Lab Tribune Asia Pacific No.1, 2017

Lab TRIBUNE The World’s Event Newspaper · Asia Paciﬁc Edition PUBLISHED IN HONG KONG www.dental-tribune.asia VOL. 15, NO. 12 Ivoclar Vivadent hosts successful Competence in Esthetics symposium By DTI VIENNA, Austria: Digitalisa- tion has changed the den- tal industry and new tech- nologies have entered den- tal practices and laborato- ries faster than predicted. Following the dynamics of this development, dental manufacturer Ivoclar Vivadent highlighted this topic at its Competence in Esthetics symposium re- cently held in the Austrian capital of Vienna. For the third time, Ger- not Schuller, Senior Direc- tor for Austria and Eastern Europe at Ivoclar Vivadent, and his team succeed in drawing participants from all over the world to the symposium. More than 1,400 participants from 36 countries registered for the event, which is traditionally hosted at the Austria Center Vienna conference venue. An additional 100 people joined as day visitors to attend the presentations of the 21 speakers. In his opening speech, Ivoclar Vivadent CEO Robert Ganley ex- plained why it is important for the company to focus on digitalisa- tion, a megatrend that has been predicted by reputable futurolo- gists and not only for dentistry. Digitalisation in focus: New state-of-the-art software was introduced at the event. Many speakers at the symposium were pioneers in terms of digitali- sation and have used several gener- ations of devices and technologies and shared their experiences via numerous clinical cases that they treated using either a fully or mixed digital approach. What changed with the advent of CAD/CAM? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this technology? At the event, there was a general consensus that CAD/ CAM is an intelligent tool rather than a solution in itself. That CAD/ CAM facilitates day-to-day work and makes it easier for dentists and dental technicians to overcome the barriers of time and space was proven by a number of presenters who work as a team across differ- ent countries, among them Dr Ste- fan Koubi from France and dental technician Hilal Kuday from Tur- key, as well as Dr Florin Cofar from Romania and dental technician Lorant Stumpf from Ireland. At the symposium, new state- of-the-art software was introduced that in the future will allow users to see different versions of their restoration in a virtual mirror and modify it with a swiping motion, like on a smartphone. A demo ver- sion of the program is al- ready available and was shown at the event. At present, treatment teams may use mock-ups that are milled or printed to give their patients a clearer sense of what their prospec- tive smiles may look like. Dr Irena Sailer and dental tech- nician Vincent Fehmer pre- sented a case in which they offered their patient three different mock-ups to try-in: a perfect aesthetic version, a version with a diastema and another one in which teeth #12 and 22 were rotated around their axes. These digitally prepared mock-ups facilitated the conversation with the patient and made it possible for her to choose her own prospective smile. The mock-up of her choice was then inalised using digital technology. “This is as easy as copy and paste,” said Fehmer. Dental technicians can expand their digital library with every clini- cal case by storing scan data. Over time, this results in an extensive col- lection of tooth shapes that can be used in the planning of other cases. The Cofar–Stumpf team knows how to use the library to their advantage. Both team members have studied the dentition of many patients and have turned the basics of aesthetics upside down when it comes to shape and symmetry: their result proves that the shape of the face does not always conform to the shape of the tooth and some asymmetry may be present—especially in the case of smiles that appear natural or beauti- ful. “It’s all about harmony and indi- viduality and not about perfection in form and symmetry,” explained Cofar. When the team members use their library of nature in the digital planning process, they blend the an- terior and posterior teeth of differ- ent cases. In the process, the teeth are scaled in size but never distorted, because that would affect the optical result adversely. Especially for Ivoclar Vivadent events and lectures, the company developed the IV Events app. Dur- ing the Competence in Esthetics 2017 symposium, the app provided information about the presenta- tions and speakers, and allowed users to rate them using the star system used on social media. The app also gave participants the op- portunity to pose questions to the presenters, and questions of broad interest were discussed on stage. The discussions were moderated by Drs Thomas Bernhart (scien- tiic chairman of this year’s event) and Laurent Schenck (Senior Di- rector of Global Communications and Strategy at Ivoclar Vivadent). US dental software provider ﬁrst to deliver voice-assisted ordering By DTI NEW YORK, USA: The next step in artiicial intelligence advance- ment within dentistry could be just around the corner. Awrel, the dental software solution provider for web, mobile and voice plat- forms, has recently unveiled their Awrel Partner Portal. According to the company, this new technology enables dental supply companies and laboratories to supply their customers with intelligent, voice- guided ordering services for im- plants, supplies and equipment. The capabilities of the new technology reportedly enable com- panies to extend their order pro- cessing capabilities beyond the cur- rent paper-, web- and mobile-based methods to environments that deliver next-generation, conversa- tional voice experiences. Addition- ally, companies will be able to cus- tom label their offerings, deine unique worklows and create com- pany- and product-speciic conver- sational exchanges. “We’re very pleased to be the irst dental software provider to deliver voice-assisted, hands-free ordering,” said Dr Arnold Rosen, Awrel founder and CEO. “With this technology, dental care providers will see improved productivity and quality while suppliers and labs will accelerate their sales pro- cesses. This is a deinite win-win.” The system is designed so that the person placing the order can respond to product-speciic prompts from a voice-powered agent or chat-bot. Each subse- quent interaction follows an in- telligent, protocol-based conver- sational low. After the order is completed, it can be sent via message to the supplier or labo- ratory, or the system can be cus- tomised so that it can low di- rectly into an existing electronic ordering system. “We soon realise that den- tistry could logically benefit from next-gen voice assistants. This is a logical extension of our offerings,” said Rosen. “As a prosthodontist, my hands serve as the tools of my trade. I’d rather they be working to create a great smile than typing orders into a computer or cellphone. With voice technology, my hands are free to work and puts my focus where it belongs—on the pa- tient.” Companies using Awrel’s voice capa- bilities can also provide their customers with Awrel’s ready- to-download texting and c o l l a b o r a - tion tool for HIPAA-com - p liant sharing and the stor- age of messages, images, docu- ments and scans. © Screeny/Shutterstock.com

Lab Tribune Asia Pacific No.1, 2017

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