In 2009 the Nordic Council of Ministers decided to make NIOM a Nordic Cooperative Body for dental biomaterials and transfer the ownership to national authorities in Norway. From 2010 NIOM is owned jointly by UniRand (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Oslo) and the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services.

 

 

  

 

 
Jostein Pettersen
was appointed office manager in 1972

 

Certification of dental materials

A programme for testing and certification of dental biomaterials on the Nordic market was established, and the first lists of certified materials were published in 1974. Products were tested every year, and the Nordic health authorities required, or strongly recommended, that dentists used NIOM-certified products. In 1992 the laboratory obtained official accreditation for testing dental biomaterials. These testing and certification activities continued until 1998 when the European Medical Device Directive came into force, introducing a new, joint European regulatory scheme for the certification (CE marking) of medical and dental biomaterials and devices.

On 1 January 2004, the CE-certification activity, formerly undertaken by NIOM, was handed over to a Norwegian-registered foundation named NIOM CERTIFICATION. This foundation changed its name to Nordic Dental Certification (NDC) and was in 2011 incorporated in the Norwegian certification organization Nemko. Thus, NIOM no longer has any responsibility in certification of dental products.

 

Testing of dental materials

Today, the Institute maintains its competency in the accredited testing of dental biomaterials, and promotes this activity with manufacturers and regulatory bodies. The provision of an accredited laboratory service to industry, health authorities and other parties remains one of NIOM’s core activities, and test results can be used for certification purposes and to document product quality.

 

 

 

 

 
Dr. odont. Ivar A. Mjör 
was appointed director of NIOM in 1972

 

Standardisation

NIOM has since its establishment contributed to standardization at an international level through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and within Europe through the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN). Scientists from the institute are technical experts and conveners of working groups within the following technical committees (TC): ISO/TC 106 Dentistry, ISO/TC 194 Biocompatibility of medical devices, CEN/TC 55 Dentistry, and CEN/TC 206 Biocompatibility of medical devices. By participation in standardization work, NIOM has had, and still has, a major impact on the selection of methodology and requirements of the dental product standards, and the requirements are often based on results from research activities at NIOM.

 

Research

Research has always been a major obligation at NIOM. The projects are clinically orientated and aim to create new information about dental biomaterials, especially physical and chemical characteristics, clinical properties, and the safety of patient and dental personnel. Results are published in peer-reviewed journals both internationally and in the Nordic countries. NIOM funds a visiting scientist programme to promote exchange of scientists from the Nordic countries. From its establishment in 1979, 85 scientists have visited NIOM in joint research activities with NIOM scientists.

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