CAD/CAM - international magazine of digital dentistry

I feature _ interview Dr Dobrina Mollova _In October, Singapore’s recently opened Marina Bay Beach Resort will become a showcase for everything related to digital dentistry when the first CAD/CAM & Computerized Dentistry In- ternational Conference opens its doors to dental professionalsfromallovertheAsiaPacificregion. Organised by the Centre for Advanced Profess- ional Practices (CAPP) in Dubai, the congress is based on the successful concept of the CAD/CAM & digital dentistry events held in the Middle East. CAD/CAM spoke with Dr Dobrina Mollova, Managing Director of CAPP, about the state of preparations and the prospects of the field in Asia. _CAD/CAM: Dr Mollova, you recently an- nounced that the first Asia Pacific CAD/CAM & Computerized Dentistry International Conference will be held in Singapore. What is behind the deci- siontohaveanotherconferencethere? Our first Dubai conference held in 2006 was an unexpectedsuccessandsowewereabletodevelop the concept further. Over the years, some of our sponsors approached us with the idea of holding a similar event in Asia Pacific. Following the interest, we decided to launch preparations 18 months ago for a conference to be held in Singapore. Since then,wehavereceivedsignificantsupportnotonly from the industry but also from government or- ganisations such as the Singapore Tourism Board, who fully supports our event, and the Singapore DentalAssociation(SDA),whofunctionsastheco- organiser.Thatiswhyweareconfidentthatwewill be able to transfer this concept to the Asia Pacific region successfully. _Preparations for the Singapore conference alreadystartedinlate2010.Areyouonschedule? Preparations are going very well and we will are pushing our marketing campaign since IDEM. Until then, we were quiet so as not to disturb the marketing efforts of our Singapore partners. Surprisingly, there were many dentists from the Middle East who came to IDEM and who intended also to participate in our Singapore conference. _What are the main challenges of bringing the concepttoSingapore? The growth of CAD/CAM dentistry alongside new technology, materials and equipment has seen a rapid integration into both dental offices andlaboratories.Withoutadoubt,digitaltechnol- ogy is becoming essential for every dental practice and laboratory. The question is: are we prepared to keep up to date with this growing industry and are we able to implement this pool of information in our practices without the proper expertise? This will be the main challenge for us. _Are you planning to extend the concept to othercountriesinAsia? OurtargetistheentireAsiaPacificregion,which is much larger than the market in the Middle East. Similar to Dubai, Singapore has become a com- mercial hub for the entire region and, for this rea- son,weareinvitingprofessionalsfromalloverAsia Pacific to come and learn about the promising technologies in the dental industry. According to our sponsors, there could be potential for holding a similar conference in China but we have not yet decided to go there, as we want to wait for the outcome of the conference in Singapore. _How large is the dental CAD/CAM market in Singaporeintermsofsizeandpenetration? To date, we do not have meaningful statistics for Singapore. According to MarketResearch.com, however,theJapanesemarketfordentalprosthet- ics and CAD/CAM devices was the largest in the Asia Pacific region in 2010, followed by the Re- public of Korea. In the same year, the total Chinese and Indian markets for dental CAD/CAM grew by 7.5 per cent. The global market for CAD/ CAM is experiencing doubledigit growth at the moment. _Looking at Dubai, are you able to say some- thing about the impact your conference had on the field of dentistry and how digital technology is perceived? This is an interesting question, as I have just been through the recordings of our first confer- 24 I CAD/CAM 2_2012 “Digital technology is becoming essential” An interview with Dr Dobrina Mollova, Managing Director of CAPP