Dental News - Handpiece engineers focus tightly on clinicians’ needs

Robert Selleck, DTA

Thu. 12 July 2012

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Lots of companies like to talk about being responsive to customer needs. NSK, a global manufacturer of dental handpieces and other small-motor equipment, walks the talk with devices created solely in response to customer feedback. One of the most telling examples is the S-Max Pico, the handpiece with the industry’s smallest neck and head size.

“In our Asian markets especially, dentists were asking for a smaller-head handpiece to use with patients with smaller mouths,” said Rob Gochoel, NSK marketing manager — North America. “We kept hearing how difficult it was to use a standard or even miniature handpiece for restorative work on patients with smaller mouths, especially when working on posterior teeth. Having a decent amount of room to see and work in is critical when you’re trying to be as minimally invasive as possible and leave as much healthy tooth undisturbed as you can.”

Industry game changer

“The S-Max Pico has been capturing a lot of of attention at the major dental meetings,” Gochoel said. “We’ve been taking a lot of orders from dentists who don’t even feel the need to test it in the operatory first.”

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One surprise for NSK has been the level of interest from pediatric dentists across the world — quickly elevating the product from being a specific response to Asian market demand to being a specialty product piquing interest in every market across the globe.

At the other end of the spectrum, NSK also has recently launched a line of premium handpieces that incorporate its micro-production technology while also setting a new benchmark for durability and performance. According to NSK, the Ti-Max Z series handpieces perform at a remarkably low noise level with virtually no vibration — two requests the company had frequently heard from clinicians looking for fewer distractions and increased patient comfort. “The two products together definitely announce NSK as a key player in the industry, one who knows how to listen to customers and quickly get finely crafted, durable products to market based on that input,” Gochoel said.

Growing global interest

More innovations expected

As the company increases its presence in the North American market, with high-visibility booths at the bigger trade shows and a growing distribution system, it’s hearing more from customers in the United States and Canada. “We’re getting a lot of feedback,” Gochoel said. “It’s all about making dentists more productive. Coming up with improvements that make dentists’ lives easier — and make their patients more comfortable.”

NSK engineers already are looking into some new ideas based on multiple inquiries the NSK team has been receiving from customers. A big part of the reason NSK is able to move so quickly on customer feedback is that virtually all of its research, development, design, manufacturing and testing is accomplished in house. That doesn’t just mean assembling the final devices; it means building the vast majority of the parts that go into those devices.

More than 17,000 individual parts go into the production of NSK handpieces, and close to 90 percent of those parts are built and tested in-house by NSK.

‘Expect perfection’

This total-control approach to its products is what enables the company to use the slogan, “Expect perfection.” Gochoel said the company approaches each new product with the goal of creating the perfect handpiece.

The result is that the company keeps setting the bar for itself higher — while removing limits on what its customers are able to imagine.

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