Earlier this month, Gaby Bissett attended the Exocad Insights 2022 event in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Here, she talks about why it is key for dental laboratories wanting to stay ahead of the game.
Miles of coastline. Wine and tapas. Cloudless skies. And two days jam-packed with lectures, breakout sessions and networking with lab technicians and dentists from across 45 countries worldwide.
This is what greeted delegates of this year’s Exocad Insights 2022 event, hosted on 3 – 4 October in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Learning from the best of the best, attendees came away from the conference knowing exactly how DentalCAD, ChairsideCAD and Exoplan can streamline, transform and improve workflows.
Introducing the event were Christine McClymont, Exocad’s global head of marketing and communications, and Novica Savic, chief commercial officer.
The pair laid out what the room could expect over the next 48 hours.
From implants to multi-disciplinary dentistry
Exocad’s CEO, Tillmann Steinbrecher, talked through the journey of Exocad since its conception in 2010, also taking questions from the audience.
Michael Kohnen followed, revealing the latest news and updates on the 3.1 Rijeka software releases.
And although lips were sealed over the details of future innovations, delegates were promised that there was a lot to be excited about.
All lectures catered for non-English speakers, with translation devices on-hand for delegates speaking languages such as German and Spanish and Italian.
With an abundance of partner sessions running on both days and discussing anything from implant prosthodontics to multi-disciplinary dentistry, there really was something for everyone.
Ashley Byrne is the owner of Byrnes Dental Laboratory in the UK. He also delivered a talk on people, values and technology during a partner session.
Forward thinking
For him, Exocad Insights was a great investment in his team’s confidence.
‘From our perspective, Exocad is the leading software among dental laboratories,’ he said.
‘I’ve brought seven of my colleagues – which is my entire digital team – because I think it’s really important for them to see the latest technologies and network with other clinicians and labs.
‘It’s nice for the team to have a nice location such as Palma. But they get to see everything first-hand – watch the lectures, presentations and some of them have even picked up some little hints and tips.
‘We are a forward-thinking lab. I think it also gives the team confidence as it’s easy to forget that what we do is at the very cutting edge of things. They can come here and think “Oh yeah, we do that,” and this can be very reassuring and good for their confidence.’
There were a number of keynote lectures, including Sascha Hein discussing the shifting paradigms of shade management, while Professor Guilherme Saavedra and Waldo Zarco Nosti delivered a talk titled: ‘Virtual to reality: the real power of integration in digital dentistry.’
‘I think the opening speeches were really nice and welcoming and the insights from Michael Kohnen – he did a nice piece about the innovation coming up with the new software.
‘The highlight for me was the new Itero integration with Exocad and the added benefits of that. Here, the technicians can see a lot more of what the dentist sees, for example the translucency of the teeth.’
Creating a community
One of the biggest names to take to the stage on the Tuesday was Dr Christian Coachman. Speaking in the morning as his lecture – ‘How digital technology can support your business growth and efficiency’ – he emphasised the benefits of immersing the patient into the world of digital.
‘The scanner is the translator between the patient and the dentist,’ he said.
Speaking to Dentistry.co.uk afterwards, he added: ‘This is my first time at Exocad Insights.
‘Exocad is an amazing company – you can see how they are able to create a community. It’s nice to go to events where it’s not just about the products, but about the community and the challenges that everyone’s facing.
‘It’s good to see the interactions and for me to be able to share my thoughts here – it’s been a great pleasure.’
He rounded off the event with a closing lecture on dentist-lab synergy in the digital era.
Seamless workflows
Always trying to stay one step ahead, Tillmann Steinbrecher said Exocad aim to deliver seamless workflows to connect the lab and clinic.
‘We want to create workflows that are efficient and consistent,’ he said.
‘This is really something that our open architecture platform achieves. It combines different technologies in a seamless way that ultimately provides the best possible activity – in the lab and the clinic!’
Yoan Raimondo, director of digital design at Fixt Dental in Massachusetts, agrees.
‘As a dental technician specialised in CAD design, I really appreciated all the effort that Exocad, their founders, experts and all the other partners that revolve around this software put in place to create a single biosphere.
‘Here, everybody is connected and can create high quality restoration while reducing the time and effort necessary to achieve their goals.
‘Exocad Insights seems to be one of those gathering where you wish you could see more of it but two days means compromise – everybody needs to present their products.
‘I really enjoyed to see that people are really excited about Exocad in general. It almost feels like a ‘trend’ now in the dental CAD world!’
Learn, share and have fun
Dentist Diogo Viegas travelled from Lisbon, Portugal, to attend the conference in order to stay ahead in the world of digital dentistry.
‘We do a lot of work with Exocad so it’s really important to be here so we can learn, share and have some fun,’ he said.
‘My highlight were the lab sessions where they showed us the new software and explained the small details and how this can help us on a daily basis.’
Asked what he has taken away from the two-day conference, Yoan said: ‘I am going back to Boston, to tell my boss to buy an Itero IO scanner, even if we already have one IO scanner – taking NIRI pictures alone is just cool.’
For more information visit www.exocad.com.
