Manufacturing Today Issue 217: Paragon Implant Company: engineering and dental converge

Paragon Implant Company (Paragon) was founded

by Dr. Gerald Niznick, a 40+ year pioneer in the dental implant industry. After selling his prior companies to some of the current leaders in the implant industry, he intends, once again, to revolutionize the way dental implants are designed, manufactured, sold and utilized. With his relentless commitment to innovation and cutting-edge technology, he believes that Paragon will emerge as a leader in providing advanced implant solutions that o er superior functionality and patient comfort while minimizing the risks of long-term complications. Gerald Niznick, DMD, MSD, President and CEO of the company tells us about his path towards the creation of Paragon.

“I graduated dentistry in 1966 at the University of Manitoba Canada, today called the Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry. Subsequently, I received a masters degree in prosthetics, the specialty of tooth restoration and replacement, at Indiana Dental School. I began practicing in Los Angeles in 1969 when dental implantology was in its infancy.

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By the end of the 1970s I started to develop my own implant designs. I launched my rst of 33 patented implant products in 1982 and, by 1990, my company, Core-Vent, was one of the two largest implant companies in the world. In 1991, I sold the distribution rights to Dentsply, only to take it back 6 years later and launch a series of new designs. I sold that company the end of 2000 to what is today called ZimVie, one of the top 5 implant companies in the world. I started a new dental implant business in 2004, Implant Direct, which I ended up selling 75% in 2010 and the remaining 25% in 2014. Today Implant Direct is part of Envista, the second largest supplier of dental implants. It isn’t until I reached the age of 79, in 2022, that I embarked on a new venture, called Paragon. Utilizing a factory I had built back in 1994 for my previous businesses, I began laying the foundations for Paragon. Fast forward to July 2023, and the progress has been remarkable. I have already led 4 new patents on improved designs, installed 25 state-of-the-art Star CNC machines and welcomed back 28 skilled individuals from my former manufacturing team.”

“As we continue to expand, our sta is projected to reach around 100 employees by the time we are set to launch in July 2024. The dental implant industry has witnessed remarkable expansion, primarily due to advancements in product reliability and increased public awareness.” In that context, Dr. Niznick sheds light on the functionality of dental implants and highlights his unique contributions in this thriving sector.

“Dental implants are very sophisticated screws, about three to seven millimeters in diameter, that are inserted into the jawbone of a patient to replace a missing tooth. Abutments are attached to provide

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support for teeth, custom made by dental laboratories. Because of the small size of the implants and abutments, the stability of the connection is critical to prevent complications such as screw loosening or fracture. In 1986, I pioneered a signi cant advancement in implant design know as the conical connection. Since my patent expired for this innovation in 2007, it has become the cornerstone of modern implant design, widely adopted by most companies currently on the market.”

“To meet the demanding need for precision of all the dental components, Paragon invested in specialized tools and equipment. Designing and manufacturing cutting and inspection tools and gauges enables us to complement our state-ofthe-art quality department. Our Swiss Automatic machines are monitored by the cutting-edge Caron process monitoring system, allowing us to run our machines continuously with minimal human intervention — i.e. lights out 24/6 production.”

“This enables Paragon to operate 24 hours a day with just one eight hour shift of employees. This lights-out capability was pioneered while I was president of Implant Direct. It dramatically reduces the cost of production, while assuring every component is manufactured to our high tolerance requirements. Add to these signi cant manufacturing cost savings, the advantages of o ering a relatively narrow, just what you need, product line, allows Paragon to o er its implants at a price equivalent to what my rst company charged for an implant in 1986. This very competitive pricing with truly innovative, made in America, products will set Paragon apart from its competitors and make implant dentistry more a ordable for patients and more pro table for dentists”.

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With decades of industry experience, Dr. Niznick has dedicated signi cant time and e ort to enhance his manufacturing facility that is used by Paragon today. “In 1994 I built the factory speci cally designed for dental implant manufacturing. We have trenches in the oor for all the electrical and compressed air lines. Currently, our factory has 25 CNC machines but it can accommodate a total of 36. Each machine is set up with Edge automatic bar feeders, a re suppression system, and a Caron monitoring system. Our Caron

technology is very e cient in surveilling the cutting process of our implants for tool wear, allowing for optimizing the bar feed rate through the machine. It will automatically shuts down any machine that fails to cut the part to our precise speci cations.”

“Supporting our manufacturing operations is our tooling department, equipped with two ANCA tool grinders. These state-of-the-art machines are utilized for both creating cutting tools and regrinding existing tools We are also utilizing the ANCA machines for running dental implant bone drills, a product most companies outsource.

Complementing this, our tooling department comprises Haas mills and other necessary machines to manufacture all the required tooling for our CNC machines. Moreover, Paragon brought two previously outsourced processes in-house, anodizing and blasting. This enables us to have better control over the time frame from manufacturing to packaging for all of our products.”

The Caron Tool Monitoring System measures the load on the tool and compares it to the userde ned limits to determine wear. Its direct interface to the CNC control allows the system to make realtime adjustments to feeds and speeds. It automatically expires a worn tools and retracts the tool instantaneously in the event of breakage .

Keyence automated visual measurement systems scans a part measuring 18 dimensional parameters

“Throughout the manufacturing process, our quality department conducts continuous inspections of the parts. To ensure the highest standards of quality, we employ a range of inspection tools including scopes, comparators and optical inspection equipment including Keyence automated visual measurement systems. A scan of the part measures 18 dimensional parameters and checks them against the programmed tolerances for each implant and abutment.”

As Paragon continues its journey, Dr. Niznick reveals the company’s continuous e orts towards fostering sustainability.

One of Paragon’s new designs creates an interference t between the abutment and implant, such that it requires 5-30Ncm to fully seat the abutment in the implant. This is created by having a straight distal extension on the abutment that engages with a 2 degree (+/-0.50) taper on the implant’s internal shaft as the abutment fully seats on top of the implant. The inspection method to ensure this implant interference is achieved consistently requires measuring the angle of the tapered section deep within the internal shaft of the implant. This measurement, traditionally done by sectioning the implant, can now be done using Keyence’s automated image systems that has accuracy of +/-1um (0.00003937”).

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“We aim to reduce our energy/water and gas consumption as well as minimize waste and emissions in our manufacturing process. Our Kaeser compressors reduce our energy consumption by mating shop requirements at any given time with variable output controls.

Additionally, we have implemented mist collectors on each machine to decrease the release of fumes and gases into the atmosphere. Lastly, our facilities in Calabasas, California, utilize reclaimed water to ful ll our external landscaping needs, which has been particularly important during times of drought.”

As part of its focus on sustainable operations, Paragon is exploring harnessing solar power at its manufacturing facilities. This dedication to innovation and reducing environmental impact, combined with Dr. Niznick’s decades of expertise, puts Paragon in an advantageous position to have a signi cant impact on the dental implant industry into the future.