The Making of Modern Dental Laboratory USA

Modern Dental Laboratory (MDL), Shenzhen, launched over 30 years ago. They worked very closely with distribution centers in Asia, Europe and Australia. Before too long, MDL Shenzhen, seeing great opportunity in the United States, decided to create a distribution center in Chicago. Soon after Modern Chicago was created, other distribution centers in the US were formed (Koga Enterprises in LA and Northwest Laboratories in Seattle). All three distribution centers were quite successful in growth, certificates and awards.

Seeing the opportunity for further growth and success, the three distribution centers decided to start a new joint-venture. In the fall of 2009, the three U.S. distribution centers merged to form Modern Dental Laboratory USA. The three distribution centers are located in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle. In 2011, a fourth distribution center was added in Boston. Each service center has 5-20 employees who personally manage your case to successful completion.

History

In 1976, our laboratory was established in Hong Kong. Through a very close association with the University of Hong Kong School of Dentistry, we became an integral part of the Dental Technology program at Prince Phillip Dental Hospital. While working with the top restorative Dentists and Researchers in the Hong Kong area we started a reputation of extremely high quality craftsmanship, which exists to this day. Over time, we grew to be the largest Dental Laboratory in Hong Kong. We continued to attract top talent from the Dental Technology program, in fact our Managing Director lectured for many years and still continues his affiliation with the program.

A little political background: Shenzhen, a city north of Hong Kong, was converted into a capitalist hub and declared a Special Economic Zone in 1979. Entire territory of Hong Kong under British colonial rule became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC on 1 July 1997. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC promised that under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy proposed by Deng Xiaoping, the socialist economic system in mainland China would not be practiced in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and lifestyle would remain unchanged for at least 50 years, until 2047.

As the Laboratory grew, it became evident that the Hong Kong market was limited and it was decided to bring these high quality restorations to Doctors in Europe. The manufacturing system developed unlike any Laboratory and enabled the growth to surpass most other labs, but still maintain the excellent workmanship. So, in 1986, partners where established in France and Germany. The results were spectacular. The quality exceeded the local standards at competitive fees. The client base grew dramatically. In 1990, the lab moved to a much larger facility in Shenzhen to keep up with the demands from the European clients.

In 1997, the lab pursued and was certified in the ISO 9001 quality system as well as the EN 46002 system, which at the time was the European Union medical device directive. The attributes of these certifications is the record keeping requirement to track lot numbers of raw materials through to final patient for five years, a pharmaceutical type of commitment. Of course, meeting these stringent requirements are unheard of in the US market. It was a hard earned validation of the extraordinary quality and manufacturing systems that had already earned rave reviews across Asia and Europe.

2003 was the year that Northwest Laboratories began for the sole purpose of providing these premium restorations to our Dental Community. The goal was to make it very easy to access the finest dental lab in the world. And as in Europe, the Dentist response has been overwhelming. In three short years, Northwest Laboratories became the largest lab in the Northwest.

Our new facility in Shenzhen was completed in February 2005. It is the largest Dental Laboratory in the world and houses the largest dental technology school in the world. With a capacity of 5,000 technicians, we are literally a small city within a city. The campus features a seven story lab as well as a dormitory and recreation facilities. The new facility is completely state of the art and fully equipped the best available dental technology in the world.

In 2006, we completed the requirements for the new ISO 13485 and were registered in August. This is now the worldwide recognized standard for quality management in the manufacturing of medical devices. The FDA recognizes ISO 13485 as exceeding its own Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

The FDA is the federal regulatory body for medical device manufacturers, of which dental labs are included. They require all domestic and import manufacturers to comply with the GMPs. The only third party method of certifying that these GMPs are part of a dental lab manufacturing practice is the ISO 13485.

As we look to the future, it is exciting to know we still have ample capacity for more clients to take advantage of the laboratory that --- creates the finest dental restorations in the world.