DENTAL POTENTIAL Global leader in dental consumables COLTENE, currently in a transition phase, is committed to its highperforming product range while staying focused on the future requirements of developing markets. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the marketing director, Joerg Weis, to find out more.
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a Swiss public company with a long history in leading the dental consumables and small equipment market, Coltene has been the leading developer and manufacturer of high precision impression materials and filling materials since 1963, with the company celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013. Following a series of mergers and acquisitions including, in 1990, that of American company Whaledent Inc., a specialist in products and technologies such as root canal posts and table-top ultrasonic equipment, the company became COLTENE AG. Today, COLTENE operates state-of-theart production facilities in Switzerland, the USA, Germany and Hungary, with all its sites operating as “technical centres of competence for manufacturing”. Marketing director Joerg Weis told Industry Europe how these sites are imperative to the company’s ongoing success: “We are able to develop and produce high quality, market-led dental products and small equipment at our sites across the world, and it is this capability that supports our reputation for excellence.”
Time for transition COLTENE’s strong reputation is a key part of its success too. The company is currently going through a strategic transition phase and it appreciates that it must protect the areas where it best performs, while looking forward to a commercially viable future. Mr Weis continued, “We are working on a consolidated strategy that is best for how we can and will work in the future. We can see how the dental market is changing, particularly in our active areas in Europe and the USA, and we are keen to ensure that we are well-positioned to maintain our positive results.” COLTENE’s strategy primarily lies in focusing on three core product segments – Endodontics, Restorations and Treatment Auxiliaries. Endodontics refers to all root canal and related products and technologies and the company has over a century of experience in this field, providing essential and reliable endodontic materials. Its range includes root canal instruments and rinsing solutions, filling materials and root canal posts, all of which are clinically proven products that ensure successful endodontic therapy.
COLTENE’s Restorations segment is closely connected to its adhesives portfolio and includes a comprehensive range of essential and innovative restoration materials such as its Synergy D6 and Miris2 brands, which are known for combining aesthetics and clinically proven performance. The Treatment Auxiliaries segment sees all the products and small equipment that make daily work in a dental practice easier and more efficient. COLTENE’s range in this area includes Roeko Luna cotton rolls, Surgitip aspirator tips and a complete range of Dental Dam products. There is also a fourth core product segment that is expected to continue to play an important role in COLTENE’s consolidation – its ‘traditional pillar’ of Impression Materials. Mr Weis explained, “The three areas of Endodontics, Restorations and Treatment Auxiliaries are where COLTENE has best performed in recent years but each area is also expected to continue to perform well in the future, in the global territories where we expect to gain. The fourth area of Prosthetics and Impression Materials sits well alongside other areas of our business that offers sup-
