CALIFORNIA : Premier Stock Doubles on OK of Dental Device
The stock of Irvine-based Premier Laser Systems Inc. more than doubled Wednesday after the maker of dental devices said its speedy new system for filling and whitening teeth has received regulatory approval.
The company said its BluLaze product, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, will sell for $5,000. By emitting light of a specific wavelength, BluLaze can harden fillings at least twice as fast as existing methods and complete whitening in a single hourlong treatment, company executives said.
Premier’s stock surged $2.25 a share to close the session at $4 in Nasdaq trading.
In 1997, Premier introduced a laser that could be used directly on teeth. The product was hailed as a leap toward drill-free dentistry, but the company stumbled in getting it into dentists’ hands.
