Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2015-03-04, 10:43:31 | version 1.33.01
I 49implants1_2015 InFebruary,Straumannannouncedthatithasinitiated a number of measures to mitigate the consequences of the recent sudden appreciation of the Swiss franc againstthemajorcurrenciesinwhichtheGroupdoes business–especiallytheEuro.Themeasuresfocuson cost reductions, including compensation adjust- ments,withthegoalsofavoidingjoblossesinSwitzer- land and maintaining profitability at an acceptable level. Since 15 January 2015,the value of the Euro against theSwissfranchastumbledfromaroundCHF1.20to almost parity. Based on a general consensus, Strau- mann does not foresee a significant improvement for sometime. As95%oftheGroup’sbusinessisoutsideSwitzerland (approx.40%ofitsrevenuesareinEuros)and45%of itscosts(productionandoperating)areinSwitzerland, Straumann was among the worst affected compa- nies,withitssharepricesliding28%intwoweeks. “Almostovernight,wewerethrownbacktowherewe werein2012intermsofrevenueandprofits.Ifourkey strategicinitiatives,restructuringandcostreductions over the past 18 months had not been effective, the newsituationwouldhavemeantseverejoblosses.To maintain our current level of employment and to pro- tect our competitiveness going forward, we are an- nouncing cost reductions, including compensation adjustments in Switzerland”, commented Marco Gadola,CEO. All these measures are precautionary and will be re- viewed if the currency situation improves substan- tially. Straumann announces cost-saving Measures to mitigate currency impact According to a report published by the Institute of German Dentists, the costs for dentists establish- ing their own practice in Germany have increased significantly – approximately €427,000 in 2013, whichare5percentmorethaninthepreviousyear. Sixty-eight per cent of dentists chose to take over an existing practice instead of establishing their own.The costs involved in take-over amounted to approximately €300,000. “For medical care to continue at the current high level and to be comprehensive and offered close to the patient’s residence, we need enough dentists who take pleasure in their profession and practise it with commitment and are willing to take the risk of self-employment,” asserted Dr Wolfgang Eßer, headoftheNationalAssociationofStatutoryHealth Insurance Dentists. For Eßer, politics contribute to the uncertain future of young professionals in the country.According to him,thereisnoplanningsecurityowingtofrequent government intervention. In addition, excessive administrative burdens take up time necessary for treatment. Furthermore, practices are placed un- dersignificantpressurecausedbyincreasingcom- petition and the economisation of health care. Dental practice Costs in Germany keep increasing MIT chemical engineers have devised a new im- plantable tissue scaffold coated with bone growth factors that are released slowly over a few weeks. Whenappliedtoboneinjuriesordefects,thiscoated scaffold induces the body to rapidly form new bone that looks and behaves just like the original tissue. This type of coated scaffold could offer a dramatic improvement over the current standard for treating bone injuries, which involves transplanting bone from another part of the patient’s body — a painful process that does not always supply enough bone. Patients with severe bone injuries, such as soldiers woundedinbattle;peoplewhosufferfromcongeni- tal bone defects, such as craniomaxillofacial disor- ders; and patients in need of bone augmentation prior to insertion of dental implants could benefit from the new tissue scaffold,the researchers say. “It’s been a truly challenging medical problem, and we have tried to provide one way to address that problem,” says Nisarg Shah, a recent PhD recipient and lead author of the paper,which appeared in the Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences in February. Paula Hammond,the David H.Koch Professor in En- gineering and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Chemical Engineering,is the paper’s senior author. Source:MIT Coated tissue scaffolds help the body Grow new bone to repair injuries or congenital defects [PICTURE: ©MIT] [PICTURE: ©RISTESKI GOCE] [PICTURE: ©PSDESIGN1]