But Priscilla and John Mier of JBC and Company in Las
Vegas may be able to ease family tensions a little for
you. They've taken those ugly pink retainers and spruced
them up, for example, with green and red watermelon designs,
spider webs, seashells and starfishes, butterflies and
even the American flag. Very cool.
The Miers manufacture 62 different colors of orthodontic
acrylic resins used in the retainers. JBC is only one
of two companies in the United States that makes the colored
resins, which they sell to orthodontists.
Mier says their company did approximately 12,000 retainers
in 1999 under its second company, Cypress Orthodontic
Appliances. Customers either come in with their own designs,
or she works something up for them. One of Mier's most
unusual designs included the use of the eye of a peacock
feather, which she embedded into the resin.
"I wanted to create a headache," Mier jokingly
says of the amount of patience it took. "Now that
dental offices are offering different colors for retainers,
this allows for more patient involvement,"
Mier says that only 20 percent of the dentists today
opt to use traditional pink retainers.
The Miers' third company is Walstib Orthodontic Models,
which is run by their daughter, Bethany, and her husband,
Matthew Hackley. They make plaster molds for dentists.
Before coming to Las Vegas two years ago, the Miers operated
a lab in Yorba Linda, Calif., for 26 years. Now they are
located in a 1,800 square-foot facility, especially equipped
with a fire and waterproof room where they make various
colored bead resins.
Mier says projected sales for 2000 should be approximately
$750,000.
JBC sells its acrylic resin products and orthodontic
appliances worldwide. Company literature states that 90
percent of all orthodontic appliance work is processed
within 48 hours.
For information, contact: JBC and Company, 6280 S. Valley
View Blvd., #122, Las Vegas, NV. 89118-3810. Phones: 1-888-521-9488.
Fax: (888) 830-3088.
|