DS World 2021, the premier annual education event for dental professionals, finished successfully with 7,000 registered participants and proved Dentsply Sirona is committed to move dentistry forward through innovations. Can you share your satisfaction of what Dentsply Sirona achieved in these days? 

I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done as a team in preparation for Dentsply Sirona World to make it a success. We are all overjoyed that we were able to host this year’s Ultimate Dental Experience as a hybrid event in Las Vegas and reconnect with so many dental professionals from across the industry, both on site and virtually. We continued to show our unmatched ability to develop such an extensive educational program and launch significant innovative product solutions that empower dental professionals. The atmosphere was also particularly special this year with so many people eager to reconnect and we made sure that the evenings exceeded expectations with some amazing headlining performances.  I am especially proud that this year’s DS World marked the disclosure of our comprehensive sustainability strategy and the release of our first Sustainability Report, hosted on our newly launched hub on the Dentsply Sirona website. At DS World we also announced our five-year renewable partnership with Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft organization. This partnership and our $5 million donation will advance the future of cleft care and help children around the world gain access to best-in-class cleft treatment and the chance to live a happier and healthier life. 

As a leader in oral health, we also want to bring the rest of the dental industry with us on this journey to a more sustainable future. We’ve signed on as a Founding Partner in the FDI World Dental Federation’s “Sustainability in Dentistry” initiative, joining GSK Consumer Healthcare, Procter & Gamble, Colgate and TePe, to create a Code of Good Practice, which will provide guidelines and objectives for achieving a sustainable procurement and supply process throughout the dental industry. The partnership will equip dentists and their teams with the tools and resources they need to improve sustainability in their practices, while informing patients about their personal role in contributing to sustainability in dentistry. We were proud to share this important initiative with our customers at DS World. 

Extensive training programs with over 120 expert speakers, over 100 courses practically in every area of dentistry. What message did this huge educational track deliver to dental professionals in these three days? 

This year’s DS World is particularly special in light of everything that’s happened over the past year and a half. Successfully organizing and hosting DS World in Las Vegas once again was a statement of resilience. With well-known speakers, including international best-selling author Mel Robbins and Drs. Shivi Gupta and John West, as well as over 150 hours of educational programming covering nearly the entire spectrum of dentistry, DS World had something for every member of the practice team. Dentsply Sirona is committed to empowering dental professionals by providing the tools and training to help them achieve their professional goals and ultimately provide their patients with the best possible care. I’m confident that this year’s event illustrated once again why DS World is the Ultimate Dental Experience. 

Major announcements in implantology, endodontics, prosthetic digital dentistry and more. Which were the latest innovations launched at the event? 

Indeed, we launched several exceptional new solutions at DS World and introduced a comprehensive restage of our Implants business, including three signature workflows to provide dental professionals with a completely new way of practicing implantology and solutions from scan to crown that perform well in efficiency, accuracy, esthetics, longevity and simplicity. With a complete ecosystem of digital solutions and products – including well-known brands like Simplant, OSSIX, Axeos, Primescan, Atlantis and MIS – Dentsply Sirona is streamlining implant treatments for practice growth and consistent patient satisfaction. Additionally, Dentsply Sirona Implants presented DS PrimeTaper, a self-tapping implant with a tapered design that can be inserted safely and easily. This enables long-term bone stability. The double thread allows the implant to be inserted quickly and safely. A simple drilling protocol, with only a few different drills, supports the workflow.

We also launched the latest generation of our ProTaper file system: ProTaper Ultimate. ProTaper Ultimate’s treatment concept includes three types of files: Glide Path, Shaper and Finisher. This is a perfect example of how we are developing complete solutions for dentists with all the components needed for successful endodontic treatment.

Additionally, we announced the software upgrades 5.2 for our Connect and CEREC Software with new and improved functionalities, and even better performance. In fact, in combination with new firmware, Primescan is twice as fast, provides users with a higher-performing scanning experience and gives users access to new workflows. Based on the validation of the Atlantis IO FLO-S scanbody, Primescan is now the first and only intraoral scanner validated for a fully digital workflow for full arch fixed implant restorations with Atlantis suprastructures. 

More and more patients are seeking out clear aligner treatment and our SureSmile Clear Aligners give dentists a solution that can be implemented quickly, easily with a high level of flexibility. At DS World, we announced that SureSmile Aligner Software users will soon benefit from an update that further enhances the overall user experience and interface.   

At DS World, you also released Dentsply Sirona’s inaugural Sustainability Report (SASB-aligned), including the announcement of a strong partnership with Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization - the project going beyond the traditional financial and equipment donations. Please, share with our readers more about this program. 

I’m very proud to lead a company with such a strong tradition of corporate social responsibility. Over the years our company, together with our employees, has helped people and communities all over the world and participated in initiatives consistent with our vision to improve oral health globally. As we looked to the future, we wanted to go beyond our traditional CSR activities to maximize our ability to create positive change and to inspire a trend toward sustainability across our industry. We established our Sustainability Strategy and just published our inaugural Sustainability Report, Beyond. Taking Action for A Brighter World, which outlines that strategy, our sustainability performance in 2020 as a benchmark as well as our sustainability goals.   

As part of our commitment to improving access to quality oral healthcare around the world we have entered into a 5-year partnership with Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization. Globally, 1 in 700 babies are born with a cleft lip and/or palate. Clefts can drastically affect the quality of life of a child by compromising the ability to communicate and to eat properly but also due to social stigma that can cause anxiety and reduce self-confidence.

We have pledged to donate $5 million to Smile Train and we want to ensure that the benefits of this partnership have a lasting impact. Therefore, in addition to funding life-changing cleft surgeries and providing free dental equipment, we are jointly working on global oral healthcare training initiatives to equip people in local communities with the skills needed to provide treatment and raise the standard of care to the highest level, for the years to come. We are therefore offering free access to our entire on-line catalog of clinical education courses to all Smile Train oral health professionals, we are supporting the development of global treatment standards and best practices for digitized cleft care and we are leveraging digital technologies like our Primescan intraoral scanner to make treatments more efficient and convenient for patients with clefts. On top of that, Dentsply Sirona is also helping to equip and further develop state-of-the-art centers for cleft treatment. 

Combination of scientific programs, livestream sessions, product launches and trade show. Which one of these events you could prioritize as most important for dental professionals at the event? 

I’m not sure that I could prioritize one part of the DS World experience. It really depends on the individual needs of the dental practitioner. We hosted DS World as a hybrid event this year to ensure that everyone who wanted to attend, had that opportunity. One of the benefits of a hybrid event is that participants can join in live or take part in a training later on-demand. Those attending virtually who are registered for the CE programming ticket can also continue to access the courses on-demand and earn CE credit using the DS World app and DS Academy platform through October 31.