Revolutionizing Dental Materials with Scott Lamerand, CEO of Vista Apex Dental Materials

Are you ready to revolutionize your understanding of dental materials? Our episode today brings you a captivating conversation with Scott Lamerand, the CEO of Vista Apex Dental Materials. His journey in the dental industry began in 1994 at Bisco Dental Products and brought him to form Apex Dental Materials in 2001. Scott shares his belief in focusing on the needs of the doctor and patient over mere profit motives. He also emphasizes the value of collaboration over competition in the industry.

Dive into the world of bioactivity in dental materials, a sector Vista Apex Dental Materials has revolutionized. Learn about the genesis of the RE-GEN product line and the innovative adhesive technology incorporated into a sealer. Discover the breakthrough solution for zirconia contaminant removal, ZR-C and ZR-P, a product designed to simplify the lives of doctors and patients. We wrap up by highlighting Vista Apex, a collaborative platform where clinicians and the company work together to develop new products, and where stellar customer service is just a call away. Are you game for this enlightening journey? Don't miss out!

Note: This summary uses the techniques of 'Make a promise of what you'll learn' and 'Highlight a guest' to attract listeners. The tone strikes a balance between being informative and intriguing, suitable for the theme of the podcast.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:18

All right. Well, today we're here and I've got Scott Lamara, who is the current CEO of Vista Apex Dental Materials. I say the current CEO of Vista Apex not that he's going to change anything at that, but because he was the CEO over at Apex Dental Materials that a lot of our customers know so well. What I wanted to do is I wanted to ask Scott to meet up with us and explain to all of our listeners and viewers who and what Vista Apex is today, because Vista Apex may not be understood by the customers very well, but I will tell you, having worked at the company now for three years, it is an exciting company, it's an innovative company, it's a leader, it's a fun place to work and I think Vista Apex is really making a name for itself, kind of carving a niche out within the greater dental industry. So with that, Scott, why don't we talk a little bit about you, where you came from, and then we can talk about Vista Apex and how it all has come together to this point?

Speaker 2: 1:23

Sure, that'd be great. Thank you, dr Mike, for taking the time with me today. I appreciate it. Yeah, for my background, I started in the dental industry in 1994, believe it or not and I graduated with a degree in chemistry and was looking for a job and truly looking at newspapers. I would go to the library twice a day to pick up different cities newspapers and thumb through those to try to find a job, and I found one at Bisco Dental Products as luck would have it. So I joined Bisco in 1994, and Dr Sulla and his team at the time took me under their wing and trained me and taught me how to do a lot of things. It was a great experience. I got to work with a number of KOLs, including John Canka and their host stable that they had at that time. They were just coming off of all bond too, so it was a really exciting time within their business. And then certainly being a development person within that business was a lot of fun, because certainly we had a lot of resources, because Dr Sulla enjoyed that and that's where he prided himself on and really allowed us to do some neat things in the industry and taught us a way.

Speaker 2: 2:30

You know and sometimes I talk about this, I know, you know I have talked about before really learning the way of don't think so much about the dollar, don't think so much about this, think about the doctor and think about the patient, because that's how we're going to make things better and if we make things better, we're going to be a better company and we're going to accelerate that growth and we're going to be the market leaders and continue to take that forward. So that's really what we did. That's something that took with me and certainly, you know, as I look back, one of the first things I learned in industry was that, along with the actual skill set to make the products, but also that mindset of who's so important really, is it really that person that might have to make 10% more on a product or is it really delivering a product? That's really the best in the world to take somebody and have them, allow them to deliver better care for their patient and really accelerate the services they provide. So, anyway, that's where I started as a chemist, and then I started to look forward as where we go from there and just stayed with it.

Speaker 2: 3:35

And then, you know, dental materials was a passion of mine and I certainly enjoyed it, and I had the opportunity then to form Apex dental materials. Dr John Kanka had come up with some materials that he wanted to see if we could market and we started that. We started that in 2001, believe it or not, 2001,. And we started with a product called Simplicity. It was always first started to go get that approved. It's a great adhesive product. It was somewhat similar to Prelude and SE bond at the time. So there was a six generation system, a self-etched material that performed really well for us and got us started. That's where we got our start and we did that for a number of years.

Speaker 2: 4:18

But we always stayed focused in not trying to become an alpha to omega company, but really staying focused in where do we really excel and where should we focus. So we made adhesives and a flow of composite desensitizers, niche products that can allow you to deliver a composite more effectively or more efficiently, like our seam free product, which is a wedding resin. So we really focused on products that weren't there, that weren't offered by everybody else, because you know, frankly, three of them makes a heck of a composite. That's not something we're going to do better than they can. What we want to do is make your life easier and the opportunity. So let's make something that you can use and let's make it better than what they had today. And let's do. Let's take that mentality of saying how are we going to advance this entire industry, to take it forward to where we can deliver better solutions for the doctors and the patients long term or we can add value?

Speaker 2: 5:11

We look at I hate to say this sometimes, but when we look at this industry we're friends with everybody. We like the people at 3M and at Vista and UltraDent and everywhere else. We want to work with them to take the industry forward in a collegiate fashion. We don't need to make what they do really well. If Dr Fisher is really wonderful at making whitening products, we don't need to make another whitening product. Nobody wants that. He's already got that figured out. So let's make something where we can deliver some value and that's what we try to pride ourselves. So that's where that's generally my background and my philosophy, my mindset.

Speaker 2: 5:46

And then, stepping into this role, I got to meet all the great people at Vista and Vista is an incredible company based on innovation. I know some people say that's not so much my impression of what Vista is, but I'm here to tell you the R&D department, the development department, within these four walls, is so skilled Like they are the best in the industry hands down, really taking Dentistry forward, doing things that are going to make it better for the dentist, the practitioner and the patient. That's a lifeblood of what they do. Now some people say, hey, I remember them as being a lower cost supplier of tips and those types of things that didn't look all that unique. I'm here to tell you a lot of those tips are incredibly unique in different features that they designed into it. We look at just one example the MST tip, the material saving tip that we have. It cuts down waste in a sealer material by 80%. No manufacturer wants to cut down that waste. That only helps the practitioner and their practice in delivering value to the patient.

Speaker 2: 6:51

We developed that because it's the right thing to do for an industry to take us forward, and we're really innovative that way. So when you talk to Alex Johnson, you'll meet him in a video here, I'm sure, if you haven't already, because he's exceptional at what he does. But his department putting these things together is how do we better deliver products? How do we better do that so they have all these really cool things. Some are more, maybe they're more commodity based, but the majority have a uniqueness to them that you can't get elsewhere and we do it at a value price. So as we start to look at, we don't want it. We want to be a part of a solution, not something that just takes all the money off the table. We want to leave some on there for materials too. So when we look at what we do and joining these companies together, now we have all these endo products, we have these resto products, we have these delivery systems that now we can take tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 7:39

We have some really cool small electronics in the phaser for heating up, composite in a gun style so that you keep the comp you warm the entire time you're going to use it. We have curing light, the pink wave, with quad wave technology. Why do we use four wavelengths? Well, to really dictate how that cure sets. So we use obviously the two light activation ones that activate every photochemistry that's in the industry and give you broadband spectrum curing. But then we have two more that help manage the shrinkage of the product itself and help you just give a little manipulation outside of what the composites and materials can do.

Speaker 2: 8:16

But now this adds and enhances that a little bit. So taking some ingenuity and applying that to the way that we'd ever thought about before, how can we dictate an outcome with our products that we develop? So really taking those things forward is an exciting time within this company and really forming what's become Vista Apex. And we'd like to look at it as somebody. We deal with how many different people that are out on the speaking circuit, but not to cover a whole lecture. That's not us. We have unique products in unique areas where we develop a lot of value to the users and the patients. So we feel that's where our niche is and that's where we participate in this industry, that certainly we don't have a full day lecture of materials but we have hours worth of really good stuff for people to take a look at.

Speaker 1: 9:04

Well, no, that's a great background, I would say way more than an hour's worth of information to share, because everything from the enhanced arrogance that are so different than other arrogance that are available I mean there's the Clorox that you can buy off the shelf that you know nothing about. You don't even know what's going to work because you don't know what the concentration is. And this apex has a sodium hypochlorite that is pharmacy controlled, so it's actually an expiration date with the shelf life, so you know it's going to be effective used within that period. And then you've got a grade above that. It's an enhanced sodium hypochlorite that actually, with the surface modifiers, actually works faster and, again, it's more effective than your pharmaceutical grade sodium hypochlorite. So, yeah, there's so much that I don't think people really know about the Vista side, because Vista was really focused on had some small equipment and a lot of these arrogance and the tips like you were talking about.

Speaker 1: 10:07

And Vista has been around now for what? Almost 30 years, is it close to? Yeah, so it's been around for a long time and that's why a lot of people, I think, recognize that Vista name. Apex was a little bit smaller and, like you're saying, you were kind of an in it. It was a restorative, a niche in restorative dentistry, and bringing those two together kind of brought together this company with the Endo Resto let's Go kind of branding which is kind of unique and colorful. And then do you want to talk about some of the other products underneath the umbrella of Vista Apex at all.

Speaker 2: 10:42

Sure, I think you touched on a number of them. Our irrigation systems are fantastic and what we bring to the table, they're not even the EDTA solution that doesn't require the RIN step prior to the CHX application because we don't form a precipitate. Well, how do we figure that out? Well, we use the right EDTA, those types of things, in our development.

Speaker 2: 11:03

Our latest sealer, our Regen product line, is something that really was born in its infancy, right when Apex was acquired, and we're utilizing, actually delivering bioactivity right at the two surface. So people say, well, why is that important? We've had bioactive materials forever and people will point to glass anodomers. They'll point to resmodified glass anodomers, so on and so forth, and even to the newer age pieces that are the activas and those types of materials. But none of those are really delivering bioactivity right at the two surface or right at the margin where you can really impact that patient's life long term and that restoration won't last seven years, but it can last 70 years because now it's actually its best day isn't its first day, the best day could be its 10,000th day.

Speaker 2: 11:54

It's just something that's always getting better, stronger, same materials that are evolving over time, or utilizing these tools within adhesives. So why is it important to be an adhesive? Well, because if you put an adhesive down on the surface of the tooth, you're going to seal the tooth. Well, no bioactivity can get to where all that decay was. So how do you think that's going to protect the tooth and be better for the patient long term? And the truth is it wasn't. A lot of the bioactivity was released to the oral environment and the patient swallowed it or spit it out, and that's okay. But at the end of the day, we want to deliver it right to the surface. So we came out with the adhesive. And how cool is that? And we're seeing these great radiographs now that come back that are showing like, hey, this is working very, very well. We're seeing that the acid erosion doesn't take place at margins. We're seeing that those margins are holding on better and better and better. So as we go forward, we're seeing this technology really play itself out and show that, hey, we did the right thing, we were the first to actually bring that to bear in the industry and it's a cool technology to see go forward. And then we took that step further and incorporated that same technology into a sealer, an endo sealer, which now we said, look, we can deliver the sealer, we can do it at a really great price, at a great value for you, with material savings tips, incorporate it into it, fantastic flow characteristics. It sets very well, as the other materials somewhat languish into the again, enough moisture so it can take 24 hours plus hours. That's not what our materials do, so it's something that comes up and sets a little bit quicker.

Speaker 2: 13:28

So we have a lot of the full gamut of products. We took bioactivity and we really took it to another level and we said, hey, we could do this from Apex to Cusp, if you will, and really utilize that through the entire tooth to make it better as we go forward. And certainly what you see in that whole realm of products I just mentioned. We took the adhesive technology that Apex brought and that was the niche that we played in. Now we combine that with the delivery systems and how do we deliver this? How do we deliver it right at the tooth surface? Now we take that and take that to the endo side to say, hey, this is gonna be a great filler material, this is a great sealer and we can deliver with these acolytives to slow down in the waste. And now we have really fairly low cost solution with a better solution, with better performance characteristics, long term for the patient on the doctor to enjoy for years and years and years. So it's just a little bit of an example of how we've combined the entities, the endo-resto side of the business together to accelerate that forward and really leverage everybody's talents to bring things to market.

Speaker 2: 14:31

Another neat thing we did was we had talked about this how important it is with zirconia, how hard that is to bond, and maybe it's well understood, maybe it's not. But sometimes when people say I tried it in, I bonded it, but it won't stick to anything, well, that's zirconia. So you really have to clean that surface. And again, alex Johnson is so intelligent. You sat down and created a solution that basically looks like a gel edge but it's orange. As you place onto a zirconia surface, it takes off all contaminants. There's no shake in the bottle, there's no waiting for three minutes while you do it. You just paint it on 10 seconds later, rinse it off and now you're ready to go and prime it and deliver it. So really taking a delivery technique to the next level and saying, hey, how does it make this easier for you, how does it make the performance better? So you're sure to have the right solution for the doctor and patient.

Speaker 1: 15:22

Yeah, I know it's great. I think what you added about all those products is great. It gives us some of the background about how it was developed, why it was developed and where we as clinicians can actually use it and apply it. I think it's great that these two companies have come together. I know they've been together now for years. The teams that we have now at VistaEffects is an amazing team, all the way from the R&D, manufacturing and taking the orders and getting the product out. I think the customer service is there. So if our clinicians have any questions, one of the great things about VistaEffects is that they can even contact you or get ahold of Alex Johnson, who's ahead of our R&D, and talk to people there if there's any questions or any suggestions too. I mean, I know VistaEffects, being the size it is, can take suggestions from clinicians and turn that oftentimes into something, a product that will help the clinicians overall in our profession, which is great.

Speaker 2: 16:29

That's a key point too I'm glad you brought it up is one thing that we only do is work with clinicians to develop products. It started a long time ago in that, when we would develop products, I come up with great ideas but they were terrible clinically because I have no idea how it's actually going to be used, until somebody like yourself says, well, scott, that's great for a tabletop, but we have to do something inside this area. That's really hard. We have a poster and you need to keep this dry and you need to do this. You have all these challenges that stack up.

Speaker 2: 17:02

We really pride ourselves on listening to clinicians and then involving them in our development. When a product does come to market, it's not like oh, we didn't think about that, oh, we didn't know we were actually doing something for dentistry and this is going to be problematic. It's adding that ability to chime in and give us the feedback early so we can bring the right product to market. Because you see, a lot of products that come out, they miss the mark by this much. You see that somebody who was a really, really talented development person, really talented engineer, who put it together but it's really not useful because it's not new concern the end user. We like to pride ourselves on yourself and the KOLs and different people being involved in those developments from the onset, so we're sure that we're delivering the right product long-term.

Speaker 2: 17:48

The other part that very few people know about and I don't know that we've told anybody this, but we have a after COVID hit, everybody was using Teams and Zoom and all these types of things. We invested in our company as a Microsoft. We learned how to have you with Microsoft. Microsoft Teams is our thing with our business, part of how we communicate With that. We have a page, just a community chat piece, where we can get questions from a customer on our web page. That goes right into this mix for somebody to answer. Dr Mike, you're on there so it could be the middle of the day and somebody has a question about a product. It's not me who's answering the question or our tech service. They can even answer the question.

Speaker 2: 18:32

They can get an answer from yourself and Dr Kanke and different people. Just don't think maybe we don't tell people that enough. But the access that they have to experts in the industry who know everything about products because they've been involved in the development and using those products and been in the industry a long time and seen a lot of the issues that people can run into, is really a resource that we provide to our customers that allow them that access to accelerate their day. It happens a lot. We get the call and a doctor will say I have a patient in the chair and I need to know this. That's okay.

Speaker 2: 19:10

Well, if I don't know the answer, if customer service doesn't know the answer, you do know the answer. A lot of times we can get a whole view or a Dr Kanke or somebody else to answer that question. But it's somebody with clinical experience and a lot of it that have run into a lot of issues and troubleshot a lot of things and know so much about the materials themselves or the procedures or the procedure that goes with the procedure, what you have to look out for down the road. That's all available to our customers that sometimes I don't think they know that we offer.

Speaker 1: 19:43

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. I know some of the questions that come through. It really is fun to have the diversity of everybody. A question might be what is the diameter of the needle of one of our delivery tips? Who keeps track of that? But are our engineers know the answers to that? Or what kind of dies in one of our etchants, or whatever. It's really fun to see those answers come through, because I don't know how those questions come up, but the answers are always there and it just always amazes me that somebody knows the answer to everything. It's a great group that we have no question.

Speaker 2: 20:20

No question.

Speaker 1: 20:21

All right. It's been a great conversation with Scott Lammer and CEO of Vista Apex, giving us some background on himself and some background on Vista Apex as a company. Vista Apex, as Scott was mentioning, is really clinician focused to help our clinicians achieve the best patient outcomes through innovation and, I think, cooperation both within the company and with the clinicians that we support. So we want to thank everybody for listening or watching this and we hope it adds a little bit of the backstory. Thank you very much.