Implant Tribune Asia Pacific Edition

IMPLANT TRIBUNE The World’s Implantology Newspaper · Asia Paciﬁ c Edition Published in Hong Kong www.dental-tribune.asia Vol. 15, No. 4 “Our approach to business remains uniquely different in the implant segment” An interview with MegaGen CEO Dr Kwang-bum Park By Claudia Duschek, DTI MegaGen is one of the fastest- growing dental implant companies in the world market. After the South Korean company only re- cently announced that it was dis- continuing its business relationship with a global implant manufac- turer, Dental Tribune had the op- portunity to speak with Dr Kwang- bum Park, CEO of MegaGen, at the International Dental Show (IDS) about the company’s participation at the trade fair and its future global market strategies. Dental Tribune: IDS is a unique opportunity for dentists to experi- ence implant products live and gain an overview of the latest develop- ments in the ﬁ eld. What are your expectations for IDS? Dr Kwang-bum Park: We have always viewed IDS as the key loca- tion to meet international part- ners and to present our new prod- ucts to the market. This year, we look forward to getting to know more dentists and involving them in our MegaGen family. In 2017, we continue to highlight our AnyRidge implant system, which has seen increasing demand from patients for instant smiles. In ad- dition, we are promoting R2GATE, a digital solution for dentists, bringing a streamlined digital ap- proach to implant treatment ever closer. Dental implants were ﬁ rst intro- duced in South Korea about 20 years ago. How has implantology evolved in the country since then? The growth of implant den- tistry in South Korea has been a phenomenon that can be equalled only in a few other countries, such as in Italy and Israel. High-level implant surgery is the standard in South Korea, and unless strong contra-indications are present, implants are the absolute stand- ard for replacing missing teeth. Dental care in general is a high-pri- ority health care consideration in all South Korean families. It is widely available and the average overall dental health of the popu- lation is good. Today, MegaGen exports its prod- ucts to 90 countries worldwide, in- cluding many European countries. How important is this market for you, and how do your products per- form in this market? development, and how does Mega- Gen intend to compete in the future? MegaGen is growing strongly as an independent company. We remain focused on customer sat- isfaction, product development and better patient outcomes. We have clinicians at the top of our company who are still practising implant dentistry, which gives us a unique insight into what den- tists need to improve their and their patients’ lives. We believe that the implant business is going to continue to grow as implants become the standard of care for tooth replacement worldwide. We have found that our approach to business remains uniquely differ- ent in the implant segment. We re- main open, of course, to discuss- ing possible future partnerships if we ﬁ nd compatible partners with whom we can establish a clear and good understanding. Meanwhile, we will continue to develop our implant product line and the digi- tal approach, which we believe is the future for reliable patient out- comes. Our strong partners world- wide stand with us and we foresee continued excellent growth for our company. Dr Kwang-bum Park, CEO of MegaGen As it is one of the world’s larg- est implant markets, the Euro- pean market remains our greatest export market. We have been ac- tive in Europe for ten years now and are still experiencing a growth of over 20 per cent on av- erage in this market, which we ex- pect to see continue over the com- ing year. Our largest expected growth, however, is in the newer markets, with key product launches in India and Japan, Russia and other countries of the Common- wealth of Independent States last year. We expect to rival our Euro- pean market share across the Asian, Middle Eastern and African markets. We also expect to achieve double-digit growth in the US in 2017. With a number of major company mergers and increasing competi- tion worldwide, the international implant market is expected to change and grow over the next few years. How do you evaluate this PROSEC: New quality initiative for metal-free implantology By DTI COLOGNE, Germany: At the Inter- national Dental Show (IDS) in Co- logne, VITA Zahnfabrik has intro- duced a new specialist network for metal-free implantology, PROSEC (Progress in Science and Educa- tion with Ceramics), which was es- tablished with the aid of the vita- clinical division a year ago. At the event, founding members and ex- perts of the quality initiative gave insights into current research on implant stability, osseointegra- tion and the biocompatibility of metal implants versus ceramic implants, among others. Representing the initiative, PROSEC President Dr Jörg Strub said that PROSEC aims to act as a PROSEC President Dr Jörg Strub bridge between science and prac- tice. Its goals are to foster close collaboration between specialist organisations, practitioners and science in order to establish high-quality standards in metal- free implantology and thereby improve the well-being of patients. On its website, www.prosec. network, the organisation will present the latest ﬁ ndings, pro- mote joint clinical studies and provide a platform for expert dis- cussion, he said. In addition, an an- nual conference will serve to docu- ment the progress in the ﬁ eld and share knowledge on a global scale. “It is great fun for me to ac- company the ‘ceramics project’ scientifically,” panel speaker and founding member Prof. Wilfried Wag- ner, Director of the Depart- ment of Oral, Ma x i l lofacia l and Plastic Sur- gery at the Mainz University Medical Center in Germany, said. Concerning the organisation’s scientiﬁ c approach, he said that, ideally, knowledge will be gath- ered in a three-stage process. First, all data in the ﬁ eld will need to be collected and edited, before new data can systematically be accu- mulated in ﬁ eld research and ran- domised studies, which will form the second and third stages of the process.

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