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today Show Review for IDS 2017

SHOW REVIEW industry “We have been, are and will continue to be endo” An interview with Arjan De Roy, VDW © Marc Chalupsky, DTI © Marc Chalupsky, DTI (cid:132) Every dentist wants to perform safe and efficient endodontic treatment to preserve patients’ teeth for as long as possible, but how can root canal ther- apy be easily integrated into general everyday practice? With almost 150 years of experience in endodon- tics, VDW provides an impressive range of coordinated solutions. today international had the pleasure of inter- viewing Arjan De Roy, Commercial Development Director of VDW regard- ing the company’s endodontic focus, its new products at IDS 2017, and VDW’s future position within the Dentsply Sirona family. VDW will soon be celebrating its 150th anniversary. How does this im- pressive achievement feel? It feels great. You know, VDW was established in 1869, in the same year as the postcard was introduced in Eu- rope. Imagine a world today without postcards; imagine a world today with- out endodontics. In contrast to post- cards, endodontics is more up to date than ever. Patient awareness of the im- portance of retaining one’s own teeth is increasing. At the same time, we have seen a growth in treatment op- tions to preserve them. While we have indeed seen a larger variety in endodontic treatments, general dentists have still not inte- grated endodontic treatment into their daily practice routine. We know the hurdles and insecu- rities of the old endodontic days. In general, dentists are trained at univer- sities and there perform a certain number of endodontic treatments suc- cessfully, but they do not feel confi- dent enough to do so later on in their offices. Our solutions always seek to make treatment as safe, efficient and predictable as possible. If one consid- ers the greatest cost factor in the den- tal practice, it is the time spent in the chair. Dentists want to treat as many patients as possible. Our solutions save time in endodontic care. Our one- file system for preparation, irrigation activation solution, reliable gutta-per- cha obturation and post-endodontic products are all designed for one rea- son: success in endodontic treatment. If the dentist’s success rate goes up and his or her confidence increases, he or she will attract more patients, whom he or she can then treat in less time. With successful endodontic treatment, dentists contribute to pa- tients’ overall health. What is even bet- ter: they build up a reputation as suc- cessful dentists. Dentists who save a root canal usually earn their patients’ confidence. We have seen this over and over again. Some dentists may not know that VDW was acquired by DENTSPLY in the late 1990s. Today, Dentsply Sirona is the largest dental company world- wide with a considerable portfolio in endodontics. It is not a secret that VDW belongs to Dentsply Sirona. At the same time, we are separate to Dentsply Sirona. We have our roots in Germany and we have been focused on endodontics for almost 150 years. I know about the ru- mours about the company being inte- grated, but we conducted a thorough analysis over the past year that rec- ognised that VDW is a well-known brand. We asked our customers a sim- ple question: what do you associate with VDW? The finding: VDW offers a strong brand experience for all of them. Our products have exceeded their ex- pectations. Our vision of easy and effi- cient endodontic treatment will remain as much a part of the VDW brand as our location in Munich. We have been, are and will continue to be endo. So, we will not see VDW being inte- grated into any of the Dentsply Sirona communications? There will not be a joint endodontics booth in the near future? We will continue to be VDW, the established endodontics brand from Munich. We will have our own VDW 26 37th International Dental Show 2017 booth and position ourselves inde- pendently at every trade fair we at- tend. I cannot emphasise this enough. The VDW team is committed to work- ing every day for the benefit of our customers and this requires clarity on the future direction—for our customers and our team. In the past, we managed to clearly distinguish VDW from Dentsply Sirona, and this will con- tinue in the years to come; we will not advertise VDW as part of Dentsply Sirona. We will continue doing what we are best at: offering innovations for endodontics from Munich to the world. In markets in which both Dentsply Sirona and VDW can benefit from each other, we will certainly use the opportunity to ensure our custom- ers receive the perfect solution of products and support. Which are some of the main markets in which VDW wishes to pursue growth? Naturally, we have a strong posi- tion here in Europe, so this is the mar- ket in which we want to expand first. The western and northern European countries have huge potential for growth. Within the Asia-Pacific region, we hold a strong position in China. In Latin America, we are continuously improving our market position. This region is also a prime example of our partnership with Dentsply Sirona. We use its infrastructure, such as the lo- gistics and product registration pro- cesses, to offer our solutions. This is another illustration of our commit- ment to serving our customers with ease and efficiency. Glide path management has been a much-discussed topic among den- tal professionals. With R-PILOT, VDW has integrated reciprocating motion into glide path preparation instru- ments. Can R-PILOT only be used with RECIPROC? R-PILOT is completely separate from RECIPROC, but it provides recip- rocating motion. RECIPROC remains a one-file system. If one looks at the whole market, over 90 per cent of root canal preparations are still done with glide path management. With all the uncertainties that occur when using hand files and rotary instruments for glide path management, we wanted to offer reciprocating motion in this re- gard. In fact, we are the first company to provide this kind of product. The dentist can then continue the prepara- tion with his or her preferred file sys- tem. Personally, I would recommend using RECIPROC then to do so. RECIPROC direct is the first contra- angle handpiece with reciprocating motion. Where does the handpiece fit within your product portfolio? Reciprocating motion has been a great success for VDW. It comes as no surprise to us that we have seen an in- creasing number of competitors join- ing this revolution, often at lower costs. VDW wanted to ensure that reciprocat- ing motion would be accessible to more dentists. The VDW.CONNECT Drive and VDW.GOLD RECIPROC remain the best solutions for reciprocating motion, but for those dentists hesitant to make the initial investment, we recommend starting with RECIPROC direct. It al- lows for easy, yet efficient, familiarisa- tion with all the benefits of reciprocat- ing motion. RECIPROC has been a true success story in endodontics. With RECIPROC blue, VDW went one step further: the latest generation of the single-file

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