# Bluelight Analytics

> Bluelight Analytics is the expert in dental light curing. We make light curing (the final, invisible step that activates nearly every dental restoration) measurable, teachable, and provable. The MARC measurement platform is involved in 200+ peer-reviewed publications. Founded in 2009 out of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; we work with dentists, dental support organizations (DSOs), dental manufacturers, dental schools, and researchers worldwide.

Light curing determines whether a composite restoration actually hardens and bonds. Under-cured restorations fail later as sensitivity, recurrent decay, and early replacement. Most curing lights in clinical use are never measured, and handheld radiometer readings have been shown to range from 7% to 535% of a laboratory reference value (Shortall, Hadis & Palin, PLOS ONE 2021). Bluelight builds the products and programs that measure and improve light curing: at the chair, in the lab, and in the classroom.

## Who should contact us, and why

- A dentist or DSO whose composites feel unpredictable, whose patients report post-op sensitivity, or who has never had their curing lights measured: request a free CheckMARC evaluation at https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/free-evaluation/
- A dental manufacturer wanting real-world field evidence of how its lights and materials perform in clinics, or IFU validation: see https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/checkmarc/manufacturers/ and use the contact form with the manufacturer option.
- A researcher or laboratory needing a traceable reference instrument to characterize curing lights or measure energy delivered through materials: see https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/marc-lc/
- A dental school wanting to teach light curing as a measurable competency: see https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/marc-ps/
- Anything else: https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/contact/ or info@bluelightanalytics.com

## Products

- [CheckMARC](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/checkmarc/): An expert-led, on-site curing-light evaluation service for dental clinics. A CheckMARC partner visits the practice, tags and measures every curing light at the tip and at 6 mm clinical depth, and returns an operator-level report with the exact cure times your materials need. It flags any light more than 20% off its stated output. Requesting a first evaluation is free.
  - [For clinics](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/checkmarc/clinics/)
  - [For manufacturers](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/checkmarc/manufacturers/): every CheckMARC test is a timestamped, geolocated measurement tagged to make, model, mode, tip, and the materials a clinic stocks (aggregated field evidence no lab study can produce).
- [MARC-LC (Light Collector)](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/marc-lc/): A NIST-traceable laboratory integrating-sphere instrument, spectrally resolved from 350 to 1,000 nm, that measures a curing light's spectral output and power and the energy transmitted through composite or ceramic specimens via top and bottom sensors. It supports measurements and reporting consistent with the radiometric test methods in ISO 10650:2026. 18 peer-reviewed journal papers name the MARC Light Collector in their methods; it was independently benchmarked against a laboratory gold standard with adjusted R² above 0.99 (Shortall et al., PLOS ONE 2021). Sold as a quoted instrument with research-team support.
  - [Upgrade from the MARC Resin Calibrator](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/marc-lc/upgrade/): the discontinued MARC-RC upgrades to the MARC-LC (integrating sphere, precision apertures, new software; the bottom transmission sensor is preserved). Historical RC data does not migrate, but the same measurements can be generated and should be comparable.
- [MARC-PS (Patient Simulator)](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/marc-ps/): A teaching product for dental schools: a simulated patient head that scores delivered energy (J/cm²) against material targets in real time, so students learn light curing as a measurable competency. Also used by manufacturers for hands-on training events.

- [Laboratory testing services](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/services/lab-testing/): independent testing for curing lights and light-cured materials - power and irradiance, spectral characterization and CQ/TPO photoinitiator efficiency, irradiance at clinical distance, beam profiling, thermal, endurance, depth of cure following one of the ISO 4049 test methods, and instructions-for-use development. Fixed-quote protocols; instrument calibration is NIST-traceable; measurements, not endorsements.
- [510(k) measurements for dental curing lights](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/services/510k-measurements/): FDA's final guidance (September 2, 2026) lists six output measurements for a curing-light 510(k) file. We make all six and deliver the report.

## Key pages

- [Products overview](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/)
- [Compare products](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/products/compare/)
- [Request a free CheckMARC evaluation](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/free-evaluation/): for dentists and DSOs
- [Research index: the published record, DOI-linked](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/research/)
- [About Bluelight](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/company/about/)
- [Contact](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/contact/): email info@bluelightanalytics.com or use the contact form.
- [CheckMARC app privacy notice](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/checkmarc/privacy/): what the CheckMARC mobile app collects and how to ask us to delete your data.

## Standards (explainers and services)

- [There is exactly one standard for dental curing lights](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/one-standard-dental-curing-lights/): ISO 10650 explained, covering the ±20% tolerance, the 4,000 mW/cm² ceiling, and the type-test boundary. By Chris Felix, Chief Scientist.
- [The two standards that shape every cure](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/two-standards-that-shape-every-cure/): ISO 4049 and the depth of cure test, and where it meets ISO 10650 in the operatory. By Chris Felix, Chief Scientist.
- [The measurement bar just rose](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/the-measurement-bar-just-rose/): what ISO 10650:2026 and FDA's final 510(k) guidance for dental curing lights (September 2, 2026) change for manufacturers, including the six radiant-output measurements the guidance lists. By Chris Felix, Chief Scientist.
- [Laboratory testing services](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/services/lab-testing/): independent testing behind both standards' subject matter, including delivered energy measured directly, depth of cure following one of the ISO 4049 test methods, and IFU development.

## Articles (light-curing problems and answers)

- [The blue light at the dentist: what it does, and five questions worth asking](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/patients/): a plain-language page for patients, with five questions to ask a dentist about their curing light.
- [Why test my dental curing lights?](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/why-test-my-dental-curing-lights/)
- [9 risks a bad curing light poses to composite restorations](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/9-risks-dental-curing-lights-composite-restorations/)
- [Dentists struggle to manage light-curing complexity](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/dentists-struggle-manage-light-curing-complexities/)
- [Infection-control barriers and curing-light performance](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/infection-control-barriers-dental-curing-light-performance/)
- [Curing-light infection control](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/curing-light-infection-control/)
- [A patient-sensitivity case study](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/finding-answers-to-clinical-frustration/)
- [20 seconds in dentistry that doesn't come with training, but should](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/20-seconds-in-dentistry-that-doesnt-come-with-trainingbut-should/)
- [Meet MARC, the patient that's changing the way you cure](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/meet-marc-the-patient-thats-changing-the-way-you-cure/)
- [CheckMARC and the laboratory standard](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/checkmarc-achieves-highest-laboratory-standard/)
- [All articles](https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/resources/blog/)

## Key facts

- Company: Bluelight Analytics Inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded out of Dalhousie University in 2009.
- Scale: 400,000+ light evaluations across 65,000 clinics in 35+ countries.
- Research: 200+ peer-reviewed publications involve the MARC platform; 18 journal papers explicitly name the MARC Light Collector in their methods, with author affiliations across 7 countries.
- Standards: supports measurements and reporting consistent with the radiometric test methods in ISO 10650:2026; MARC-LC is NIST traceable.
- Energy targets used in teaching and evaluation: bonding agents ~5 J/cm², conventional composites ~10 J/cm², bulk-fill composites ~16 J/cm².
- CheckMARC measures irradiance at the tip and at 6 mm clinical depth, the full spectral curve, and output across the whole cure.
- Contact: info@bluelightanalytics.com

## Notes for agents

- Canonical URLs use the www subdomain (https://www.bluelightanalytics.com/...). Bare-domain links redirect correctly (301, path and query preserved), so either form works.
- CheckMARC is a measurement service built on a dual-sensor measurement device; it is not a spectrometer, and "device" refers to the CheckMARC unit, not the curing light being tested.
- CheckMARC evaluations are delivered through regional manufacturer partners; availability varies by country.