Dental News - Interview: “The journey of innovating the clinical workflow has just begun”

Fred Michmershuizen / DTA

Thu. 14 July 2016

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From June 23 to 26, Nobel Biocare held its global symposium in the world metropolis of New York in the US. The company staged a truly exceptional event with a high-class educational programme at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. As the official media partner of the event, Dental Tribune International had the opportunity to meet with Hans Geiselhöringer, President of Nobel Biocare and Dental Imaging, at the symposium for a short interview.

Dental Tribune International: Has the global symposium met your expectations?
Hans Geiselhöringer: We are extremely happy with the symposium because it has exceeded our expectations in every sense, regarding the record number of participants, the motivation of our team and customers to engage in discussions, as well as the quality of the speakers and their presentations. We have always had high standards at our meetings, but I must say that I was really thrilled by the way innovation was presented not only by our company but also by the clinicians and experts themselves.

In addition, I found the NEXT GEN forum in particular incredible, as it gave us confirmation that we are on the right track to doing more for the younger generation of implantologists. I was positively surprised to see how enthusiastic and open our young clinicians are to working hard with us to move this project forward.

Overall, we have seen at this symposium that the future is bright, and I strongly disagree with some critical voices that suggest that there will no longer be real innovations in implantology. In my opinion, the journey of innovating the clinical workflow has just begun.

With regard to training of the next generation of dentists, what role can or should Nobel Biocare play in implant education?
Education is key. We believe that it is very important that clinicians start the thought process for the clinical workflow early. We have some programmes in place already and will promote these programmes to help and support universities in the education of young dentists in implantology. For example, we support academic institutions and dental students through the provision of NobelClinician Software licences for implant planning and patient communication.

Only recently, voters in the UK decided that the country should leave the European Union. How could the Brexit affect the dental industry and are there any immediate concerns for Nobel Biocare?
This is a question that is really difficult to answer, as the short- and long-term consequences of the Brexit remain unclear. I believe that even experts cannot predict the impact of the Brexit on the industry. From a personal point of view, I believe it is never a good thing to have many separate markets. However, whether the Brexit will affect us as Nobel Biocare directly, I do not yet know.

How has the acquisition by the dental platform of the Danaher Corporation, which occurred at the end of 2014, affected Nobel Biocare’s business?
We have seen only positive effects. The transition into the dental platform has given us new opportunities to develop resources for innovation, marketing and sales that we would not have had without this partnership. Collaboration with other brands within the platform has granted access to expertise that is allowing us to lead innovation in dentistry. We are learning from our colleagues and have gained tools that are helping us to refine our processes and accelerate results.

The new home of Nobel Biocare is a very good one.

The next big occasion in the dental event schedule is the International Dental Show in March next year. Are there even more innovations to come from Nobel Biocare?
I cannot disclose anything yet. However, I can tell you already that there will be significant innovations presented. The potential that we are going to bring to the market will be of the same magnitude as that experienced at the symposium over the past few days. Nobel Biocare will accelerate its delivery of significant and meaningful innovations, each developed with the well-being of the patient in mind.

As the official media partner of the 2016 Nobel Biocare Global Symposium, Dental Tribune International (DTI) published two special issues of its trade show newspaper today during the event in New York. The newspapers can be accessed free of charge via the DTI online print archive.