The Greatest (Dental) Show on Earth!!!
BY DAVID KRESSEL, MARCH 27, 2007
Last week, Cologne Germany was host to the International Dental Show (IDS). This is the world's premier dental trade show, drawing 80,000 people to the Kolnmesse, one of the world's largest convention centers, every two years. Attendees included dentists, dental lab owners/technicians, distributors, and manufacturers. As we heard over and over again from US attendees, a show like this would be welcome in the US, as a replacement for the dozens of smaller shows organized by state, region and subspecialty. There were too many interesting companies to highlight them individually, but there were a few themes that emerged from the show.
Many (model) scanning and (coping) milling companies exhibited. Many of the scanners were private labeled versions of the Smart Optics scanner. With the number of scanners being introduced, prices should fall to the $10,000 range in the near future. Within "milling" there is a bifurcation between 3D printing and true milling. Milling's advantages are that it's cheaper and all materials can be milled. 3D printing allows for infinitely complex geometries, and is more scaleable. For now, zirconia can only be milled.
As an example of how limitless the possibilities are for 3D printing, here is some artwork created with the process.
More companies are introducing implants as a secondary business, such as Weiland and BEGO, two "coping" companies that now sell implants. The lines continue to blur between "implant" companies and what could more broadly be termed "dental restoration" companies.
We were under the impression that more intraoral scanning products were going to be introduced at the show, but 3M's Brontes system, locked in a cage, was the only one exhibited. From this it could be assumed that this class of scanners is not yet ready for prime time.
