Competence in aesthetics
extended to include digital
competence
For the third time, Gernot Schuller (Senior Director
Austria & Eastern Europe) and his team succeed in
drawing participants from all over the world to Vienna.
“Competence in Aesthetics” was held, by tradition, at
the Austria Center Vienna from 10 to 11 November
2017. The key factors of this exceptional conference
include: 1400 participants from 36 countries, 21
speakers from 10 nations and 15 exhibitors.
Digitization in dental technology has changed the
industry in recent years and has also influenced
the orientation of Ivoclar Vivadent as a company.
Robert Ganley (CEO Ivoclar Vivadent) was in Vienna.
In his opening speech, he told the audience that
digitization is a megatrend predicted by reputable
futurologists not only for the dental world. The
question is not whether digitization is changing the
industry, but at what speed.
Digitization and implantology
The conference focused on two areas: digitization
and implantology. For the first time ever, participants
were able to interactively shape the contents of
the event. Ivoclar Vivadent developed an app that
enabled the audience to pose questions to the
speakers. The questions were discussed after each
block of presentations.
Tailor-made digitization
Digitization is entering all areas of dentistry and
dental technology. How high its involvement in the
workflow is depends on the indication and treatment.
Dr. Tim Joda spoke of “tailor-made digitization”. With
this term, he referred to technology that is backed by
human know-how. Together with Dr. Stefan Röhling,
Dr. Knut Hufschmidt and Prof. Dr. Irena Sailer, he was
among the speakers who primarily presented topics
on implantology and the effects of digitization on
implantology and the selection of materials.
CAD/CAM overcomes barriers
CAD/CAM is capable of overcoming barriers of
time and space. It was shown by the clinical cases
presented by the practice teams of Prof. Dr. Stefan
242
Koubi and Hilal Kuday as well as Dr. Florin Cofar and
Lorant Stumpf. In both teams, dentist and technician
are based in different countries. They focus on
aesthetics and smile design from both a digital and
analogue perspective. Accurate shade matching
is key to high-end restoration design; this is one of
the areas that has benefitted from the development
of digital cameras and image processing systems.
Sascha Hein proved this point with his shade
system that is based on luminescence and colour
components rather than on digital shade guides.
“If you are working across distances, you have to be
able to rely on the colour on the photo”, he said.
Smart combination
Semi-digital is the intelligent combination of
analogue and digital tools. Most of the clinical cases
shown were solved in this way, because digital
technologies still come up against their limits in
some circumstances. For instance, digital impression-
taking in the edentulous jaw is still unsatisfactory,
as Prof. Dr. Florian Beuer explained. Similarly, Dr.
Marko Jakovac and Alen Alic pointed out that they
still preferred using an analogue layering technique
for aesthetic restorations in the anterior region. Only
premolars and molars are restored using a monolithic
technique in their practice. Jakovac and Alic work in a
team of three together with a digital technician, who
is responsible for the CAD/CAM applications. Dr. Petr
Hajny from Prague is both a dental technician and a
dentist. He upgraded his practice to be digital and
produces up to a 150 restorations per week as a one-
man team. Digitization has turned a vision into reality
and has become his favourite pastime. Dr. Gerwin V.
Arnetzl also decided early on to go digital. Above all,
he sees economic advantages in this technology.
Dental professionals have begun to promote
themselves digitally
Digitization has not only changed technology, but
it has also revolutionized the media landscape.
Many speakers run their own YouTube channel to
present their own cases and to arouse the patients’
Stoma Edu J. 2017;4(4): 242-243
http://www.stomaeduj.com