Dymek discusses the product and business strategy at Straumann

Please tell us your position and how long you have been with Straumann.
This summer I joined Straumann as regional head North America, based in Andover, MA, USA. My career in the dental industry spans almost 30 years and includes multiple senior management positions. This is an exciting time to be a part of Straumann; our diversified product portfolio offers so many solutions for patients, from replacing a missing tooth with a dental implant to preserving natural teeth for those patients suffering from periodontal disease. Straumann places a strong emphasis on research and development for new products and treatment indications. Our recent commitment to digital dentistry products ensures we will continue to help guide and support technology advances for our clinicians, and their patients.

When was Straumann founded and by whom?
Straumann was founded in 1954 in the Swiss village of Waldenburg as a research institute bearing the name of its founder, Dr Ing. Reinhard Straumann. Today, Straumann is a global leader in implant and restorative dentistry as well as oral tissue regeneration and digital dentistry.

Where is Straumann based?
Straumann USA, located in Andover, MA, USA, is the U.S. subsidiary of the Straumann Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The second largest dental implant company in the world, Straumann currently employs more than 2,100 people worldwide. Its products and services are available in more than 60 countries through its broad network of distribution subsidiaries and partners.

What is Straumann’s main focus? What type of implant products do you sell?
Straumann’s diverse family of products empowers customers with a wide range of solutions to provide individualized treatment for their patients — from placing a dental implant to potentially saving a tooth with a regenerative solution. We are committed to advancing dental regeneration, restoration and replacement solutions that lead to safe and effective treatment methods for patients.

Straumann has built upon its decades of success with tissue-level implants with a commitment to innovation, becoming the only company in the dental industry offering a complete portfolio of surgical, restorative, oral tissue regeneration and digital dentistry solutions. Over the past five years, the company has introduced a full line of bone-level implants, and acquired two companies that have resulted in new products in both the regenerative and CADCAM markets.

Specifically for implants, Straumann now provides dentists with options to address a wide range of restorative needs with both bone-level and tissue level implants. Our breadth of products results in better collaboration between GPs, specialists and laboratories. All our implant platforms feature the industry-leading SLActive implant surface, which provides greater confidence and predictability because it is designed to accelerate integration between bone and implant, cutting healing time from 6-8 weeks to 3-4 weeks when compared to our SLA surface in an animal model.

What is Straumann working on as far as new products to add to your brand in the near or distant future?
As a global leader in implant and restorative dentistry we continually introduce cutting-edge technology, material and design. This fall, we launched another exciting product–Roxolid, a unique Titanium and Zirconium alloy created specifically for dental implants. The Roxolid material allows dental professionals to place small diameter implants with greater confidence by offering increased flexibility due to higher tensile strength than Straumann’s Titanium implants and greater predictability due to improved osseointegration (based on an animal model). The availability of Roxolid increases the options for clinicians treating patients with narrow ridges or small interdental spaces.

Over the past year, Straumann’s regenerative product portfolio has grown, with the clinical use of our Emdogain regenerative material expanding and the availability of Straumann’s first human allograft product. Straumann is the leading implant company to offer dental surgeons and periodontists in the U.S. both allograft and fully synthetic bone graft substitutes as part of a comprehensive portfolio of products for regenerative dentistry.

Our CADCAM portfolio continues to expand, with an eye towards digital dentistry. We offer a broad range of materials for quality and cost-effective crown and bridge frameworks and dental implant restorations. Our strong titanium material ticon helps reduce the general dentist’s reliance on high-noble alloys such as gold, providing a true cost savings in today’s economy. Our acquisition of IVS earlier this year is just the beginning of our foray into digital dentistry, and we’re excited for additional partnerships to come.

What are the Straumann’s business goals, or what does it strive to provide to its clients?
Our No. 1 goal is to enable dental professionals to restore their patients’ oral function and esthetics through effective, reliable, and safe treatment methods.

What makes your company stand out from the crowd?
Straumann’s products are not only built on innovation, but are also backed by solid science. With more than 3,000 published and peer-reviewed studies that support the use of our products—from our implants to our CADCAM offerings, Straumann has the highest number of published articles when compared to any other implant manufacturer on the market.

What does the company feel are the most important concerns/hurdles faced in the area of implantology today?
The current economic climate is obviously challenging for dental professionals. It is important for dental professionals to understand that while an implant may initially be more expensive than conventional treatments, it may be a superior solution delivering better long-term satisfaction, resulting in fewer follow-up appointments and procedures. Every dentist must be conscious of their patient’s financial situation, but it is important to be mindful of the long-term ramifications that can result from choosing a lower quality and perhaps less expensive solution.

While economically friendly deals may seem appealing, dentists should be smart in their implant purchasing decisions. In today’s economy many providers are promising lower-cost alternatives to name-brand implants. However, the less expensive option may not be in the best interest of the patient over the long term. A premium dental implant from Straumann promotes ease of use for both the surgeon and restorative doctor by having one surgical and one restorative kit for all of its implants. This simple, logical design helps both the surgeon and the restorative doctor increase productivity, and save time and money.

Also, far too often, there is a lack of communication and collaboration between the general practitioner, surgeon and dental laboratory. We believe placement and restoration of dental implants is a collaborative process. The roles and expectations of the general practitioner, surgeon and dental laboratory should be established at the beginning of treatment. When all the members of the team are working together and consistently communicating, the results are quite rewarding for both providers and patients. A drop in communication between the restorative dentist, the surgeon, or the laboratory technician can result in frustration, lost time and even an unfavorable result. Having a single kit across our tissue-level and bone-level implant platforms helps streamline inventory and simplify inter-office communication.

What does Straumann do to increase interaction with practitioners?
Beyond our product offerings, Straumann is also committed to supporting clinicians with education and initiatives for practice growth. Each year we offer more than 2,000 state-of-the-art training and educational programs worldwide. We offer courses, user conferences, study clubs, educational events at trade shows and hands-on training sessions where restorative dentists and surgeons can learn about new clinical and practical applications in implant dentistry as well as practice management and marketing tools to grow and enhance their businesses.

Is the company involved in any charities or community outreach programs (please explain if so)?
Straumann works diligently to make a meaningful contribution towards improving the lives of underprivileged or disadvantaged people. Straumann’s global relief initiatives, like Straumann AID, help patients receive implant and conventional dental treatment when economic or geographic barriers limit their access to quality care.

As a company, we work closely with the dental professionals providing treatment. If a dentist assesses a patient to be a hardship case and performs the treatment free of charge, Straumann donates the implants and abutments to achieve the highest standard of care.

For more information, contact Straumann.