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In its second staging ever, Plastics Technology’s Hot Shots injection molded parts competition was taken home by Ultradent. The Utah-based company’s Umbrella cheek retractor was recognized by voters as the top entrant in both the Technical Sophistication and Achievement in Molding Economics/Efficiency categories. 

Used for procedures that require clear access to a patient’s mouth, whether it’s teeth whitening or surgeries, the PP part must flexible enough for easy insertion and patient comfort, but robust enough to hold a patient’s mouth open and function as a living hinge.

The two-component part is molded by Ultradent on a 350-ton Arburg press with a secondary injection unit from Mold Masters. The part itself features challenging-to-mold thin-to-thick sections, and the tool has complex cavities and cores, including an ejector plate that must hold and rotate the part for overmolding.

A trio from Ultradent’s molding and engineering team (pictured below) was on hand to accept the awards at the PTXPO (March 28-30; Donald E. Stephens Convention Center; Rosemont, Ill.). The runner up in both categories was Bockatech’s EcoCore insulated, recyclable, reusable cups. Check out a future issue of Plastics Technology to read an article about Ultradent’s winning part, and all the finalists in the Hot Shots 2023 competition.