Dentaltown May 2017 - 14

professional courtesy
column

The Future of Dentistry
I was fortunate to be one of the 155,000 dental
professionals from 157 countries who descended on
Cologne, Germany, for International Dental Show
2017-the largest dental meeting on the planet. Try to
imagine 2,305 exhibitors spread out through multiple
buildings with a total exhibit space of 1.75 million square
feet-the equivalent of 30 football fields! I managed to
walk more than 45 miles covering the show.
The physical scale of this event speaks volumes to its
importance in our profession. This is the perfect window
into the present and future of dentistry around the
world. This month I will address the major technology
themes coming out of the show.
Three-dimensional printers made the biggest
impact on my time at the show because they've exploded
in number and capabilities. For many years, few 3-D
printers in the market could print basic wax patterns,
models or surgical guides. At this year's show the printer
vendors were extremely busy, and the displayed materials
made it clear that we'd be printing long-term restorations
and removable prostheses in the coming year. These
solutions may not be commonplace out of the gate, but
they imply a dental future where lab-fabricated items
could be created on demand in your office.
The technology of now is milling and the options
are too numerous to list; needless to say, a milling option
exists for any size office or dental lab. It's clear that
milling will continue to dominate in the near future
simply because any dental material can be milled, and
the material's consistency is unrivaled. The primary
criticism of milling is the material waste. A crown
manufactured through digital printing may only require
1/10 of the material that would be used milling a single
block. The increased competition
from the additional milling materials
available may mitigate some of the cost

differences associated with these two manufacturing
methods. However, when it comes to surgical guides
and models, I think printing is already the winner.
The single best option for replacing
a missing tooth is an implant.
Hundreds of companies
now manufacture and
sell these little marvels with an endless number of
Dr. Thomas Giacobbi's latest
unique design
"Townie News Wire" video walks
viewers through the some of
features.
the most noteworthy items and
Implants are
innovations that were on display
not new techat IDS 2017. To watch it, head to
nology in the
dentaltown.com and look under
vein of milling
"Recent Videos." To read even
and printing;
more about the new products
r a t h e r, t h e y
introduced at the show,
Dentaltown's IDS Product
are approaching
Showcase begins
commodity status
on page 114.
and will be forced to
compete on the battleground of price. This may
initially sound like good news, but
the long-term concern will be the viability of these
numerous companies. Many clinicians will learn the
hard way that repairing an inexpensive implant is
impossible when the company that made it has gone
out of business. This is the other by-product of having
so many companies in the same space-consolidation
is inevitable.
The IDS always provides a broad view into the
present and future of our profession, and the attendance
this year suggests that we have a very bright future.
If you have a dental bucket list, put this meeting at the
top -next to Townie Meeting. of course! ■

Oh, Yes,
IDS!

Share your comments about this column online!
To weigh in on Dr. Giacobbi's column, go to dentaltown.com
and click "Read Current Issue." If you have a question, email him
at tom@farranmedia.com or hit him up on Twitter: @ddsTom.

by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, editorial director, Dentaltown magazine

14

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown May 2017
