Business as usual...

If you build it... will they come? In the 100-year history of the International Dental Show celebrated in March, the answer has always been a resounding yes. But in the immediately post-COVID world of trade exhibitions and events the world over, nothing is any longer a given.

By Joseph Allbeury

Certainly there was no shortage of dental companies to exhibit - in fact, 1,788 companies exhibited from 60 countries - but would the traditionally huge number of visitors once again return?

Travel restrictions were still in place for countries like China, air travel remains hellishly expensive, many people are still worried about getting sick while others are taking a wait a little longer and see approach.

For me, my personal mental health rehabilitation journey is always buoyed by repeating experiences I enjoyed preCOVID in the post-COVID world. Hence, when I booked my ticket, I had a lot riding on IDS returning as a tour de force - after all, this event is the greatest dental show on earth, right?

Fortunately, I was relieved, elated in fact, to see that the IDS experience has returned as amazing as ever!

The party we always throw on the night before IDS begins for anyone from Australia and New Zealand to attend went off without a hitch. The beer hall we always use as the venue was even staffed by the same surly waiters from four years prior. And we pulled a respectable crowd of our own.

Nothing like the main event, however.

In 2023, IDS succeeded in attracting 120,000 visitors from 162 countries to the Cologne fair grounds to see the latest and greatest that dentistry has to offer. It was packed! Covering 180,000 square metres, the 40th edition of the event in its 100th year didn’t disappoint. The last full size event in 2019 pulled an additional 40,000 people, but for all intents and purposes apart from that, it was bigger [10,000 square metres bigger] and better than ever... with wider aisles and the brand new Hall 1 with high ceilings similar to what we see at exhibition halls in Australia.

And all the halls were packed with everything dental has on offer - the best, the worst, the latest, the greatest. Home!

By the end of it, I didn’t even mind overpaying by around 400% for a very average hotel room. After all, that’s all part of the IDS experience.

Face-to-face, live and in person conferences and trade shows have survived COVID and returned in force as one of the most loved components of the dental world where you can meet up with friends and network with colleagues, learn and share experiences across the profession.

Our own Digital Dentistry & Dental Technology 2023 event is being staged in Sydney on June 2-3 and is a great way to see the latest tech from IDS and to catch up with your friends and colleagues for some fun while enjoying a first class education program. I hope to see you there!

Joseph Allbeury, Editor and Publisher

H3D is an Australian PhD research spinout whose mission is to make custom-fit medical devices accessible for everyday people through their AI CAD product, AutoDesign. Based in Copenhagen, H3D is developing dental AI CAD in partnership with Modern Dental Pacific and Andent. H3D’s entry into dental follows their strong success in the audio industry where they have become the AI CAD market leader. Mimicking their successful approach in Audio, H3D are focusing on dental labs rather than clinics. The company’s motto is “built with labs, for labs” and there is a strong emphasis on quality. This is welcome news for dental labs, who have been increasingly neglected as dental CAD companies prioritise clinics and chairside. “Labs are the gold standard in terms of quality levels and our ambition is to create the world’s best AI CAD, so partnering with them was a natural choice for us,” said Damian Png, Director of the Dental Business Unit. H3D’s AI CAD boasts an order acceptance rate of >90% in the audio market, enthusiastic product reviews and a 100% customer retention rate. They work with iconic brands, such as Sennheiser, Amplifon and Formlabs. “H3D’s AI CAD designs look very promising - high quality standards, fast turnaround times and competitive pricing,” explained Matt Smith, General Manager at Andent. Labs see H3D’s AI CAD as a solution to the labour shortage of CAD technicians, which will ultimately help them scale their businesses. Currently, design takes a CAD technician 10-20 minutes per order. However, there is an industry-wide shortage of CAD technicians, so labs are forced to reject new business. “H3D’s AI CAD has the potential to be hugely impactful for our industry. It will enable us to significantly increase our production and overcome the capacity issues caused by the shortage of CAD designers. It will also facilitate the transition from thermoformed to digital splints, resulting in better quality products for dentists and patients,” said James Squirrell, CEO of Modern Dental Pacific. With H3D’s AI CAD, 100s of orders can be processed within 5 minutes. It’s so simple to use that it can be operated any lab staff. As the dental industry continues to embrace digital dentistry, H3D sees AI CAD further accelerating the trend towards intraoral scanners and 3D printing. “We’re regularly approached by 3D printing companies, IoS companies and resellers. For them, CAD is holding back the industry, so solving this bottleneck is hugely important,” said Iain Mcleod, CEO at H3D. H3D’s AI CAD for splints will be released in Q3 2023, with crowns, dentures and aligners following shortly. The company is currently accepting expressions of interest for their Innovators program (visit https://tinyurl.com/53nvncz7), which provides early access to the AI CAD product, as well as discounted pricing. For more info, visit www.h3d.ai