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ePaper created 2017-05-10, 16:12:25 | version 1.38.0
Where are we now? From 21st to 25th March, the dental industry once again converged on the city of Cologne, Germany for the 37th International Dental Show, known as IDS (held every two years). The tremendous show delivered an amazing conglomeration of vendors, clinicians, dental labora- tory clinicians, dental hygienists, and dental assistants in attendance from 59 countries around the globe. According to the post-show documentation, more than 155,000 visitors were able to discover “more innovation and a wider product range than ever before”. If you were to visit the IDS website* you would learn that there were over 1,000 new products presented by over 2,300 companies whose exhibits spanned an incredible amount of square metres over many, many buildings. It is hard to imagine that in only two short years that so many new products could be intro- duced, or that any meeting could attract so many participants from all parts of the world to meet, discuss, learn, and network about our chosen industry. For our readership, it should be noted that the major focus was on digital technologies, including intraoral scanners, desktop optical scan- ners, CAD/CAM software and milling machines, new materials, CBCT imaging devices, advances in treatment planning software, scanning abutments, and much, much more. It was almost impossible to travel down one of the crowded rows of exhibitors without seeing new 3-D print- ing technologies—in my opinion, it is one of the most important developments in recent years, and a technology now available at multiple price points. As a student of our industry, the IDS meeting has always been an educational experience. How- ever, the plethora of new products and new technologies can be completely overwhelming, and often is. Just because companies introduce new products does not necessarily mean that clini- cians understand how to fully implement these products or technologies in their practices. Each month within the pages of the various Dental Tribune International publications are well-written articles that can aid clinicians to navigate through the maze, and serve as a resource on the new digital workflow and many other topics. Therefore, to answer the question, “Where are we now?”, the answer is simple. We have that much more to discover than we did two years ago. Enjoy the new issue! Dr Scott D. Ganz, DMD Editor in Chief *http://neuheiten.koelnmesse.net/200/2017/us/products/index CAD/CAM editorial | Dr Scott D. Ganz CAD/CAM 2 2017 03