Our ethos

 Medical devices have an impact on the health of patients. The purpose of an orthodontic treatment is to move teeth so as to obtain the desired function and appearance. Appearance is as important as function because of its psychological impact and its effect on professional and social life. The smile is a very important element in self-esteem.

 Orthodontic treatment is restrictive both physically and psychologically. Patients of all ages want their treatment to be carried out as fast as possible, and to come to a definite end. This objective requires the use of products of quality.

•  At the start of the treatment, self-ligating braces have a certain advantage in that the archwire is not restrained by elastic.
• At the end of the treatment, standard and self-ligating braces are on a par. The quality of the outcome is linked to the precision of the brace in terms of dimensional tolerances. If the brackets are mediocre, the treatment will take longer or the outcome will be unsatisfactory.

 Orthodontists do not have the means to apply quality controls to evaluate a new brace at the time of purchase. They have to rely on what the supplier tells them, which is inevitably biased. In the absence of any way to compare real quality, the practitioner is inclined to make his or her choice based on appearance and price. A highly-polished brace, made to coarse tolerances but at a very good price, will immediately meet with success. It may be very successful, because at the beginning of a treatment, precision is not the most important factor. It is only after a year or even two years, when the practitioner has to resort to tinkering in order to save the treatment, that (s)he realises (s)he has been taken in. (S)he doesn’t buy any more of that product, and (s)he shares the experience with colleagues.

 In order to guarantee a high level of quality:

• We inspect braces according to standards defined by Orthonorm,
• We create a folder of quality documentation for each type of brace, including amongst other things: verification of dimensions, the level of retention, and the allergic risk,
• It is our practice to notify practitioners of all defects in product quality,
• With our suppliers, we ensure infallible product traceability,
• We guarantee the absence of contamination, and the biocompatibility of devices we work with,
• We reduce the risk of bond failure,
• We do not use surface processing methods which modify the dimensional characteristics of the product,
• We provide surface processing which reduces the allergic risk.

 Medical devices made or processed by our businesses have been used in the treatment of several million patients without our ever being notified of the least incident putting patient health at risk. We look upon our clients and colleagues as partners linked by the desire to improve orthodontics. In our evaluations of products on the market, we remain objective and impartial.

 We maintain absolute medical confidentiality. All information concerning practitioners and patients is encrypted and kept secure. Our data management systems are not linked to the Internet, to avoid all risk of unauthorised access to our database.