July 30, 2003
Nu Radiance® Forté™ Express for Professional Sale
Forté™ Express, the newest product in the Nu Radiance® Forté line of tray-based, take-home calcium peroxide/carbamide peroxide tooth whiteners, is a patient kit designed for sale by the dentist. Professionals can now offer whitening without using valuable chair time to make trays. Forté Express gives patients a more effective alternative to over-the-counter products and gives dentists an additional source of revenue. The Forté Express kit contains four syringes of whitener, a set of warm-and-form trays, and instructions. Dentists can sell the sealed kit, which contains everything needed for patients to whiten their teeth at home. Unlike strips and paint-on products sold over-the-counter, the Forté Express kit will be sold only to dental professionals for office dispensing.
Nu Radiance Forté has a high level of patient acceptance/compliance due to its short wear time, rapid results, and little to no sensitivity. Patients also appreciate that, unlike any other whiteners, Forté contains calcium.
Forté produces an improvement of six to eight shades after only three to six hours of total wear-time; two syringes (six to twelve hours of wear-time) can produce an eight to twelve shade improvement. Because patients only need to wear the trays for thirty minutes at a time, Forté is a quick and easy teeth-whitening solution.
Nu Radiance® Forté™ combines calcium peroxide with carbamide peroxide and water, at the time of whitening. The non-acidic pH provides etch-free whitening while the calcium helps to prevent decalcification and promote re-calcification. Forté is also virtually sensitivity-free as it uses calcium peroxide to optimize the release of whitening while providing water to prevent tooth desiccation, the cause of tooth sensitivity.
Nu Radiance® Forté™ Express is available from major distributors. Nu Radiance, Inc. offers clinicians a variety of tooth-whitening options including a traditional carbamide peroxide gel and the Nu Radiance Duet Sensitivity-Free Tooth Whitening System.
For information call 866-899-3207 or email info@nuradiance.com.
July 30, 2003
Sybron Dental-12.5% Increase in Third Quarter
Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2003 totaled $134.2 million, compared to $119.3 million in the prior year period, an increase of 12.5%. Sybron's total internal net sales growth rate was 5.7% for the third quarter. Consumable products represented approximately 93% of total sales in the third quarter.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2003, net sales totaled $388.6 million, compared to $341.8 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2002, an increase of 13.7%. Sybron's internal growth rate was 6.7% for the first nine months of fiscal 2003.
Net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2003 was $15.0 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared with net income of $3.9 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the same period of the previous year. The third quarter of fiscal 2002 included $13.0 million (pre-tax) in one-time charges related to the refinancing of the Company's credit facility. Excluding these charges, net income in the third quarter of fiscal 2002 was $11.9 million, or $0.30 per diluted share.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2003, net income was $40.2 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, compared with net income of $24.7 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, in the same period of the previous year. Excluding the one-time charges discussed in the previous paragraph, net income in the first nine months of fiscal 2002 was $32.6 million, or $0.83 per diluted share.
Effective October 1, 2002, Sybron adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets," and is no longer amortizing its goodwill.
During the third quarter of fiscal 2003, Sybron lowered the assumed discount rate and the expected rate of return on the Company's pension plan assets. To compensate for the lowered assumptions, Sybron made a $10.3 million contribution to the Company's pension fund during the quarter, which reduced operating cash flow. As a result of the lowered assumptions, Sybron expects its pension expense in fiscal 2004 to be modestly higher than historical levels.
Sybron generated $10.5 million in free cash flow, defined as cash flows from operating activities of $13.0 million minus capital expenditures of $2.5 million, in the third quarter. This compares with free cash flow of $11.8 million (cash flows from operating activities of $16.9 million minus capital expenditures of $5.1 million) in the same period of the previous year. Excluding the $10.3 million contribution to the Company's pension fund, Sybron's cash flow from operating activities in the third quarter of fiscal 2003 would have been $23.3 million and free cash flow would have been $20.8 million.
"We continued to see strong growth across both business segments during the third quarter," said Floyd W. Pickrell, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Sybron Dental Specialties. "Our momentum continued in our orthodontics segment, with Ormco generating 6.4% internal growth in the third quarter. We are efficiently manufacturing our high-end self-ligating, titanium and aesthetic brackets in large volumes, which enables us to serve the growing demand for these products. The growth in the Ormco subsidiary is also being driven by the endodontics product line, which continues to experience double- digit sales growth as a result of new product introductions and an expansion of our sales force over the past year.
"Kerr, our general dental subsidiary, generated strong internal growth of 5.2% in the quarter. We have had a strong response to our new product introductions -- including our new LED Curing Light, the Point 4 Flowable composite and the Toothprints(R) Dental Identification System -- and new products have accounted for 6% of Kerr's total sales this fiscal year.
"We have also been extremely pleased with the performance of our infection prevention product line since it was consolidated under Kerr's management team. We are manufacturing these products more efficiently, servicing accounts more effectively, and successfully capitalizing on the demand for these products in both dental and medical offices. As a result, on a year-to- date basis, the infection prevention product line has increased sales by approximately 7% and its operating income by 24%," said Mr. Pickrell.
http://www.sybrondental.com
July 17, 2003
Dale Dental Offers Lava(TM)
Dale Dental, the country's first dental laboratory dedicated to working exclusively with other dental labs, announced today that it has added the Lava(TM) All-Ceramic System from 3M ESPE to its line of available restorations. The Lava all-ceramic system enables dental labs to provide dentists and their patients with one-piece, all-ceramic bridges that are strong and natural looking. Dale Dental's outsourcing supercenter gives every dental lab access to the Lava understructures produced by the system. The laboratory then completes the ceramic layering process and returns the completed prosthetic to the dentist for delivery to the patient. With Dale Dental outsourcing, the dentists maintain their critical lab relationship without having to seek different labs for every new restoration, such as the Lava all-ceramic system.
"We are delighted to announce that we are now offering our customers, dental labs nationwide, the Lava all-ceramic system that they in turn can offer to their dentists," said David Lesh, president of Dale Dental. "Dale Dental's mission is simple: to serve as an outsourcing supercenter, offering dental labs access to the most state-of-the art dental technology available and providing dental technology manufacturers fast-market access to these labs and the dentists and patients they serve."
As a leader in dental laboratory outsourcing, Dale Dental carries all of the premier dental manufacturing technologies available on the market. "We understand that dental labs might not have the financial resources or time to evaluate and acquire a state-of-the art technology, such as the Lava all- ceramic system," Lesh added. "We also understand that 3M ESPE wants fast- market access to all of these labs. Therefore, Dale Dental is committed to acquiring and making available the best and most in-demand technology on the market to dental laboratories. And as a result, everyone ends up benefiting from our acquisition of the Lava all-ceramic system."
About 3M ESPE's Lava(TM) All-Ceramic System
The Lava all-ceramic system is an innovative CAD/CAM technology for producing all-ceramic crowns and bridges on a zirconium oxide base, resulting in high-strength, reliable restorations with excellent esthetics and an outstanding marginal fit. The Lava all-ceramic system produces restorations that are fracture resistant and considered inert with respect to biocompatibility, providing one of the most durable all-ceramic restorations available today.
At the heart of the Lava all-ceramic system is a framework ceramic that consists of zirconia supplemented by a custom veneering ceramic. To develop this framework, the Lava all-ceramic system employs three steps: scanning, computer-aided framework design and computer-assisted milling of pre-sintered zirconia blanks -- the size of which has been digitally calculated and enlarged to compensate for shrinkage during sintering in a special high- temperature furnace.
The high strength and natural esthetics of the framework mean that less tooth structure needs to be removed during clinical preparation compared to other all-ceramic options and less modifying needs to be done. Cementation can be accomplished using proven, conventional techniques, such as those utilized with PFM materials. Available in eight different shades, the zirconia frameworks are thin and translucent, helping ensure a natural tooth appearance. The end result is a restoration ideal for single-unit and three- unit bridge applications that offers strength and stability, in addition to outstanding marginal fit and esthetics.
Cementation of Lava(TM) All-Ceramic System restorations can be accomplished with proven, conventional techniques using any of the following recommended cements: 3M(TM) ESPE(TM) RelyX(TM) Unicem Self-Adhesive Universal Resin Cement, 3M(TM) ESPE(TM) RelyX(TM) Luting Cement and 3M(TM) ESPE(TM) Ketac(TM)-Cem Glass Ionomer Cement.
Dale Dental was founded by David Lesh in January 2000 and is based in Richardson, TX. It is the country's first dental technology lab dedicated to working exclusively with other dental labs. The company's mission is simple: to serve as an outsourcing supercenter, offering dental labs access to the most in-demand and state-of-the art dental technology available and providing dental technology manufacturers fast-market access to these labs. Without serving dentists directly, Dale Dental's outsourcing supercenter gives dentists the opportunity to maintain their critical lab relationships without finding new labs for every new product. Additional information on Dale Dental may be found on the company's website at www.daledental.com .
July 9, 2003
BIOLASE Second Quarter Earnings July 23
BIOLASE Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLTI) , a medical technology company that develops, manufactures and markets lasers and related products focused on improving dental procedures, will release its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2003 on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 after the market close.
BIOLASE management will also host a conference call on Thursday, July 24 at 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT) to discuss its financial results for the recent quarter and to answer questions.
To listen to the conference call live via the Internet, visit BIOLASE's web site at www.biolase.com . Please go to the web site 15 minutes prior to its start to register, download, and install the necessary audio software. A replay will be available on BIOLASE's web site.
To participate in the live call, please dial (888) 335-6674 from the U.S. or, for international callers, please dial (973) 409-9260, approximately 10 minutes before the start time. A telephone replay will be available for two days by dialing (877) 519-4471 from the U.S., or (973) 341-3080 for international callers, and entering reservation number 4040768.