Apr 19, 2023 4:28:41 PM

A Point Dental Lab: An overnight success story, 40 years in the making

How A Point Dental Lab has made an impact worldwide.

Enrico DiGiovanni is a very passionate, energetic and purposeful man. One of life’s characters, his energy and enthusiasm are infectious, making him an inspirational figure. Enrico has become a recognised global leader in Orthodontic appliances.

His business, A Point Dental Lab, is a specialised Orthodontic laboratory in Wantirna in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Enrico launched A Point Dental Lab in 2021. Now, just two years later, the lab is thriving, creating over 650 appliances per month. His clients include many world-leading practitioners across the USA, Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia. It’s a remarkable story that is not quite as simple as it sounds.

An accumulation of experience

Enrico was born in Italy before moving to New York City, where he spent most of his childhood and early adulthood. There he studied dental technology and started his first job as an apprentice in the Orthodontic Department at NEY Dental Lab.

He then returned to the country of his birth, undertook further study at the Giovanni Giorgi Institute of Advanced Dental Technology and started his first orthodontic lab.

Enrico’s Australian adventure began in 1995. Since moving down-under, he has held senior technician and leadership roles in some of Melbourne’s most prominent laboratories.

Purposeful innovation

A pivotal moment occurred when Enrico DiGiovanni first met Dr Simon Wong in Melbourne over a decade ago.

Dr Simon Wong BDSc FICCDE DipLSFO FIADFE is one of the world's leading experts in facial growth guidance (Orthotropics) and early intervention Orthodontics.

Over the past ten years, as the Principal of the clinic Natural Smiles Centre based in Melbourne, he’s been focused on correcting early childhood craniofacial development issues. He is a devoted practitioner for the early correction of malocclusion. His mission is to help children learn correct oral posture to avoid chronic health problems plaguing modern societies.

Dr Wong developed the Postural Orthodontics method for early intervention with foundations from Mew growth theories. It’s a holistic approach that combines clinical intervention with oral exercises that have life-changing health impacts on children that continues through life.

The practitioner and lab technician partnership between Dr Simon Wong and Enrico DiGiovanni has resulted in several designs for the orthopaedic expansion of maxillary and mandibular development, including a mandible device affectionately named the ‘Wong Widget’.

It’s a spectacular example of how a successful clinical and technical partnership can achieve positive health outcomes.

Wong Active Retainer A Point Dental Lab

Image: The Wong Active Retainer, or 'Wong Widget'

An opportunity to affect a more significant health impact

The partnership enabled Dr Wong and Enrico to develop a larger view of the potential for the techniques and appliances they had created. The realisation was the trigger for establishing A Point Dental Lab.

Dr Wong and Enrico began delivering seminars to educate orthodontic specialists worldwide on Dr Wong’s methods and the role of the appliances.

Establishing networks from these seminars engaged widespread support for the launch of A Point Dental Lab. As Enrico puts it: “It was now up to me to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. These practitioners all around the world demand peerless quality. We knew we could do it, so we made commitments, started receiving scans and got to work”.

“Their support of us, in the beginning, was vindicated and has continued. We have a steady stream of new clients seeking out A Point Dental Lab today.

“It’s enormously gratifying to have come so far in such a short time. But more than any business success, it is the dental health and longer-term broader health outcomes we contribute to”. Particularly because we are helping children in ways that will affect their whole lives, it’s very, very humbling”.

Enrico adds: “While A Point is young, I’ve been around for a while longer. Everything over my past 40 years in dentistry has led to this moment. Nothing good happens overnight”.

Mew and Wong Stage 1 Appliances A Point Dental Lab

Image: Mew and Wong Stage 1 Appliances

Sustaining success

“The essential ingredient in sustaining our success is unquestionably quality. We always aim high and never compromise. Delivering faultless quality that our practitioner clients and their patients rely on is the most important thing we do. The consequences of not doing so are too disruptive, time being the object of highest value for our clients".

“When I get a call from internationally renowned practitioners such as Dr Scott Province in New York or Dr Courtney Donkoh in Indiana expressing delight or even a question like ‘How do you do it? – we know we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing”.

Always Dentaurum

“I have used Dentaurum products and materials throughout my career. Today, I consider them to be essential to the quality we deliver. Every appliance we make contains Dentaurum Wire, Acrylic or Screws. Their products never let me down. The materials behave consistently, are highly workable and are the most durable I have ever experienced”.

“For children in particular, patient fit and comfort are essential for patient compliance. The quality of design, manufacturing precision and materials all contribute to this. So, the consistency and workability of the materials are critical to ensuring we can deliver every time.

“The Dentaurum team is incredible too. I rarely need support, but it is instantly responsive and effective when I do. Everything about dealing with Dentaurum is easy and very professional”.

You can’t help being enthused by Enrico DiGiovanni and his work at A Point Dental Lab. The future seems full of endless possibilities.