“We are looking forward to expanding the availability of Ultaire AKP for use in removable partial dentures around the globe,” said Shawn Shorrock, global director, Solvay Dental 360. “Ultaire AKP provides a previously unattainable level of comfort, performance and aesthetics for removable partial dentures, as well as a more streamlined digital workflow for the technicians and dentists working to provide a superior product and experience for their patients.”
“Ultaire AKP is the first RPD material we’ve worked with that completely supports our lab’s digital CAD/CAM workflow,” said Jonathan Hughes, director of Hughes Dental Laboratory.
“We’ve seen significant time savings because we’ve been able to eliminate the waxing, investing and casting steps, allowing us to go direct to mill. Incorporating Ultaire AKP into our existing processes was very easy – it was a truly seamless transition.”
The Dentivera milling disc has earned the European Commission CE mark and 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is made in the United States under strict FDA and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) guidelines.
Ultaire AKP high performance polymer
According to Solvay, Ultaire AKP is an innovative aryl ketone polymer (AKP) formulated to meet critical performance requirements for dental applications. It is developed for milling RPD frames. The base materials are currently used in permanent medical devices and non-implantable orthopaedic, cardiovascular and renal devices today. The material is biocompatible and monomer (MMA)-, BPA- and nickel-free.
The company says that unique specifications create benefits to patients: it’s lightweight, comfortable and similar to bone – tooth-supported RPD frames avoid point loading and may limit bone loss, and flexural properties allow engagement of deeper undercuts than metal. It singles out one particular feature – a more natural-looking smile with no shiny metal. Ultaire AKP is also taste-free and eliminates the risk of metal sensitivity.
Solvay adds that the new high-performance polymer increases lab efficiency. It should eliminate waxing, investing and casting procedures, be accurate than investing and remove the dangers of spin-casting and high-heat burnouts. Ultaire AKP is also said to eliminate the mess of metal finishing, reduce the finishing and polishing time compared with metal and it can be polished to a glass-like finish using standard tools.