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What Sets the Damon Ultima System Apart? · Orthodontic Products Podcast

• 0:05
  Alison Werner: Hello and welcome to the Orthodontic Products
• 0:07
  podcast. I'm your host Alison Werner. In this episode
• 0:10
  sponsored by Ormco, we're going to talk about Ormco's Damon
• 0:13
  Ultima bracket system. And joining me to do that is Dr.
• 0:16
  Stuart Frost. Dr. Frost is in private practice in Phoenix, and
• 0:20
  he is a part time associate clinical professor of
• 0:22
  orthodontics at the University of the Pacific orthodontic
• 0:24
  program. He is also a frequent lecturer at the AAO annual
• 0:27
  sessions, as well as for the Damon Damon forums and Ormco
• 0:31
  sponsored events. Dr. Frost thank you for joining me today.
• 0:34
  Dr Stuart Frost: Alison, thanks for having me on. I really
• 0:36
  appreciate it.
• 0:37
  Alison Werner: Great. Well, to get started, can you tell us a
• 0:39
  little bit about your practice and kind of your journey in
• 0:43
  orthodontics?
• 0:44
  Dr Stuart Frost: You bet. So I practice in little town, it's
• 0:49
  not so little but a town outside of Phoenix called Mesa, Arizona.
• 0:53
  And I started my practice from scratch in the year 2000. And it
• 0:59
  was at this time that I started my practice using the Damon
• 1:02
  system, and had the opportunity to start when there really
• 1:07
  wasn't a lot of passive self ligation brackets in in the
• 1:11
  community and then throughout the world, and had the
• 1:14
  opportunity to really learn and grow while using this Damon
• 1:19
  system, the passive self ligation,
• 1:22
  Alison Werner: You know, you talked there about how you've
• 1:24
  been using the Damon system. So I know you have been working
• 1:27
  with the Ultima system for a very long time. And you're a big
• 1:31
  advocate of it, and I know your lecture on it. Can you talk
• 1:33
  about that experience working with this system and just
• 1:36
  explain the system for our audience?
• 1:38
  Dr Stuart Frost: Sure. You know, after using passive self
• 1:41
  ligation for so many years, it's been interesting to see how when
• 1:46
  you treat with passive self ligation, there's some real
• 1:48
  benefits. And some of those benefits are that we see a
• 1:53
  broader uprighting and widening of arches because we don't have
• 1:57
  the wire bound into the bracket slot. And we see some other
• 2:01
  benefits, early unraveling of crowding. And with this passive
• 2:07
  self ligation, as many of us who have used it in the past know,
• 2:11
  that there's some challenges with passive self ligation.
• 2:14
  There is some, when the wire goes into the slot, there's some
• 2:18
  play between the wire in the bracket. And that play is
• 2:22
  blessing, and it's also a little bit of a challenge, because the
• 2:25
  blessing is that we get to see teeth molded into the occlusions
• 2:30
  better when we're not so rigidly bound to the wire and the
• 2:33
  bracket. But some of the challenges of this play is that
• 2:37
  we end up seeing some rotation issues trying to to get
• 2:41
  rotations out of our treatment, and we see some finishing issues
• 2:44
  and having to bend more wire as we finish. So the Ultima system
• 2:50
  really is a system where Dr. Damon said, How can I fix the
• 2:55
  challenges that we've had for all these past two decades, two
• 3:00
  and a half decades with passive self ligation. So it was born
• 3:04
  out of, hey we all still love passive self ligation, but how
• 3:08
  do we create a new system, unlike the other passive self
• 3:12
  ligation system we've had, and really revolutionized that
• 3:16
  control in finishing our treatment. And so the Ultima
• 3:21
  system was a passion of Dr. Damon's to say okay, let's take
• 3:26
  and revolutionize and completely redesign passive self ligation
• 3:30
  so that when we go into the first round rectangular wire, we
• 3:35
  now have complete rotation control early on in treatment.
• 3:40
  And then as we go closer to our finishing, and we increased to
• 3:43
  our full size wire, the 18 275 wire. Now we have four points of
• 3:49
  contact, we have rotation control, and get angulation
• 3:52
  control and torque control, which we really haven't had that
• 3:56
  in passive self ligation. So this idea of a new revolutionary
• 4:02
  system such as Ultima has given us what we are terming 3D
• 4:06
  control, and 3D controlling finishing, which we haven't had
• 4:10
  before.
• 4:12
  Alison Werner: Okay, so how long have you been using the system?
• 4:16
  Dr Stuart Frost: So I started actually, we saw the first
• 4:18
  prototype of the system in 2017. So we got a little bit of a
• 4:22
  taste of it in 2017. But it wasn't until 2019 that there
• 4:27
  were 12 of us that had the first 50 cases apiece to really test
• 4:32
  and do a market confirmation study to really look at it. And
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  so I would say since 2019. I've been using it for about four
• 4:39
  years.
• 4:40
  Alison Werner: Okay. And then in those four years, how has the
• 4:43
  system kind of evolved for you?
• 4:46
  Dr Stuart Frost: Well, and anytime you use a new bracket
• 4:49
  system or you have new technologies, there's a learning
• 4:51
  curve. So I've had the opportunity to to make mistakes
• 4:55
  that other people don't have to make because of what I've seen
• 4:58
  and I think some of the things that I've learned is that when
• 5:01
  we use a proclining bracket and a retroreclining bracket and a
• 5:06
  full size wire, we have 3D control. And so we have to
• 5:10
  unlearn some of the things we've learned and passive self
• 5:12
  ligation over the experience to use this differently, so we can
• 5:16
  have better results in finishing.
• 5:18
  Alison Werner: Okay. And I know you talked to you talked a
• 5:22
  little bit about, you know, what sets the Ultima system apart
• 5:25
  before. But can you talk a little more in depth about how,
• 5:29
  how the Ultima system separates itself from the competition?
• 5:34
  Dr Stuart Frost: Yeah, so in this new design, Dr. Damon not
• 5:38
  only created a new bracket design, but he also created a
• 5:41
  new wire design, instead of that traditional rectangular wire in
• 5:46
  the in the slot, he created a new wire that was rounded on the
• 5:50
  edges and rectangular on top or flat on top, this new wire now
• 5:55
  gives us point contact in three dimension control and moving
• 5:59
  teeth. So when you put a wire into the slot that has this,
• 6:03
  that's a round rectangular wire, we now have contact at the door
• 6:08
  and the base of the bracket. So that gives us the rotation
• 6:10
  control. And as we get to our bigger wire, our finishing wire,
• 6:14
  now we have point contact at the edges for angulation and torque
• 6:20
  control. So this this new 3D control is changing everything
• 6:26
  for us. So not only are we are we seeing a broader transverse
• 6:32
  arch development, we're seeing these finishes that are
• 6:34
  happening in faster amounts of time, and in better control than
• 6:39
  ever. So all of a sudden, we're not seeing our patients as long
• 6:41
  as they're getting done faster. We don't have as many patient
• 6:45
  appointments to see the patients to get them finished. And that
• 6:48
  to me, that's what's really changing in my practice.
• 6:51
  Alison Werner: Yeah, so it's changing your workflow then.
• 6:54
  Dr Stuart Frost: Yes.
• 6:55
  Alison Werner: Yeah. Can you talk about the Ultima hooks,
• 6:58
  which Ormco rolled out?
• 7:01
  Dr Stuart Frost: I think all of us in our profession, at one
• 7:05
  point or another have been so frustrated, if we put a if we
• 7:08
  crimp a hook onto a wire, we've seen those hooks loosen up and
• 7:14
  time and that causes problems and treatment, then we've seen
• 7:17
  other hooks where they're like these gorilla hooks, you hook
• 7:20
  them on, you can never move them ever. And then you'd have to if
• 7:23
  you ever needed to move a hook, you'd have to throw that wire
• 7:25
  away. Well, the Ultima hook is completely changed the game
• 7:29
  because the Ultima hook works differently. We grab onto the
• 7:34
  hook with a plier and we squeeze it it's a it's a NiTi hook and
• 7:38
  we can release the hook and it can be repositioned to any place
• 7:43
  on the wire that we want it to. And when we let go, it's not
• 7:47
  going to move. So it's like this repositionable hook that that
• 7:52
  has changed everything. The cool thing about these hooks is that
• 7:55
  we have them on very initial round rectangular wires, we have
• 7:59
  them on finishing wires, stainless steel, TMA, copper
• 8:02
  NiTi. And it's exciting because there's not been a time where
• 8:07
  we've had a hook where we can reposition that hook during
• 8:10
  treatment if we needed to, without without it loosening up
• 8:13
  during that treatment.
• 8:14
  Alison Werner: If you were talking to someone who's you
• 8:17
  know, been practicing with a different kind of bracket for a
• 8:20
  long time and just making this transition to this kind of
• 8:23
  system, what would your advice be to them?
• 8:26
  Dr Stuart Frost: I think the biggest advice that I would give
• 8:29
  to somebody that's considering either changing or has changed
• 8:32
  their practice over is to go to continue education. There's so
• 8:36
  many ways Ormco has online learning about the Ultima
• 8:40
  system, there's a online learning called the Ultima
• 8:43
  Journey, and you can go and see how to use it. When I started in
• 8:47
  the year 2000 with the Damon System, you know, I made it a
• 8:51
  point that I was gonna go to every continuing education I
• 8:54
  could to learn more about the system. And in anything in life,
• 8:58
  when you learn something new, it's all about the repetition,
• 9:01
  and going back and learning more. So I would encourage
• 9:03
  people to go to continue education courses, like the
• 9:08
  Ormco is having an Ormco Forum, they're bringing it back. And
• 9:12
  this is a great opportunity to go and learn more about Ultima
• 9:15
  and learn about how to place the brackets on the teeth, how to
• 9:18
  use the wire sequencing, how to use the ultimate hooks, how to
• 9:21
  finish faster than we had before how to get that workflow, so
• 9:25
  that to your as efficient as possible as an orthodontist and
• 9:28
  helping the patients have those beautiful results. Yeah,
• 9:31
  Alison Werner: I know you talked a little bit about it, because
• 9:33
  you gotta go a little more in depth on how this the system and
• 9:37
  using it for your cases has changed your practice and your
• 9:42
  patient experience.
• 9:44
  Dr Stuart Frost: Yeah, that's such a great question. You know,
• 9:46
  for us in our practice, we've always been concerned about,
• 9:50
  okay, what's the treatment time that we think we're going to be?
• 9:54
  And in that treatment time, how many times are we going to have
• 9:57
  to see our patient so we track: Here's what our treatment time
• 10:01
  should be this is how many times we should see the patient. And
• 10:04
  we've tried to get those treatment times and how many
• 10:07
  visits down because in a practice in a large practice,
• 10:11
  you know, the less visits that you have with the patient, the
• 10:14
  more money you make. And if you can get patients in and out,
• 10:17
  then you have more room for others. So one thing that's
• 10:19
  that's changed in our practice is we brought treatment times
• 10:22
  down by an average of 30%. And we've seen less visits from
• 10:27
  those patients by about 30%. So all of a sudden, we have more
• 10:31
  room in our schedule for new patients, patients are finishing
• 10:35
  faster. And I don't know any patient that doesn't want to be
• 10:37
  done faster. They all want to be done as quick as they can. In
• 10:41
  fact, we're even seeing some adult cases that are finishing
• 10:44
  in 10 months, nine months, 10 months, and that that's been a
• 10:49
  big change for our practice. So the other thing that happens is
• 10:52
  that our assistants love the fact that these, this new
• 10:57
  technology, and especially these new hooks, are making it easier
• 11:00
  for them. One thing that we had with passive self ligation, one
• 11:05
  of the techniques that we would do to keep space consolidated in
• 11:09
  the anterior is we would wire tie or wire lace from the cuspid
• 11:13
  to cuspid as we progressed in wire size that we didn't see
• 11:17
  opening up of spaces in the anterior. Well, you can imagine
• 11:21
  if you're putting wire tie or power chain on, that's the
• 11:24
  hygiene problem. And now, because of the new Ultima hooks,
• 11:29
  we can snug those hooks up distal to the cuspids. And that
• 11:33
  locks those into place so that as we progress in wire size,
• 11:37
  we're not seeing the space open up. We're not keeping power
• 11:40
  chain on as long. And that only benefits our patients in the
• 11:43
  hygiene and helps us to finish our cases faster.
• 11:45
  Alison Werner: Oh, great. Okay. Well, I'm curious, you mentioned
• 11:48
  a little bit about you know, everyone should go check out the
• 11:50
  continuing education on this system to learn more. But I'm
• 11:54
  curious, do you have any lectures or any events coming up
• 11:57
  that you're going to be leading?
• 11:58
  Dr Stuart Frost: Yes. So we have, I have a VIP course that
• 12:03
  Ormco offers. There's one I'll be going to in September. Also
• 12:08
  the Ormco Forum, that's an October. And then I have my own
• 12:12
  personal in office course where we talk about Ultima and how we
• 12:18
  work with that. So if anybody's interested ormco.com will give
• 12:21
  you the information on those courses. If anybody wants to
• 12:25
  look up my my course it's my in office course it's at
• 12:28
  FrostSmileAcademy.com. But those are the the up and coming
• 12:34
  courses.
• 12:34
  Alison Werner: Great. And then that one that's in your
• 12:37
  practice. I'm guessing that's hands on working with patients
• 12:42
  and seeing it and in process.
• 12:44
  Dr Stuart Frost: What's cool about that course is that will
• 12:47
  actually do a bonding course where the attendees get to put
• 12:52
  the ultimate bracket on a typodont. We talked about
• 12:56
  bracket position, how to position the Ultima bracket. And
• 12:59
  then we have life patients who are demonstrating TADs and gummy
• 13:03
  smile correction and how to use the Ultima for beautiful
• 13:06
  finishes.
• 13:07
  Alison Werner: Great. Well, Dr. Frost, thank you so much for
• 13:10
  joining me today. It's been a pleasure to talk to you.
• 13:12
  Dr Stuart Frost: Alison, thank you so much.
• 13:14
  Alison Werner: As always, thank you for joining us. Be sure to
• 13:16
  subscribe to the Orthodontic Products podcast to keep up with
• 13:19
  the latest episodes. And be sure to check out
• 13:21
  OrthodonticProductsOnline.com to keep up with the latest industry
• 13:23
  news. Until next time, take care.