Dental Asia January/February 2019

Dental Profile
A complete, flexible and efficient
workflow
Utilising digital technology through digital
impressions and Sirona Connect not only
benefits the patient, dental professionals
and dental laboratories but also improves
the overall digital workflow.
Dr. Völcker has observed that patients
are now better informed and arrive in the
dental practice with higher expectations.
At the same time, patients also want
optimal aesthetics and a high-level of
long-term stability. To achieve this, the
dentist has to be a good communicator,
particularly in the planning phase, and
equipped with the latest technology
available to offer a complete, flexible and
more efficient overall digital workflow for
their patients.
Dr. Völcker highlighted that the driving
factors for the recent advancements of
the SBU are the patient’s desire for a
safer and quicker treatment. Increasingly,
the factors are coming together in areas
to form complete workflows, resulting in
considerable added value especially for
the future.
“Dentists want their main focus to
be on their patients and less on
technology, material
specifications or hardware and software.
This is one of the reasons we want to
offer a workflow to practices that works
seamlessly. Our digital implant workflow
precisely stands for this,” he emphasised.
Dentists who choose to work with a dental
technician can upload the scan data in
the Sirona Connect portal to produce the
restoration in the laboratory. The data
transfer is safely encoded. Alternatively,
the scan data can also be sent in the
universal STL (stereolithography or
3D printing) format.
“An entire prosthetic treatment, including
all dentists and dental technician aspects,
can thus be planned and performed stepby-step.
These workflows can take a
variety of forms and can combine digital
and analogue methods. Cooperation
between the dentist and dental technician
is changing and becoming more flexible.
I think in the future, an ever-growing
number of digital alternatives to
analogue methods will become available,”
he explained.
Growing steadily
As a company, Dentsply Sirona wants
to grow continuously and considers
innovation as an important factor
for their expansion. With an annual
spending of over US$150 million
on research and development, the
company introduces as many as
30 new products and solutions per year.
“Dentsply Sirona provides solutions
to ensure high-quality aesthetics,
increase patient acceptance and enhance
customer experience. We will support our
solutions and customers through the most
comprehensive clinical education platform
in the industry to assist practitioners in
adopting new technologies and advancing
patient care,” continued Dr. Völcker.
For the year 2019, the CAD/CAM SBU
expects more than a million intraoral
scans in total to be transferred via the
Sirona Connect portal.
Dr. Völcker also shared that the
CAD/CAM SBU has recently launched a
new surgical guide for chairside
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019 DENTAL ASIA 29