BIOLASE, University of Florida College of Dentistry forge agreement

    July 24, 2006
    Agreement a key to company's strategy to work closely with leading dental schools to expand the application of Waterlase dentistry through teaching and research programs.

    IRVINE, California--BIOLASE Technology, Inc., has announced that the company recently signed an agreement with the University of Florida College of Dentistry to integrate Waterlase dentistry into its course curriculum.

    The signing of the agreement marks another important milestone in the company's strategy to work closely with leading dental schools to expand the application of Waterlase dentistry through teaching and research programs.

    "We are pleased to be one of the first institutions to participate in the launch of the BIOLASE University Program. Our faculty is very excited to gain hands-on experience with the Waterlase technology, and we anticipate advancing its use through clinical research and incorporating, where appropriate, content into the various curricula in the college," said Teresa A. Dolan, professor and dean of the University of Florida College of Dentistry.

    "The department of pediatric dentistry is very excited to have this opportunity to implement laser technology in its pediatric dentistry curriculum. The first phase of this implementation will consist of the development of laboratory research projects we hope will lead to clinical trials assessing the use of laser dentistry in children," commented Marcio Guelmann, professor and chair of pediatric dentistry at the University of Florida College of Dentistry.

    "I believe laser technology is on a path to be a main stream dental tool in every dental practice. This technology offers many and significant advantages over how we practice dentistry today. I also believe dental lasers will continue to evolve and will eventually change how we practice dentistry in the future. We feel obligated to study this technology with the goal of incorporating it into our curriculum for the sake of our patients, students and the advancement of our profession," commented Amer Abu-Hanna, assistant professor of operative dentistry at the University of Florida College of Dentistry.

    The University of Florida College of Dentistry is one of the top dental schools in the nation with recognized strengths in teaching, research and service. The college was founded in 1972 and has graduated more than 2,000 dentists.

    With 16 accredited programs, the college is the only publicly funded dental school in the State of Florida and enjoys a growing national reputation for its oral health research enterprise, emphasizing infectious diseases in dentistry, bone biology, pain and neurosciences and practiced based studies to improve clinical dental care. The college was recently ranked No. 4 out of 56 U.S. dental schools in terms of federal research funding.

    BIOLASE is a medical technology company that develops, manufactures, and markets lasers and related products focused on technologies for improved applications and procedures in dentistry and medicine.