Ultradent Sweeps 2023 Hot Shots Awards
Ultradent's entry of its Umbrella cheek retractor took home the awards for Technical Sophistication and Achievement in Economics and Efficiency at PTXPO.
In its second staging ever, Plastics Technology’s Hot Shots injection molded parts competition was taken home by Ultradent. The Utah-based company’s Umbrella cheek retractor was recognized by voters as the top entrant in both the Technical Sophistication and Achievement in Molding Economics/Efficiency categories.
Used for procedures that require clear access to a patient’s mouth, whether it’s teeth whitening or surgeries, the PP part must flexible enough for easy insertion and patient comfort, but robust enough to hold a patient’s mouth open and function as a living hinge.
The two-component part is molded by Ultradent on a 350-ton Arburg press with a secondary injection unit from Mold Masters. The part itself features challenging-to-mold thin-to-thick sections, and the tool has complex cavities and cores, including an ejector plate that must hold and rotate the part for overmolding.
A trio from Ultradent’s molding and engineering team (pictured below) was on hand to accept the awards at the PTXPO (March 28-30; Donald E. Stephens Convention Center; Rosemont, Ill.). The runner up in both categories was Bockatech’s EcoCore insulated, recyclable, reusable cups. Check out a future issue of Plastics Technology to read an article about Ultradent’s winning part, and all the finalists in the Hot Shots 2023 competition.
From left to right: Royce Castleberry, injection molding manager; Michael Card, technical engineering manager; and RJay Matkin, director of molding pose with the awards and parts at PTXPO.
Photo Credit: Plastics Technology
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