DTS International
DTS Interntational’s integrated group of companies offers a comprehensive service to dental practices and clinics
DTS International was established in 1945 by WM Littlejohn,
the present owner’s father. Alex and his three sons now run the
family business. This family business offers not only a
comprehensive technical service to its many customers but also
a unique support service to help them build their practices and
inform their patients of the options currently available in
modern dental treatment plans.
As a truly international business, DTS has customers
throughout the UK and Ireland, as well as in Norway, Denmark,
Sweden and Finland. These international markets have been
established for more than 25 years. Our main production
facilities are in our Glasgow laboratories, but we also operate
satellite production units in England and Ireland and have
distribution networks in Norway and Denmark. All of our
international customers are invoiced in their local currencies.
The DTS service
Although offering a wide range of specialist restorative options, DTS also has a large department providing restorations and
prosthetics specifically for NHS treatment prescriptions. These are supplied to community and outreach centres throughout the
country as well as to general practitioners.
The philosophy of DTS has been to research new, innovative restorations and techniques to provide our customers with the
widest range of treatment options available in modern dentistry. In 1984 DTS introduced Chameleon porcelain veneers to the UK
and this department of our business remains the largest producer of veneers in Europe.
Since that time many new systems have been introduced. A selection of these include:
- Mirage ceramic and BelleGlass ceramic inlays
- Procera crowns
- Equipoise and saddlelock chrome cobalt designs
- The Replablock technique
- Fully functional dentures
- Maryland and all-ceramic adhesive bridges
- A range of snoring appliances.
Customers are kept informed of any new techniques introduced via a continual series of clinical and patient information
brochures. These are produced by our in-house marketing department. The informative lectures and workshops we hold at venues
throughout the country each year also give our customers the opportunity to see and to discuss any new product or any other
system with our technicians.
We also have a technical co-ordinator whose remit is to visit our customers on a regular basis to ensure they are kept informed of
any new option that becomes available.
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Looking to the future
When we introduced the first CAD/CAM system in 1989, producing Procera all-ceramic restorations as an alternative to metal ceramic,
little did we imagine the dramatic change digital technology would have in technical and clinical dentistry now and in the future.
DTS opened the first zirconia milling centre in the UK in
2004, producing the copings and superstructures for Lava
restorations, a 3M ESPE product. It soon became obvious that
zirconia-based restorations, with all their advantages in
aesthetics, strength and biocompatibility, would largely replace
metal in the not too distant future.
To meet this increasing demand and to accommodate an
exciting range of new techniques that our research programmes
have assessed, we decided in 2008 that we needed to move all
our digital systems to a new, dedicated facility. This was opened
in April 2009 and is the first fully digital dental laboratory in
Europe. Trading as ZMC (the Zirconia Milling Centre), it
services our conventional laboratory, which is located nearby, as
well as providing an outsourcing facility for many laboratories
throughout the country. This allows us to provide our
customers with state-of-the-art restorations without the large
investment necessary to purchase milling systems.
DTS Interntational’s integrated group of companies offers a
comprehensive service to dental practices and clinics.
This new laboratory provides the DTS departments with an
unsurpassed range of options to offer to our customers. We can
supply from single unit to full arch zirconia-based restorations,
including adhesive bridges supported by a single wing. An
exclusive zirconia custom abutment design system provides our
implant department with a unique and aesthetic advantage in
the rapidly increasing implant restorations being provided.
Rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping of models, copings and temporary
restorations can also be produced here. We will shortly install
the first digital model
production facility
necessary to support
the oral scanners that
are now being
introduced to replace
impressions in dental
surgeries. Impression scanners will also have a place in modern dental laboratories and we
are beta testing a system that will be introduced to the market in the autumn.
Customer-focused facilities
In January our in-house surgery, which is widely used by our customers, installed the first Lava oral scanner in the UK and to date
more than 200 dentists have had the opportunity to assess the merits of this system, which is going to change clinical and technical
procedures dramatically in the future.
Our business could not maintain its momentum without
skilled staff. We operate an in-house training facility that, at the
moment, is being upgraded to a full conference and training
complex. This will be available for dental companies to use for
courses, in addition to our own requirements.
More than a technical service
To summarise, DTS International provides its customers with considerably more than a technical service. We are at the forefront of
technology and have in place the infrastructure to keep our customers informed of reliable new systems that they can offer their
patients. Patient literature, demonstration models, a website design service and a sales company, V Dent Ltd, supplying support
materials for the restorations and systems produced allow our integrated group of companies to offer the most comprehensive
service to dental practices and clinics in the areas in which we operate.
Further information on the services we provide can be obtained from:
Sandy Littlejohn - Specialist services and implants
Laurie Littlejohn - Zirconia and all-ceramic restorations
Graham Littlejohn - CAD/CAM technology
Alex Littlejohn - Conference facilities
All can be contacted at:
Address: 7-10 Annfield Pl, Duke St, Glasgow G31 2XQ
Tel: 0141 556 5619
Email: dts@dts-international.com
Website: www.dts-international.com
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