A dental technology firm looks set to sign a distribution agreement covering all of North America within weeks if it gains regulatory approval for the US this month.
Cariescan, the Dundee-based producer of hand-held devices for the early detection of tooth decay – and a subsidiary of 3D Diagnostic Imaging – previously struck a UK distribution deal with Clark Dental back in July.
The UK agreement will see the marketing and distribution company promote the Cariescan PRO tooth decay detection system to the dental market here.
With this deal to distribute across the States, the Scottish company looks set to expand.
The Cariescan PRO device is a lightweight caries detection monitor, manufactured at factories in Livingston and Arbroath.
It’s claimed that the device measures the presence of tooth decay earlier and more accurately than any other device on the market and is more than 90% accurate in detecting both sound and carious teeth, well ahead of current methods.
It also takes away the risks linked with the repeated use of X-rays.
The company was established in May 2008 and uses technology developed by nearby St Andrews and Dundee universities.
The technology was originally developed by university spin-out IDMoS, which went into administration last year, but 3D Diagnostic Imaging snapped up the rights and assets of the business.
Chief executive, Graham Lay, , said he is holding talks about a distribution agreement for its products with an unnamed distributor in Canada.
However, in the US, it requires approval from the US Food and Drug Administration before launching.
Back in July, with the first major deal for Cariescan secured in the UK, Lay was believed to be eyeing the North American market for further expansion.
He said at the time: ‘The UK is our home territory, and Clark Dental, in our estimation, are the most appropriate dental distributor available to us, and they have sole exclusivity to distribute the product in the UK. At the same time we expect to get regulatory clearance for the device in the United States by early autumn, and we already have approval in Canada, so we are in discussions with distributors in those territories.’
