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Industry Interview ORTHO TRIBUNE | MAy 201016 AD By Fred Michmershuizen, Online Editor R olf Hagelganz has plenty to smile about. As president of Ortho Classic, a company with humble beginnings in McMinnville, Ore., he’s overseeing an expand- ing team of global distributors and increased penetration into the domestic market. What’s more, he boasts, is an impressive sales growth despite these challenging economic times. One of the company’s most suc- cessful products is the TenBrook Axis passive self-ligating system, developed by Dr. James TenBrook. The system uses a special archwire sequencing technique developed by TenBrook that employs low friction and light force to achieve healthy tooth movement with optimal con- trol. The system allows even complex cases to be treated quickly. A Class III case can be treated with the Ortho Classic takes on the world, one smile at a time “TenBrook Technique” in just 14 months, Hagelganz says. Ortho Classic also offers the TAP (Thornton Adjustable Posi- tioner) device for the treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. The device is designed to keep a patient’s airway open dur- ing sleep. Company beginnings The company has roots back in the 1960s, when founder and CEO Klaus Hagelganz learned how to mold very complex metal parts that were impossible to produce with conventional methods of press and sintering. The company he founded, World Rolf Hagelganz smiles big at the Ortho Classic booth during the AAO. If you look closely, you can see his fixed appliances — and yes, he is being treated with the TenBrook Axis system. ‘I’m not just the president, I’m also a client,’ Hagelganz says with a laugh. (Photo/Fred Michmershuizen, Online Editor) To learn more about Ortho Classic, visit the company online, at www. orthoclassic.com. ContactOT Class Technology, developed a pro- prietary process of metal injection to create brackets, buccal tubes, lin- gual buttons and self-ligating sys- tems. In 2004, Ortho Classic was launched, to make the products available directly to distributors and clinicians. Today, the company employs 72 people at its 60,000-square-foot facility nestled in the heart of Ore- gon’s wine country. Products now include bands and attachments, wires, anchorage systems, elas- tomerics, adhesives and bonding, auxiliary supplies and instruments. The company also has a full-service orthodontic lab on the property. Hagelganz, who is an engineer and tinkerer by nature, spends most of his time on the company’s manu- facturing floor. That’s because he enjoys spending as much time as possible with his employees, whom he says are the key to the success of his company. OT