2011 Nobel Biocare Scientific Symposium a huge success

Nobel Biocare's recent 2011 Scientific Symposium at the Westin Hotel in Sydney has been a resounding success. Over 700 dental professionals attended the 3-day program which included sessions for dentists, specialists, technicians, prosthetists and auxiliary staff.

"Our 2011 Scientific Symposium has again attracted large numbers of the profession to a central forum to hear recognised local and international leaders in their fields deliver cutting edge information," said Mike Covey, Regional Director of Nobel Biocare Australia and New Zealand.

"Education is an important part of Nobel Biocare's heritage, one which demonstrates our commitment to partnering with dental professionals. We are constantly looking for ways to innovatively deliver this to our customers in a format that adds value to their professional lives. We continually look at the educational demands of the profession and when planning the Symposium, we seek to address these in an appropriate manner through a combination of lectures and hands-on programs."

Mr Covey said that the scientific programme was the result of much hard work and commitment from a dedicated group of dental professionals who share the company's goals of increasing the knowledge base of implant dentistry.

"Dr Patrick Henry again ably chaired our scientific committee," Mr Covey said, "and he, together with fellow committee members Prof. Mark Bartold, Dr Michael Danesh-Myer, Mr Robert Hill, Prof. Iven Klineberg, Dr Glen Liddlelow and Dr Lydia Lim did a fantastic job in developing a comprehensive program that included plenary sessions and hands-on workshops."

Mr Covey said that the faculty for the Symposium included over 30 dental professionals from Australia, New Zealand and around the globe and he could not thank all of them enough for their passion, diligence and commitment to making the event a resounding success.

International speakers included Dr Edmond Bedrossian (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, USA); Dr James Chow (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Hong Kong); Dr Christian Coachman (General Dentist and Dental Technician, Brazil); Dr Bertil Friberg (Oral Surgeon, Sweden); Dr Stefan Holst (Prosthodontist, Germany); Dr Joseph Kan (Prosthodontist, USA); Mr Vanik Kaufmann-Jinoian (Master Dental Technician, Switzerland); Dr Pascal Kunz (General Dentist, Switzerland); Mr Rob Lynock, (Dental Technician, UK); Dr Peter Schüepbach (Scientist, Switzerland); and Dr Eric Van Dooren (Periodontist and Prosthodontist, Belgium). Local presenters included Dr Brent Allan (Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon, Australia); Dr Ian Bills (General Dental Practice, Australia); Dr Anders Blomberg (Prosthodontist, Australia); Dr Andrew Cautley (Prosthodontist, New Zealand); Dr Michael Danesh-Meyer (Periodontist, New Zealand); Dr David Dunn (Restricted Dental Practice, Australia); Dr Wendy Gill (Periodontist, Australia); Dr Glen Liddelow (Prosthodontist, Australia); Dr Steve Manning (Endodontist, New Zealand); Mr Stan Nagy (Dental Technician, Australia); Dr Steven Singer (Orthodontist, Australia); Dr Nitish Surathu (Periodontist, New Zealand); Dr Andre Viljoen (General Dentist, Australia); and Mr Russell Young (Dental Technician, Australia).

"Creating a forum where the best clinicians, technicians and auxiliary personnel can congregate, hear and exchange ideas creates a lot of enthusiasm and energy. At Nobel Biocare, we seek to foster the exchange of ideas in both a formal and informal manner and we believe the format of the Symposium promotes this.

"We also endeavour to layer in a sufficient depth of information whereby all clinicians, whether new to implant dentistry or highly skilled veterans, will benefit from participating in the event.

"As an example, for the first time, the Symposium included a dedicated stream for oral and maxillofacial surgeons which showcased complex restorative techniques including the placement of zygomatic implants. In addition, we included a number of very specific interest and hands-on sessions and the majority of these were quickly over-subscribed.

"We also welcomed presentations from our preferred partners, Ivoclar Vivadent, Vita Zahnfabrik and Noritake which were particularly applicable to the many dental technicians who attended."

Mr Covey said that apart from being an ideal forum for exchanging the latest information in implant and prosthetic dentistry, the meeting was also an ideal vehicle to introduce new products and developments in Nobel Biocare's portfolio.

"Nobel Biocare continues to develop solutions to enhance clinical outcomes for our customers and the Symposium was an ideal forum to communicate information on our latest developments," he said.

"We received much interest in the launch of NobelClinician™, an evolution of our very successful NobelGuide™ guided surgery platform and we were also able to showcase the full potential of NobelProcera™. "Research on the long-term success of our unique Ti-Unite implant surface was also presented, together with long-term studies of the innovative NobelActive implant.

"Opportunities for incorporating the All-On-4 procedure together with other full arch solutions were also presented.

"All in all, we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from all who participated in the event and we look forward to offering similar programs in the future."