Gritter Dental expands imaging division

Family-owned Gritter Dental is increasing it's portfolio of imaging products with the addition of new models in the Italian-made range of Villa panoramic and cephalometric units. Sales of the popular range of x-ray equipment has continued to climb despite the tough economic times.

"Demand for extraoral radiography continues to grow amongst private practitioners," said Reg Forsaith, Imaging Specialist at Gritter Dental. "We're seeing many dentists who are refitting or moving locations putting an OPG on their must-have list and many others are finding room in their existing premises.

"From speaking with our clients, there are a number of factors driving this trend. Dentists who have an OPG use it far more than dentists who refer patients out for imaging. Rather than over-servicing, it is being driven by optimal patient care and best practice simply based on the convenience of having the unit in-house.

"Practitioners quickly fall in love with being able to take a high quality, digital OPG or Ceph and have it on a monitor chairside in a few seconds. There is no referral out of the practice, no additional appointments, no inconvenience for the patient. As a result, OPGs also quickly become a revenue stream within the practice.

"The real catalyst for OPGs in private practices, however, has been affordability. The advent of digital technology and competition in the marketplace worldwide means unit are half the cost they were. In addition, the final sweetener at the moment is the Government's investment allowance. As a result, there has never been a better time to invest in new equipment."

Gritter Dental is the exclusive distributor for the Villa range of panoramic x-ray units. Villa was established in Italy post-WWII by the respected x-ray imaging engineer, Alfio Villa. For over 50 years, the Villa company has become a major supplier of dental and broader radiological equipment to both industry and end users alike around the world. Amongst its many achievements is includes the Rotograph OPG of which more than 50,000 have been manufactured and shipped worldwide with thousands delivered to Australian users in years gone by.

Today the Villa company manufactures a wide range of specialist radiology equipment and is a major manufacturer of OPG units with the sophisticated Strato 2000 OPG, and now the new ground breaking EVO digital OPG unit with expansion modules for Ceph, Implant tomography and soon 3D cone beam CT.

Villa employs around 200 people in it's main facility in Milan and manufactures the core equipment for many other US and European brands. In 2000, it joined the Del Medical group and has expanded its global scope.