Neodent

He was never with Zimmer....was with 3i. Not that there's much of a difference.

 

You also don't have to be a genius to know competing solely on price is the worst possible direction a salesperson (In your case, I use this term lightly) can go. However, you are right about one thing...you cant fix stupid.

 

never said to compete SOLELY on price...but the point is.....there are 20 implant companies. There is no need to overpay for an implant. Those days are over. If you pay more than about $200 for an implant, you might want to apply at Barnum and Bailey's circus, because you must be a clown. Except Barnum and Bailey's is no longer a thing, oh well. There is nothing that Straumann, Nobel, zimmer, 3i, or Astra has that is life changing. Straumann thought their bone level tapered implant was mind blowing, but Implant Direct was doing it like 20 years ago as CoreVent and Paragon. Sorry.

 

i literally laugh when offices tell me they use zimmer. I almost can't hold back my smile. My first question...."do you know where Zimmer came from?" They say, "no". Then I just have a field day explaining to the doctors and/or staff that Implant Direct's former company, core vent and paragon invented and brought to the market the TSV internal hex implant. Then we formed Implant Direct and sold the same implant with upgraded threads and features and all in one packaging for half the cost. But now zimmer is chasing their own tails trying to drop their price as fast as they can to compete. For going to school for 8+ yrs, doctors are pretty stupid.

 

I agree with you! Why do Zimmer when you can do Implant Direct? But, as a rep who has taken TONS of Implant Direct business I think it is a good system with some flaws, just like there are some flaws with the Neodent system and every system for that matter. It all comes down to what the Doctor is motivated by.

 

Bottom line about working for Neodent... It is a company that has been around for a long time, and was purchased by the largest, and arguably most reputable dental implant company in the world. It was purchased by Straumann for a reason. I will say it is not an easy job, but the job has been very rewarding and VERY lucrative.

There are several reps who have come from other implant companies and other medical device jobs and had a very hard time here... the reason IMO is because many medical sales reps are used to a job where you have a milk route... you drop in on your existing accounts every 2-3 weeks, drop off some coffee, pat your doctors on the back, and ask them how their kids soccer games went. Those reps don't last long here. This job is a TRUE sales job, selling a product that does something different than the competition, but only very technical reps understand that and are able to explain that to Doctors.

As far as the failures... we do see failures just like any other implant company, but 80%?!?!? I understand if that is a doctors anecdotal experience... but 80%? It is titanium with a sand blasted surface... Bone integrates to titanium.

Neodent is not for every doctor, and Neodent is not for every sales rep.

 

Exactly... These $400 implant reps are drinking the kool aid thinking that there implants are SOOO much better because their company (Nobel, Zimmer, Dentsply) trained them to say that. The reality is that market is shrinking rapidly. The $150-$250 implant market is booming and Doctors are becoming smarter and smarter and realizing they can get great results or the same results with a $200 implant. Neodent is absolutely in that sweet price point which is why they are starting to take a lot of that business. The biggest implant center in the U.S. and many of the other biggest implants centers in the United States are switching to Neodent because they are seeing the same results, and even better results for half the price.

 

In Northeast Florida, Neodent is being marketed as "the new Straumann system." Their marketing materials are even sporting a snappy little Straumann Group logo.

Most of the docs I've seen switch we're long time users of systems like Nobel and a few Ankylos. They wanted big name but less expensive. Now they are seeing fractured implants and foreign body reactions. The bright side is that they will learn their lesson and do some basic research.

Speaking of doing some research, why is there no discussion of OsteoReady anywhere? How are they immune to any negative press?

 

As an implant rep for with a younger lesser known company I can totally agree with how this is a TRUE sales job and technical knowledge is crucial. And I see those comfortable order taking (Straumann) reps all the time.

However, Neodent is definitely riding the coat tales of Straumann. Whether they are actively using the Straumann name or not, there is no way Neodent could have entered the U.S. without the help of Straumann money. Otherwise they would be in the same boat as Sweden and Martina.

And the "every implant company has failures" is a tired cop out from the Nobel tri-channel days. Most good implant companies warranty there implants for life and have to log any failures with the FDA. So you can believe that if it failed for any reason that can be attributed to patient or doctor it would be noted.

But with the dirtiest implants in Brazil I can see having some failures. How do you leave residual blast media on the untreated parts of a fixture? I understand that some will get embedded in the treated areas, but it's everywhere. And you have to cool the titanium while you machine it. Overheating doesn't just lead to those discolorations. It also weakens the metal. Which is probably why Neodent implants have deformed and chipped threads and are fracturing from hand tightening a healing abutment.

But who knows, maybe Straumann will throw some of that marketing money toward quality control. It's not likely though, their tissue level has blast media inside the connection.

 

Customers (many HUGE volume) who have switched over to Neodent are reporting LESS failures and less bone loss than with their previous more expensive implant systems. Much of this an anecdotal from these doctors/implants centers... but Neodent has published studies with 99.7 survival rate over 5 years with 2,200 implants.

Also, NEVER EVER heard of "chipped threads" or "fracturing"... there are issues I would admit with Neodent... but those mentioned are not issues at all.

 

Neodent is garbage. Garbage product led by garbage leadership. What a joke. There are so many issues with this product and company that they are the laughing stock of the industry.

 

Quoting research published by a manufacturer about the product they manufacture is like putting your mom as your top professional reference on your resume. No company is going to publicly point out their products short comings.

Then there is what you quoted. 99.7 survival rate? What was the definition of "survival" in this particular study? One of those 50mm zygomatic implants holding on with the last 2mm with bone lose around the rest? What about the patients themselves? Were they a realistic representation of the common patient seen in a dental practice or were they all non-smoking, non-drinking, totally healthy and compliant patients aged 18-65? Were they all retained for the entire study, or just assumed to be good if never heard from again? If a patient died in a car accident 3 months after getting an implant did that Implant "survive" even though the patient did not? Were all the implants loaded and functional, or did you place a bunch of third molars and sleep them for 5 years?

You can't trust a manufacturer study blindly. A very large implant company has a study going on right now that will probably never get published or it will get spun to hide the reality. They gave Harvard an $850,000 grant for it and they have the final say as to whether it gets published. It is publicly listed for volunteers if you want to look it up. They recruited 33 non-smoking, non-drinking patients with no systemic diseases for a comparative study of their new and old implant systems. Cream-of-the-crop patients being treated at Harvard Medical. They lost 3 in the first few months due to "infection." Do you think they will give the green light to publish a study that will no doubt show their survival rate is under 90%?

The Neodent study mentioning deformed and chipped threads as well as discolorations due to poor machining was published by colaborating faculty at three different Brazilian universities in the areas of Odontology and Health and Research. They analysed implants from the six most common companies in Brazil under SEM and energy dispervine spectroscopy. There is no mention of manufacturer involvement. Neodent had the most issues out of all six. The title is
Characterization of the surfaces of dental implants commercial in
scanning electron microscopy / energy dispersive spectroscopy.

 

The system is fucked, the neodent rep in our territory telling docs they're straumann implants just to get sales and steal our business. Granted we're fucking expensive, but have some class man.

 

What does the comp package look like for straumann-Neodent sales reps?

 

Neodent has the same connection as Ankylos, one of the worst implant systems ever created for restorations. It works just fine for full arch but for single units have fun. This system is gonna be a major pain in the ass for Straumann over the next few years.

 

Neodent is Straumann’s bastard red haired step child. Their Regional Managers are throw always from other Implant companies. The company does not suppprt users. You want support buy Straumann.

 

You could buy Neodent implants for $125.00 in some areas. Don’t be fooled by their reps rhetoric. They are just a clone company made in Brazil.

 

Just a matter of time till straumann cuts entire neodent sales force. Everyone knows it’s coming. Managers are all losers who didn’t make it at other companies/ reps are kids right out of college no expierence

 

Angus is a Pathetic loser for neodent

 

How are the Neodent implant reps and managers doing? You know you go before any of the real Straumann reps go. No more ClearChoice for a long while.