Digital Evolution a resounding success

Dental Axess has continued its strong lead on educating dental laboratories on evolving to the new era of digital dentistry. Its annual Digital Evolution conference was yet again a success for the Dental Axess customer group with over 80 laboratory owners, dental technicians and manufacturing partners from Australia and New Zealand participating.

The two-day program was organised to provide dental laboratories with knowledge and the opportunity to discuss the latest industry trends and developments with local and international experts in the field of CAD/CAM as well as an opportunity to interact with colleagues.

New 3Shape Dental System 2014 launched

Among the highlights of the program was the launch of and training for the 3Shape Dental System 2014, where delegates had the opportunity to learn about the new features and applications of the software. Dental System 2014 focuses strongly on optimised design workflows and improved usability while providing new digital solutions that significantly increase the levels of productivity for the dental laboratory. The addition of Splint Designer to the 2014 upgrade was demonstrated by Mr Robert Hill, clearly presenting a new business opportunity for dental labs as well as a complete live demonstration of the 3Shape Implant Studio for implant planning and surgical guides.

Incorporated in the program was a training session where all participants were trained on the intraoral scanning workflow in preparation to become a 3Shape TRIOS Ready laboratory. The TRIOS Ready laboratory program certifies 3Shape digital laboratories to be fully prepared to receive and process digital impressions sent from dental clinics using TRIOS intraoral scanning solutions. The program was designed to enable all laboratories in attendance to receive the theoretical training and demonstrations required for the accreditation which is followed up with a practical workflow component in order to master the complete digital workflow. Certification of laboratories commenced last year and already a number of laboratories have completed the final practical exercise to become TRIOS Ready.

Future directions for 3Shape

Additional highlights from Day 1 included a presentation from Mr Flemming Thorup, president and CEO of 3Shape, providing an insight and future direction of the company as well as a presentation from specialist prosthodontist Dr Philip Tan summarising the clinical perspective of intraoral digital impressions complete with case presentations using the TRIOS intraoral scanning solution. The presentation concluded with a live demonstration of the TRIOS Color Pod complete with the new Shade Definition and HD photo features.

Mr Terry Whitty presented new business and service opportunities for the digital dental lab through dental appliances such as splints and surgical guides. Day 1 concluded with the popular industry forum, Developing a Successful Direction, with the participation of delegates and industry experts discussing topics surrounding digital workflows, the evolution of the digital laboratory and future developments.

Milling and 3D Printing update

The theme for Day 2 was focused on manufacturing with an introduction to 3D printing technology and an update on milling solutions. The session also included a presentation from the chief software engineer from SUM3D, Mr Luigi Fanin, describing the importance of CAM software in the manufacturing workflow as well as live demonstrations. Mr Fanin described the advantages of custom milling strategies including the ability to change aspects of the finished product from surface finish to implant interface fit.

The conference concluded with a powerful presentation from the co- founder of Panthera Dental, Mr Bernard Robichaud, showcasing industry unique solutions for full arch implant retained restorations and a CAD/CAM anti-snoring device.

New Dental Axess training portal launched

New technology is being developed constantly, together with new materials and digital workflows highlighting the importance of ongoing training and education programs as well as technical support. Dental Axess launched its Training Portal where digital dental labs can select and book one-on-one training sessions with industry experts on a number of topics and or specific indications.

Overall feedback from delegates was overwhelmingly positive "Our customers are at the forefront of digital technology and our objective is to ensure they remain one step ahead and well-positioned to reap the rewards of digital workflows," said Per Claesson, Director at Dental Axess.