BlueLight Analytics: Exporting Dental Technology Around the World

Global from the Get Go

The team at BlueLight Analytics always knew success in the dental filling market would be found in exporting. Seven years later, 90% of their revenue is from outside Canada and they have a new partner in 3M, a market leader in restorative dentistry.

As JP Furey, CEO, summarizes, “BlueLight’s earliest activities demonstrated a global solution was needed, so our efforts were global from the beginning.”

“We entered the dental industry during a time when clinicians were transitioning from amalgam (silver) fillings to light-cured (white) restorations. Many clinicians were experiencing issues with the quality of light-cured white restorations. Third party research using BlueLight’s technologies exposed a lack of training and knowledge related to the curing of these restorations. It became apparent that there was a need for simple clinical solutions to help dentists to ensure that they delivered the highest quality patient outcomes.”

Eliminating the Guesswork in Exporting

Exporting for the first time is a learning process, and the BlueLight Analytics team quickly learned the tips and tricks to make the process a little easier.

"Each market is different. We have learned to expect the unexpected when shipping goods into a new country. Planning is critical but you also need to react quickly when things come up."
- JP Furey, Bluelight Analytics

“Getting product into a new country is just the starting point, as understanding cultural differences is critical to ensuring strong customer engagement, happy customers and repeat business.”   

Why Nova Scotia?

After identifying a gap in the dental filling market seven years ago through research at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was a natural choice for their start-up operations.

“Being located in the Atlantic Time zone allows BlueLight to easily communicate with customers from as far away as Europe and Australia throughout the day,”
- JP Furey, Bluelight Analytics

“With Halifax being a natural port, BlueLight has been able to develop a strong customs and logistics network, which has been essential in getting our products to market within strict deadlines. Additionally, Halifax’s sophisticated research and academic community allows BlueLight to leverage and hire local expertise to refine and develop new product offerings.”

BlueLight also benefits from Nova Scotia’s educated workforce. More than 40% of the staff hold masters or professional designations, and all have university degrees or college diplomas.

Partnering with 3M

3M, a market leader in restorative dentistry, partnered with Bluelight earlier this year for validating curing light performance and determining the required curing times in a dental clinic with BlueLight’s technology, checkMARC.

“checkMARC helps dentists use their curing lights for the correct length of time when curing resin-based fillings. The lights dentists use to cure resin vary greatly and each model has to be used for a specific amount of time to cure each brand and shade of resin properly. Too long a time could adversely affect the tooth and too little can leave the resin only partly cured.”

“This partnership gives BlueLight a national presence in the U.S., which is the biggest market for the company. This footprint enables the delivery of the checkMARC service to dentists across the US daily.”

What’s Next?

“BlueLight is a data-driven healthcare technology company. Our large database of reference points is growing daily which is creating opportunities for new technologies and offerings,” explains JP Furey.

“Our comprehensive database captures each of the elements associated with a specific activity that is crucial to the success of procedures that account for half of all dental revenue globally. The insights we are gathering are really exciting, and are growing daily along with our database.”

BlueLight Analytics is a recipient of Nova Scotia Business Inc.’s Export Growth Program.