Editor’s Note: Unfortunately I was unable to attend the IDS this year. Very fortunately, my friend & colleague, Matthew Petchel, was in attendance and offered to serve as my eyes and ears at the show. Here are some of the exciting products he found at IDS 2013.
Walking around the show floor at the IDS, it’s hard not to get excited and geek out at all of the different and exciting new products. Here are few that I stumbled across while looking for espresso and strudel.
Acteon’s new XMIND Unity is pretty much your standard wall mounted X-ray unit except for a really cool feature called ACE technology. This patented feature analyzes in real-time the amount of X-ray emissions accumulated by the sensor, then freezes the image acquisition as soon as it has received enough information to provide a quality image. This virtually protects both the image and the patient from over-exposure, AND reduces radiation by up to 52% compared to standard exposure. Pretty cool if it actually takes an image you can use.
3Shape, Danish manufacturer of the open source 3D digital impression solutions for dentists, labs and clinics, introduced the new TRIOS Color digital impression solution. This new system, which is spray and powder free, sends scans to your PC, iPad, laptop or your favorite lab. TRIOS creates scans that are more realistic and appear more like real teeth so you can see the difference between restorative materials such as metals, composites, enamels, etc. 3Shape claims fast and accurate performance. And judging by the traffic and excitement at their booth, I’d say they are on to something. I remember just two years ago, there were only a handful of 3D scanners Today, I counted close to 15. Sirona is still the innovation leader in this exploding category, but there a lot of followers.
3M ESPE’s True definition scanner really isn’t anything new, but the price is pretty amazing. At a little over 10 grand, you get a great CAD/CAM acquisition device. With a claimed 99.8% fit rate, the technology is sound and like 3Shape, its open source software allows you to send your file anywhere you want.
A consistent innovator, KaVo has introduced several new features to existing successful products. The most interesting to me is the new Diagnocam which uses a new technology in caries detection that claims to be 100% radiation free. Here’s how it works – a light shines through the tooth as a digital video camera captures the context of the image. The video then picks up dark spots and cracks that could be caries. I’m still not sure the market is ready for caries detection, as so many companies have tried to crack this nut. To me, the science is always fuzzy, the studies are somewhat limited and the skepticism is high. But, if it helps give better treatment, then I’m all for it.
3D Systems offered up the coolest thing I saw at the show. You’ve probably been reading a lot lately about 3D printing (that’s where a small, relatively inexpensive printer can print a three-dimensional object out of plastic – like a pen or a plastic cup). In the case of the cup, you would no longer have to buy 5,000 cups with your name or logo on them – now, if you had this kind of printer, you could print them yourself one at a time. Well, here at the IDS, I got to see 3D printing in action. First, I stopped by to see my friends at Sirona where I had my face scanned by their GALILEOS with Face Scan technology. They then sent that image of my face to 3D Systems where they made a USB stick with my head and face.
It’s a mini Matthew
Pretty cool. So what does it mean to you? If you or your lab had a 3D printer, you could make a quick 3D model of a complicated case for patient consultation, or you could even practice prepping on the model since the material feels and responds like human dental tissue. The possibilities are endless.
That’s all for now. I hope to see you at a US trade show or in Cologne in 2015.
About the author: Matthew Petchel is a creative communications professional with over 20 years of experience, on countless projects, in just about every area of marketing communications – video, search engine optimization and marketing, research, marketing & advertising, design, branding, media relations, strategy development and more. You can connect with him via brandtarget.com.
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I am a big fan of collaboration, whether online or in person. As dental technology advances faster and dental professionals have access to increasing numbers of new systems, processes, and technologies, working together effectively and efficiently has never been more important. This is especially true for dentists and laboratory technicians. Inside Dental Technology and the Greater New York Dental Meeting have recognized this and are collaborating to bring ColLABoration 2013 to the dental community.
