As some of you know, last week I did a lecture program through two countries of Eastern Europe with two lectures in Moldova (former Soviet Republic next to Romania) and one in Lithuania.  Our hard-working young mom and territorial manager for the region, Olga, accompanied me. 

Please note picture with Olga, Dr. Ivan Caracas (our distributor for Moldova), and myself on the steps of the large theater where the lecture occurred.   It actually was a very special event as it was a celebration of the 50th year of the dental school there (the only one in the country) and the 500th year celebration of the University.

With all the fanfare, the local television stations reported on the event.  I was interviewed by three of them.

I spoke the first day to a group of about 500 dentists, the second day to about 300 including students of the dental school.

Following the lecture, the dental school put on a program to celebrate the 50th birthday of the school.  I was surprised when they presented me with an honorary professorship from their school.  Hence I’m now an Associate Professor at the school in Moldova.  Fun stuff.

Traveling by plane some distance north to the Baltics, my third lecture was given to a large group of endodontists and general dentists highly interested in Endodontics.  Peter Åhren covers the three Baltic countries along with the Nordic countries.  Our fabulous lecturer for Endodontics, Dr. Renato Leonardo was on the program with me.  He always does a great job.  This generated significant interest in our endo system, including our new one which is close to launch – Tilos.

It is always great to return home.  But all in all, the program was very productive.

As special thanks to Olga, Chace, Dr. Renato, et al as well our distributors there who all did a great job to make these programs as successful as possible.

Thank you,
Dan

http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/2009_08_26/dental_partnerships

Congratulations Carlos! Your expertise, care, drive and experience continues to shine through. We are proud of you – keep up your good work!

-Dr Dan Fischer, Neil Jessop and the Ultradent team.

As most of you know, the 40^th anniversary of the first humans to land on the moon just passed.  The amount of shear brilliance, dedication, persistence, care, hard work and extensive dedication to detail required to complete this feat is simply remarkable.   Envision this – after John F Kennedy called out the intent of the nation to complete a mission to the moon, some 400,000 plus scientists, engineers, technicians, etc. with the same vision joined forces to fulfill his goal “before the decade is out”.  This means it only took 8-9 years total to organize the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, none of which existed at the time of his famous speech.

We’ve learned from other quality companies and experienced business gurus the importance of a “BHAG” or “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal”.  A BHAG reiterates the importance of setting goals which allow humans to stretch their limits.  For sure, the space program’s goal, initiated by John F Kennedy’s drive to put a “man on the moon” is the greatest BHAG of my life’s experience!  This resulted in amazing technologies which continue to impact us in very meaningful ways.

Ultradent has a “BHAG” – to bring a cure to caries and gum disease.  We strongly believe in this journey and goal.  In looking at the future, this is likely to bring value on multiple fronts some of which we can’t anticipate.  So, the anniversary for NASA/America’s great achievement is now forty years old.  Ultradent, too, just celebrated an anniversary of 30 years.  We’re going to have to exhibit the same sort of dedication that Dr. Kennedy inspired to meet our BHAG.  But, just as with the moon space program of the 60s, the journey may prove as valuable or more valuable than the goal.

So, Ultradent will shoot  for the moon!

Dan

From the time I was a child listening to my father talk about his Boy Scout experience living in California and camping in the giant Redwoods in northern California, I’ve always wanted to visit and experience the Redwood “giants” for myself.

The opportunity came this past February when two of my married children, Erwin and Dr Jaleena Jessop and their families, gave me a very nice birthday present – a trip to the Redwoods for me, my wife Leenie and our youngest son. Wow, what a treat!

So, about ten days ago we flew to northern California where we experienced the time of our lives. What made it even more special was discovering the forest with my children and the grandkids that accompanied us. We went jet boating, hiked and experienced nature at her best – with all the vitality of the young ones. It was a blast!

Being dwarfed by the mighty redwood giants is at once humbling and awe inspiring but also causes reflection on the depth and breadth of life. There are trees that climb 250 to 370 feet into the air with diameters of 10 to 25 feet. This can often make one feel pretty “puny”. It’s more amazing to consider that these incredible giants existed 100 million years ago – up until the last ice-age and covered a large portion of the globe! For example, well preserved fossilized stumps have been found in Colorado and elsewhere, 25 million years old and beyond. Following the ice age, they have survived principally in the narrow strip of the coast of California.

And yes, these gorgeous giants need a special habitat to survive. They need a lot of fog to water even the tips of the tallest leaves and branches. The absorb a lot of water via the air and soil. And, they release up to 500 gallons a day to create their own “fog” which in turn helps support the other plants of these forest which are also dependant on the humid condition. But most incredibly, even though they line a corridor heavy with seismic activity, strong winds, and lightening storms, many have lived beyond 2,000 years of age! In fact, their bark is actually somewhat fire resistant giving them an advantage over pines, spruces and other resin/sap containing trees. Initially, I assumed initially that the roots of these giants must extend pretty deep into the ground so I was surprised when I found out that they only reach down about eight feet!

So, how do they withstand wind and earthquakes with such height and incredible mass? They do so via a system that we can all learn from: First, their roots interlock with other redwoods over a large area to support one another. This incredible “team” design is complete with exemplary “flexibility” which enables these giants to support one another for many, even centuries. This type of support is referred to as a gargantuan trampoline. Flexibility with undaunted teamwork, teamwork with flexibility – what a marvelous lesson we humans can learn from! For those human teams who’ve become most accomplished in this regard, the result has been proven to be nothing less than awesome.

We have many opportunities in life. Some of the best opportunities to learn come from nature. The mighty redwoods remind me of the value of both teamwork and flexibility, outlining the benefits of mutual trust. Teamwork with appropriate flexibility, mixed with other quality core values, necessary skills, passions and the like, plus a noble goal and vision can become a very powerful driving force.

Dan

Dear Dr. Fischer,

I wanted to share with you my wonderful experience on the USS George H W Bush aircraft carrier.  It was definitely a professional and personal highlight.  I boarded the ship after a mishap with shoes.  They forgot to tell me no open toe shoes so I had to borrow some tennis shoes.  They went well with my outfit.  Dr. Quagliotti hosted me for lunch in the wardroom where I got to me the XO of the ship, Capt. Roth.  I did a presentation in the dental clinic for the doctors and the dental team after lunch.  Dr. Quagliotti gave me an extended tour of the aircraft carrier.  I have honestly never experienced anything so amazing and humbling at once.  Everyone on the ship was so nice.  I have even more respect  for our men and women in the military.  Dr. Q explained all the daily actions that take place while under way.  These men and women work from 16-22 hrs a day.  I will say the air flight office was the coolest room where it was what they call “controlled chaos”.  This is where they keep up with all the aircraft coming, going, staying, etc.  Quite impressive!  Dr. Quagliotti left an open invitation for anyone if they ever want to tour the ship.  He likes to show it off!  I attached a picture of me with the dental team of the USS George H W Bush.  I was not allowed to take any other pictures because it is “sensitive”.

I want you all to know how lucky I am to work with such outstanding doctors and dental teams.   They even sent me home with a gift.  They gave me a ship travel mug and ship sticker.  This was truly an amazing experience.

Warm Regards,

Jennifer Strickler, Territory Account Manager-Virginia

It was nice of Jenny to share her experience with us.  It truly is a great experience to be invited onto one of these vessels. A few interesting facts to make note of:

1.        Each of these mega aircraft carriers has a crew, with pilots support etc of about 6000 people.  It is a fined-tuned, portable small city.

2.       The average age is 19!  With senior officers, which means there are a lot of 17 and 18 year olds on board.  And, it operates like a finely tuned watch because of fabulous and solid written systems which are taught over and over and executed flawlessly.  This is something every company, including Ultradent, can learn from.

3.       It has its own power nuclear plant, which runs for somewhere around 18  years without the need to refuel.

4.       The longest one of these vessels has been to sea without ever going into port is about half a year.  Amazing.

Thank you again for sharing Jenny.

Dan

Reflecting on the last 30 years, I have several thoughts – all the long hours and short timelines, the triumphs and losses, the ability to teach others and learn from others plus the tremendous opportunity for education, the sharing oneself and being enriched from other cultures – all of this with the ultimate goal of serving the patient and loved ones.

We have continued to drive past obstacles for 30 years.  What started as a family business has now grown to a new family, consisting of hundreds of talented “Ultradent family” members, which continues to grow in gorgeous ways.  From the 1^st day until now, celebrating 30 years – I continue to discover that I’m “the luckiest guy in the world”.

Dan

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of spending time with our team in Nashua, New Hampshire.  We hosted a program for dentists in NH and surrounding states – over 200 participants in an eight hour program!  Thanks to our team Sheri Ganter, Courtney McInerney, Dan Hart, Susan Signori, Larry Jacobs (Editor of Doctor of Dentistry), Gregg Karlins, Lynn Mawhinney and Jessica Feil for their quality care and hard work.

A special treat preceded the seminar!  Two of our Ultradent Elite doctors, Dr Jim Borbotsina and his brother Thomas joined a physical therapist friend, David Gazzola, in Manchester, New Hampshire to form a restaurant called  “The Way We Cook” (see background below).   Together, they have folded together the dishes they recall from their childhood in a marvelous menu.    Jim moved his dental office to the floor above the restaurant so he could stay as engaged with the operation as possible.  They fed us like kings!  And then after we were ”wined and dined”, the trail of desserts began- multiple desserts in large quantities and ALL homemade!  This grand finale was an incredible array and expression of “old and new world” Greece.

Background of “The Way We Cook” http://waywecooknh.com/

The Way We Cook, opened in 2003, was conceived by two men who shared a love for cooking and wished to bring their respective heritages to the public. Both men are sons of immigrants and nourished by these traditional foods as they grew:

David Gazzola, a physical therapist, was raised in an Italian family and has been cooking the family recipes from a very young age.

Jim Borbotsina, a dentist, has similar experiences in his Greek heritage.

Together they bring forth the dishes that they recall from their childhood in a manner that is reminiscent of good home cooking.

Also, in the pictures from the restaurant you can see my wife Leenie and sons Daniel and Austin.  For the weekend following the lecture, we toured some parts of New England.  This was something I had wanted to do with my family for years.    Part of our tour included walking the “freedom trail” through Boston.  There is fabulous history there of the founding of our country and built on the invaluable democratic ideals that not only we, but so much of the world, holds precious.  I recommend to all that you do this at least once in your life.

I am lucky to work with amazing, quality and caring people around the globe.
Chantell in South Africa is one of them.
I like to call her Maya the bee - humble, low profile and ever so dedicated and hard working when it comes time to roll up the sleeves.

I recently received this message from Chantell and I want to share with you (with her permission).

“Hi Nicolas,
I am so excited, I just had to share this with you now.
We have a University in the Limpopo province, where we have been very involved. Last year I did a lecture there for 5th year students, and we went back in May (this year) for another lecture on tooth whitening but we decided to do it in a different way. They have a large amount of fluorosis patients in the area. We asked for 2 patients as volunteers. They came in on a specific day and we started off by taking impressions of the patients. Then, we did a demo on the UltraVac Vacuum Former - the casting, blocking out, making bleaching trays. We made bleaching trays for our volunteers. Then we went and gave the lecture on the different options of whitening, including Opalustre. We told the students that it will take some time to see results, fluorosis & tetracycline are more difficult to treat. Then we took the patients to the dental clinic, where we started our procedure.

We used a Rubber Dam & Opalustre procedure, followed by Opalescence Boost. We established that there was no sensitivity at this point.  Then, we used Opalescence Quick 45%, placed it in the trays for the patients and they waited for 2 hours. In the meantime, we answered questions.  I must admit, some of the students were very skeptical because they could not see a big difference after the Boost. We gave the volunteer patients Opalescence 20% and UltraEz, explained exactly how to use it and they left.

Today, we returned to follow-up on the patients and WOW - see for yourself. I have photo’s here of one patient. This is after using 4 syringes of 20% at home. They are going to continue for another 2 weeks, and we will see them again. I will send more photos when we have the end results.

The patients are so happy, this lady in the pictures is 20 years old, she said it has ”changed her life”.

Thank you Chantell.
And thank you to all our gorgeous distributors around the world who are sharing and spreading our values.

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty * Winston Churchill

According to Ultradent’s partner, GreenFiber, the largest producer of cellulose insulation in North America, recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space and 4,000 kW of energy every year.  In an effort to conserve the natural habitat and landfill space, Ultradent has implemented a formal recycling program.  Newspapers, phonebooks, office paper, magazines, catalogs and books will be collected and donated to GreenFiber for renewal as environmentally friendly, highly efficient, flame resistant insulation and to create a greener community in the process.

All employees will be encouraged to consider the environment when printing, even printing on both sides of the paper whenever possible and recycling used paper.  The benefits will be shared by all.

Dan

Dear Ultradent Colleagues,

I would like to congratulate Dave Nuttall and his team for being honored with the Charles A Caine Workplace Safety Award. Dave, with the support of the HR department and so many employees, has done an excellent job of looking out for our best interests. This is a gorgeous example of caring humans living/emulating our core values of integrity, care, quality, innovation and hard work.

With more than 68,000 Utah workers reported job-related injuries last year. Workplace safety needs to be a top priority for Utah companies. Kicking off June as National Safety Month, Workers Compensation Fund honored 13 business that lead the way in workplace safety. Each winner was selected through a nomination process and earned the award based on their safety record, program effectiveness and their success in creating a safe workplace.

Last Thursday, Ultradent was honored with the 2009 Charles A Caine Award for Workplace Safety. Ultradent was one of 24, 000companies in Utah and neighboring states to receive this distinction. For Ultradent to achieve this distinction is commendable especially considering our relatively large size and broad and diverse vertical integration which includes departments as machining and tooling, chemical R & D, formulation, molding, etc. Effective safety practices such as an emergency response team, offering CPR and First Aid courses to employees and their families, preventive safety measures developed both in R&D and Engineering, an on-site first aid room and continued support from management contributed to this award winning safety program.

Congratulations to everyone for making a conscientious effort in keeping Ultradent a safe and productive workplace. And let’s all: KEEP IT UP!

Thank you.

Dan