THE DEFINITION OF “LUMIN Effect” in a VITA sense . . . “The phenomenon of the reflection and rarefaction of light as it passes through normal dentition in the same manner as natural sunlight!”
Spreading the Gospel of Change
There he was, in Las Vegas, standing behind Unitek Corporation’s exhibition booth excitedly extolling the unique values of a virtually unknown shade guide system being introduced to the American dental industry! Excited, enthusiastic and happily doing his best to “Spread the Gospel” of a new product group for which he had recently negotiated an agreement for his company to serve as the exclusive distributor for the U.S., As he was struggling to create a definition
for the meaning of the “Lumin Effect’; he noticed two very professionally dressed gentlemen standing off to the side with a continued “grin and giggle” going on while he was presenting. After a group of dentists left the booth, the young man asked the kibitzers to explain why they were laughing. “You’ll never do it!” was
their reply; expressed over and over. They were the president and vice-president of the porcelain market leader at the time! The year was 1972, and the product group was the introduction of the Vita Porcelain Program into this country.
The major problem was not inherent in the use of the product, but rather a political challenge. The powders had been designed in a color range that was virtually unknown in this country. As this new shade matching system was drawing raves like, “Wow, this thing really looks like teeth!” Solution: That young man had to design a marketing program that provided technical training to accommodate working with a vastly different, fine-grained porcelain powder as well as provide a method of exposing and distributing the new color system. Somehow, he did! He designed a program that required the ceramist to pay (unheard of at the time) to learn the “manipulative secrets” of using the Vita powders. He then rewarded them with ten Vita Shade Guides to distribute to their existing and potential dentist accounts. He figured this little ‘investment’ would serve to overcome the continued statement he so often” heard, “We don’t get any calls for those shades.” It seemed to work; is there a dental practice or a dental laboratory that today does not include the use of the Vita Shade Guide as part of its armamentarium?
I do know all of the above to be true, because “that young man” is the Founder of Dental Ventures of America. It was my Dad, Jerry Honstein. And he’s still developing and introducing new life-simplifying products for the dental industry today – forty eight years later. He cannot seem to find a reason to retire!
