Our History
The Making of Modern Dental Laboratory USA
Modern Dental Group found its beginnings in Shenzhen, China 37 years ago. Strong foresight led our hardworking lab through a series of fortuitous expansions, first working closely with distribution centers in Asia, Europe, and Australia—and eventually entering the U.S. market through a group of carefully selected and respected labs. With considerable global resources, these locally-focused Modern Dental Centers have enjoyed growth, special certifications, and awards.
Godfrey Ngai
Director & CEO Modern Dental Group
Relationships to the world
In 1986, our parent laboratory was established in Hong Kong. While working with the top restorative dentists and researchers in the Hong Kong area, Modern Dental Laboratory built a reputation of extremely high quality craftsmanship, which exists to this day. Over time, they grew to be the largest dental laboratory in Hong Kong.
As the Laboratory grew, Modern began introducing their high quality restorations throughout Europe. With an innovative and synchronized manufacturing system, their growth began to surpass larger labs, without losing control over their hallmark – excellent workmanship. In 1986, partners where established in France and Germany with exceptional results. In 1990, the lab moved to a much larger facility in Shenzhen to keep up with the demands of an emerging global market.
In 1997, the lab pursued and was certified in the ISO 9001 quality system as well as the EN 46002 system (the European Union medical device directive of the time). The foundation of these certifications lies in exhaustive record keeping requirements – tracking lot numbers of raw materials through to final patients for five years (typical in the pharmaceutical arena). Meeting these stringent requirements is not mandated in the U.S. market, and therefore strongly differentiates Modern Dental Centers. By meeting this higher level of quality control and accountability, you can have confidence that your Modern restorations are the produced through one of the best laboratory manufacturing systems in the world.
Since Modern’s new facility in Shenzhen was completed in February 2005, it is the largest dental laboratory in the world and houses the largest dental technology school in the world. With a capacity of 5,000 technicians, the campus features a seven-story state-of-the-art laboratory equipped with the best dental technology in the world.
In August 2006, the lab reached another milestone by completing the requirements for the new ISO 13485 – the recognized world standard for quality management in the manufacturing of medical devices. The FDA recognizes ISO 13485 as exceeding its own Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). The FDA is the federal regulatory body for medical device manufacturers, including dental laboratories. They require all domestic and import manufacturers to comply with the GMPs. The only third party method of certifying that these GMPs are part of a dental lab manufacturing practice is the ISO 13485.
As we look to the future with our parent organization, we know that our dedication and collaboration will continue to create the finest dental restorations in the world.