Exceptional circumstances require exceptional changes: Dentsply Sirona World, the ‘Ultimate Dental Meeting’, took place completely online from November 13 to 20. More than 4,500 dentists, dental technicians and practice teams registered for the over 70 courses in almost all practice-related disciplines. Live surgeries were special highlights that fascinated the audience.
Exciting lectures, inspiring breakout sessions, motivating speakers – the virtual Dentsply Sirona World set a new standard in online education with its versatile program. In his opening speech, Don Casey, CEO of Dentsply Sirona, emphasized the company’s commitment to provide participants with comprehensive support in offering their patients the best possible dentistry. “The first entirely virtual Dentsply Sirona World has sent a clear signal that dentistry is truly essential”, he said. “Dental professionals from more than 25 countries attended to our courses, demonstrating that even in times like these, the dental world stands together and takes its responsibility for a healthy smile of its patients.”
The transformation to a new digital era in dentistry is also determined by people’s daily attitude in their (dental) businesses. This idea is where Simon Sinek, best-selling author and motivational coach, started his keynote at the opening event. He encouraged regularly questioning one’s own daily routines and beginning to look at them as an ‘infinite game.’ This would have the advantage of being able to change rules and help each other instead of getting stuck in old habits; it is important not to lose sight of the long-term perspective. These perspectives can help all dental professionals become even more successful in practice and also gain confidence.
Don Casey, CEO
Virtually brought up to the current state of research
For one week, exciting lectures and presentations were available online and gave an overview of the current state of the art of dentistry. Lots of behind-the-scenes work took place to get Dentsply Sirona World 2020 to its final state and numerous sections were recorded in advance at the Academy in Charlotte. More than 80 people filmed 700+ hours in 12 weeks across six time zones and put together the final program, which is unique in this form. Additionally, more than 70 key opinion leaders were involved and covered topics from digital imaging, restorative and preventive dentistry to implant dentistry, endodontics, orthodontics, as well as hygiene and practice management. One of the most impressive highlights were the live surgeries, one of which was put online every day. Renowned experts such as Dr. Mike Skramstad, Dr. Meena Barsoum, Dr. Douglas Smail, Dr. Dan Butterman, Dr. Farhad Boltchi and Dr. Diwakar Kinra provided an intimate look over their shoulders during implant, restorative and endodontic treatments.
“It is necessary that I continue pursuing my professional development even under the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic in order to keep offering the best possible dental treatment to my patients,” said Dr. Karyn Halpern, participant from Port Jefferson Station, New York. “The virtual Dentsply Sirona World offered much of a live feeling – the implementation was really excellent. The courses offered something for everyone, there were a lot of new things to learn and, above all, many topics on which I could exchange ideas.”
“Again, this year Dentsply Sirona World was a great event – in spite of all the challenges that we are facing at the moment,” said Michael Watson, DDS, dentist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. “This format of clinical education will continue to be a great option for dental professionals, especially those who want to experience this level of presentation without having to travel or close their offices. Others have done webinars in the past, but the level of polish on this program truly shows the effort that Dentsply Sirona has put into making this a quality experience.”
Workflow solutions for greater safety and business efficiency
The online-learning was also a new situation for the lecturers, which they solved with great poise. “Dentsply Sirona World 2020 surpassed all my expectations of virtual education. It was such a fun event to be a part of,” said Dan Butterman, dentist from Centennial, Colorado. “I enjoyed creating content for the event as well as partaking in the wide variety of class and live surgery offerings. The courses demonstrate how dentistry has become immersed in the digital world, and how the digital technologies and workflows have benefitted both dentists and patients.”
Dr. Sameer Puri, Vice President for clinical education at CDOCS, who moderated the main program, saw the concept of the virtual DSW confirmed: “The colleagues have impressively shown that online education works perfectly and offers participants real added value. As a moderator, I also learned a lot”.
“In a year with great change, bringing together our community in programs like DSW to connect on innovative procedural and practice solutions in some ways has become even more important”, said Eric Bruno, Senior Vice President for the Regional Commercial Organization (RCO) North America at Dentsply Sirona. “While we have had to adjust to the market, our commitment to supporting healthy practices so our customers can provide healthy smiles is unwavering”.
Dentsply Sirona’s contribution is reflected in the functionality of the numerous innovations that were presented in the lectures, breakout sessions and surgeries. The focus was primarily on digital solutions. One of these is the new Axeos X-ray unit, which features a particularly large field-of-view and ultra-sharp images at the lowest possible radiation dose.
Primescan, the heart of a dental practice, also received a lot of attention. Thanks to its easy handling, the fast scanning process and its high accuracy, the intraoral scanner offers the perfect starting point for further digital workflows.
“We are very pleased that our offer to host Dentsply Sirona World virtually was so well received,” said Don Casey. “And we are convinced that the participants took a lot of inspiration and motivation to take their practices and laboratories to a new level of quality. As Dentsply Sirona, we will continue to do everything we can to support them in this endeavor. And we look forward to meeting personally again next year with our customers and partners in Las Vegas.”
Due to the different approval and registration times, not all technologies and products are immediately available in all countries.
ABOUT DENTSPLY SIRONA
Dentsply Sirona is the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies, with over a century of innovation and service to the dental industry and patients worldwide. Dentsply Sirona develops, manufactures, and markets a comprehensive solutions offering including dental and oral health products as well as other consumable medical devices under a strong portfolio of world class brands. Dentsply Sirona’s products provide innovative, high-quality and effective solutions to advance patient care and deliver better and safer dental care. Dentsply Sirona’s headquarter is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s shares are listed in the United States on NASDAQ under the symbol XRAY. Visit www.dentsplysirona.com for more information about Dentsply Sirona and its products.
DISCLAIMER
This information and any attachment thereto contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements reflect views and assumptions regarding expectations and projections about future events and are based on currently available information or information available on the date of any document incorporated by reference. You can generally identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “estimate,” “will,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “think,” “intend,” “expect,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” “forecast”, and similar words and expressions. However, these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements and may include statements relating to future revenues, expenses, margins, profitability, net income/(loss), earnings per share and other measures of results of operations and the prospects of future growth of our business. These forward-looking statements are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. For a discussion of such risks, uncertainties and other matters that could cause actual results to differ materially, including risks relating to, among other factors, the market for dental products and services, pricing, future sales volume of the Company’s products, the possibility of changing economic, market and competitive conditions, dependence on products, dependence on key personnel, technological developments, intense competition, market uncertainties, dependence on distributors, ability to manage growth, dependence on key suppliers, dependence on key members of management, government regulation, our ability to integrate the businesses of Dentsply Sirona, acquisitions and affiliations, readers are urged to carefully review and consider various disclosures made by the Company and Dentsply Sirona in their public filings, including in their Annual Reports on Form 10-K and in their reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document or the attachments to reflect new information or future events or developments after the date any such statement is made.
