What was new at the International Dental Show in Cologne, Germany in 2011?

Many US based dentists have never heard of this dental show. It is the largest dental show in the world and is quite different from any in the United States. 

There were over 120,000 participants. There are no Continuing Education classes but many learning opportunities are available in the vendors booths. In some booth there were actual surgeries being done that you could observe and you get every opportunity to get up close and personal with both equipment and materials. There is no rush when talking to the sales people and in fact many booths have refreshments and food available. If you want to experience this dental show be aware that is held every 2 years in the odd numbered years.

So there were many interesting pieces of equipment that I saw. The first and second most interesting items were separated in price by about $65,000.

The most interesting was from Image Navigation, an Israeli company that has developed Implant Guided Implant dentistry (IGI), a hardware and software device that acts like a GPS for both implant training and during placement. A CT Scan is acquired and loaded into the software.

The company provides a special implant drill and a receiver is placed over the teeth that serves as a reference. When you move the drill the device detects where the drill is in relation to the CT Scan providing real time interoperative navigation. Think of it as Flight Simulator software for implant placement. More information is available at www.image-navigation.com

The second most interesting item is less then one dollar and comes from Erskine Dental, an Australian company. Its called Super Daps. They are composite bonding dappen dishes that are incredibly well designed. When bonding agent is placed in the dish, evaporation is reduced and in fact stops it from setting for up to 24 hours.  The Preeben brushes are designed to fit precisely into the wells and help in reducing the evaporation. They are available in many designs to accommodate your every bonding need. More information is available at www.erskinedental.com.

The largest crowds were at the Philips booth where they were showing off the new “AirFloss”, a new product for easy and efficient interdental plaque removal. 

The Sonicare AirFloss features microburst technology which is said to remove up to 99 per cent more plaque in-between teeth than brushing with a manual toothbrush alone, according to Philips consumer testing.

There were many dental scanning units being shown. These were both intraoral and impression scanners.  The benefits of scanning preparations or impressions is that they will reduce shipping costs, reduce the time it takes to produce the restoration along with potentially providing a crown in a box as the restoration will be fabricated entirely on virtual models.

A company called 3 Shape (www.3shape.com) was showing their new intraoral scanner similar to Cadents iTero but operating more like 3M’s Lava COS software. Heraeus has this unit and it is called cara TRIOS (www.heraeus-cara.com) , while Planmeca also has the same unit. Another similar device was from MyRay and it was rebadged by many other companies.

There were impression scanners on display from 3 Shape and Dental Wings (www.dental-wings.com) . These devices are designed to scan a conventional crown and bridge impression. Dental laboratories are currently buying most of these scanners but expect to eventually see them in your dental office. The impression is scanned and then the information is then uploaded to the dental lab where the prosthesis is designed and fabricated.

An adjunct for full arch implant impressions is the PIC Camera from a Spanish company, Picdental. Special black wings with white dots are attached to the implant. The PIC Camera recognizes the PIC abutments and exports the exact position between implants along with the angles and interrelated distances. Along with a conventional impression the implant framework can be fabricated which should eliminate the need for sectioning the framework.

Bien Air (www.bienair.com) had an iPad controlling their ChiroPro motor but this device will not be available in the United States. Also check out Bien Airs new short electric handpiece motor reducing the size and weight of the handpiece.

Another device sporting an iPad was the Picasso Laser from AMD (www.amdlasers.com). The iPad does not control the laser but is used to provided information and videos for assistance in doing diode laser procedures. 

AMD was also showing the upcoming dual wavelength Erbium and Diode hard and soft tissue laser that will retail for $25,000. Look for new Picasso diode lasers in the future.

Syneron Dental is awaiting FDA approval for the LiteTouch Erbium hard tissue laser with a smaller form factor then we in the US are used too.

I did cut with this laser and it had a very nice handpiece and seemed to cut very efficiently.

Planmeca was showing their Promax #D Proface CBVT. The machine produces a realistic 3D face photo in addition to the traditional 2D and 3D radiography in a single scan. The acquiring of the photo is radiation free and is done through the use of a laser scan for the facial geometry and digital cameras capture the color and texture of the face into a 3D photo that can be analyzed as a separate image or combined with the CBVT image.

This allows for visualization of facial features for orthodontic, prosthodontic and oral maxillofacial surgical procedures.

Look for Sirona to be combining Cerec scans with their CBVT imaging in the near future allowing the viewing of the condular position in various restored positions prior to milling of restorations.

I am a fan of using ozone in my office and for those interested in Ozone therapy the healOzone unit has been re-introduced CurOzone (www.curozone.com).  The new unit can use both air from the atmosphere along with medical grade oxygen for higher concentrations (which I recommend).  The healOzone is $12,500. Ozone units are currently not for sale in the US. Ozone can be an adjunct therapy for many dental procedures as it is virucidal, bacterialcidal and fungicidal.

Ozone therapy can assist in caries therapy and assisting in reminerilization along with periodontal therapy. I saw another smaller ozone unit from DentaTec for $5000 but I could not get a lot of information on the unit as all the literature was in German.

Orange Dental was showing a new cordless periodontal probing device with software. The measurements can be viewed both on the desktop software along with a display on the device itself. The disposable probe is inserted into the pocket with 20g of pressure. 

The probe retracts into the device and you wait for the software to reads the pocket depth. The measurement is then populated into the software. This perio probe is currently not available in the US.

A Chinese company, Ruensheng was showing a Tooth Color Comparator. It is a digital shade guide that can measure one to three points and give a response in the standard Vita,Vita 3-D and Ivoclar  shade guides.

For the kids there were these very cute dental chairs and operatory units.

Another interesting device is an implant locator. Think of it as the old guy on the beaching looking for treasure. This device can find the center of buried implants to assist in their uncovering. The device behaves a lot like a stud finder. 

You get a red light that changes to green when you are over the implant. This device is currently not on the market.

Here is a bleaching light with an integrated headset.

Sirona introduced some new dental operatory equipment such as the Sinius delivery and chair units.

The units are upgradeable and are connected to the Internet to assist in diagnosing problems so that the repair people will know the problem and bring the correct parts. 

There is a smart touchscreen  knows which handpiece has been selected and gives you the appropriate options. The chair is controlled with a small joy stick foot controller and has an integrated  handpiece maintenance station.

That’s my rap up of some of the equipment that caught my eye at the IDS 2011. Looking forward to the next IDS in March 2013.