Giving a QuickSmile to the world

Melbourne-based company QuickSmile has successfully launched its namesake whitening system to the world at IDS 2005 as part of the inaugural Australian Pavilion. QuickSmile uses a unique combination of cold red LED light to activate a specially developed blue whitening gel.

"Participating as part of the Australian Pavilion at the world's largest dental show was a great opportunity to gain access to a plethora of potential distributors across the globe," said QuickSmile managing director Mathew Wieland. "We had tremendous interest in our product, managed to secure a dealer in the UK market and are now in an enviable position of having several options to choose from in each market."

Mr Wieland has run a whitening-only clinic, also called QuickSmile, in Melbourne for a number of years and used another brand of light-activated gel system.

"Having the business in Melbourne proved to be an excellent research project into professional whitening systems. Dealing in such a focussed way with a large group of people requesting a single service meant we discovered all the pros and cons of existing systems. On this basis, we decided there was an opportunity to build our own system and design better gels and a light that actually does something and at the same time, engineer out all the traditional problems associated with existing systems."

Mr Wieland said that product development took a remarkably short 18 months and was undertaken in the US by a specialised contract product development organisation.

"We wanted a different approach. We wanted a durable machine that goes forever. We didn't want to use halogen lights so went for very high output LED technology instead. A lot of people think an LED is an LED but there are high-powered LEDs that have no heat which is a big difference to all our competitors.

"Our Red SuperCool LED Technology™ eliminates the heat and any need for sun screens or patient protective bibs. The patent pending QuickSmileBlu™ whitening gel has been specifically designed to provide a true photochemical activation process, offering optimum results. Together they are a very successful combination and because there is no heat involved, sensitivity is greatly reduced. The system is also one of the fastest on the market."

Mr Wieland said that QuickSmile was already being sold in Taiwan and Hong Kong and was waiting regulatory approvals in other countries. The CE mark is in the final stages of approval and the US launch is happening in the second half of the year.

"Many dentists have now had experience with light-assisted professional whitening systems and know they are both a practice builder and a profit centre in their own right. They are also aware of issues with not only consistency of results, but also patient comfort and this is where we believe QuickSmile has a distinct advantage."