High Speed Lubricants International
Market and Product Information
Ten years ago, HSL developed a 100% synthetic lubricant specifically designed for use in high-speed dental hand pieces. D-Lub9™™ Synthetic Dental Hand piece Lubricant is a long-life lubricant, especially formulated for air-driven instruments based on novel, proprietary technology resulting in significantly improved hydrolytic stability, oxidative resistance, extended bearing life and wear protection.
D-Lub9™ is designed to eliminate deficiencies inherent in the performance of other lubricants, specifically, thermal/oxidative degradation (varnish/sludge formation), oil/water emulsification leading to rust and excessive wear problems, lubricant degradation and loss due to hydrolytic instability or high temperature vaporization. The unique chemistry of D-Lub9™ ensures deposit-free operation with service intervals 8 to 12 times longer than mineral oil-based lubricants.
The ability of D-Lub9™ to provide clean, deposit-free operation maximizes instrument life while significantly reducing periodic maintenance, resulting in cost-effective operation.
Macro-environment Situation
In most states, the practice of autoclaving dental hand pieces has been mandated by law. This practice has been adopted by a majority of dentists regardless of the presence of regulations. The need for autoclaving has come about because of growing concern for viral infections such as HIV and Hepatitis B. The impact of the procedure has had a dramatic effect on the dental lubricant market.
Prior to the imposition of autoclave standards, a chemical wash sterilization of hand pieces was common practice. This process takes little time compared to autoclaving. Sales of hand pieces have skyrocketed, because autoclaving requires the availability of multiple hand pieces. The revenues the hand piece manufacturers have realized for replacing rotor bearings have been significant. Lubricant sales have also soared.
Market Situation and Product Benefits
Cost management has been, and will continue to be, a “hot” topic for dentists. We have concluded from industry research and personal interviews with dentists that dentists are extremely cost conscious and actively seek products and services that enable them to operate more efficiently and profitably. D-Lub9™ addresses this productivity.
Consider the potential benefit attendant to the operations of a one chair dental office with seven hand pieces. Bearing replacements can cost between $75.00 (dentist replacement with repair kit) and $150.00 (manufacturer refurbishment). The “typical” one chair dentist may spend $2100 on hand piece repair to maintain his/her hand piece.
Prior to introducing D-Lub9™ to the market, it was originally tested in a clinical situation for three years. No bearing failure occurred during the test period, suggesting that our “typical” dentist could save up to $6,300.00 over a three-year period in refurbishment costs.
Further, a number of dentists have used D-Lub9™ and commented that they noticed immediate improvement in the operation of their hand pieces. A dentist described the effect as “greater concentricity” of motor function, producing a significant reduction of vibration.
Competitive Situation
There are many manufacturers of high-speed dental hand pieces that produce mineral oil based lubricants, which break down rapidly from exposure to heat. The heat produced by high hand piece operating speeds (500,000 RPMs) and autoclaving literally cooks mineral oil, causes scarring on the rotor bearings and ultimately hand piece failure.
Some manufacturers have introduced synthetic lubricants that claim to withstand the rigors of autoclaving. Independent companies, such as HSL, have also recognized the need for a superior lubricant, and have developed synthetics with similar performance claims. These synthetics are priced as much as or more than $35.00 per ounce. High Speed Lubricants has recognized this and priced D-Lub9™ at a substantial savings to our customers.
Comparative Product Analysis
Initial field testing on D-Lub9™ was conducted at a dental clinic in Dallas, Texas. The test protocol consisted of using four dental hand pieces with lubrication following autoclaving under parallel conditions until failure, as determined by the monitoring dentist. Two of the test hand pieces were lubricated with D-Lub9™. The other two were lubricated with mineral oil lubricants and served as the control.
All four dental hand pieces were approximately the same age (fifteen years). Each hand piece had a documented history of requiring rotor-bearing replacement every four months. The control hand pieces continued to require three bearing overhauls per year.
The hand pieces using D-Lub9™ continued to function throughout the study with no rotor bearing failures, overhauls, or any maintenance other than the D-Lub9™ lubrication. At the end of the first twelve-month trial, one of the D-Lub9™ trial hand pieces was sent to a repair facility for evaluation of the rotor bearings and internal mechanism. It was reported that the hand piece required no maintenance and could be returned to service without bearing replacement.
A Note About Product Safety
All constituent elements of the D-Lub9™ product are Generally Regarded as Safe by the FDA. D-Lub9™ contains no esters that would enhance its performance characteristics at the risk of causing harm through human contact. Furthermore, the propellant contains no chlorofluorocarbons when D-Lub9™ is dispensed as an aerosol product.