January 14, 2021 | News

LEIPZIG, Germany: New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that emerged in the UK and South Africa in 2020 show higher transmissibility. And whereas they are thought not to result in more serious disease or increased morbidity, a leading US expert on public health policy has emphasised that the higher rates of infection resulting from the new strains will mean more deaths. Scientists are scrambling to understand the new variants, and they are concerned that the mutations present in the South African strain may pose complications for the efficacy of vaccines and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

January 8, 2021 | Advertorial

The Caries Risk Management (CARMEN) project is an ongoing observational longitudinal study that is being carried out among dentists in four European countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Poland and Portugal. As there is only limited data available on the implementation of caries risk management guidelines in dental practices in Europe, the project aims to describe dental professionals’ adherence to these guidelines and assess the impact of their strategies on caries experience in patients. Here, the researchers present the cohort formation of their study.

January 6, 2021 | News

LEIPZIG, Germany: As a result of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the vast majority of dental practices around the world have been partially or completely shut down at times, and routine dental check-ups have been postponed as a result. Whereas some practices have reopened to offer in-person treatment—albeit with enhanced personal protective equipment measures—others have modified their services to offer teledentistry.

January 5, 2021 | Advertorial

DARMSTADT, Germany: In December 2020, exocad, an Align Technology company, announced the availability of exoplan 3.0 Galway, the latest version of its implant planning software. The new release supports the planning of edentulous cases, including the design of surgical guides.

January 5, 2021 | News

LONDON, UK: A new report commissioned by the General Dental Council (GDC) has found that UK dental professionals are pessimistic about being able to meet expected demand for dental treatment in 2021. The majority of respondents to an online survey expected that the pandemic would continue to limit treatment capacities and that drops in income experienced in 2020 would continue throughout the new year.

January 1, 2021 | News

LONDON, UK: Dental procedures were flagged early on in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as posing a high risk for the spread of the virus. The strict infection control measures in place at dental clinics have helped to prevent the spread of the virus in dental settings; however, researchers from Imperial College London and King’s College London have found that careful selection and operation of dental drills could lower the risk of transmission even further.

December 31, 2020 | News

LEIPZIG, Germany: A team of World Health Organization (WHO) researchers will head to the Chinese megalopolis of Wuhan in January to further research the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. More than 12 months after it was first reported to WHO, there is still much that we do not know about it. The virus made 2020 the most challenging year on record for dentistry. It brought equal measures of chaos and occupational and financial hardships, but dentists and the associations and companies that serve them responded with solidarity, with determination to serve patients and with resolution to stand up for dental care as an essential service.

December 30, 2020 | Business

HONG KONG/HARROGATE, UK: CareCapital, an equity investor focused on the dental and oral care industry, has announced an agreement to acquire global dental implant company Neoss. In conjunction with the transaction, Dr Robert Gottlander has been appointed President and CEO of Neoss.

December 30, 2020 | News

LEIPZIG, Germany: Not all of the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have been negative. Social distancing measures and travel restrictions effectively pushed dental education online in 2020, and more dentists earned continuing education (CE) credits through webinars and online events than in any previous year. As 2020 comes to a close, it seems likely that dental teams and dental education providers will continue to favour online education—owing to the convenience and ease of access that it offers—even in a post-pandemic environment.

December 29, 2020 | News

BRNO, Czech Republic: A recent study carried out by scientists from Masaryk University in Brno has suggested that there may be a link between new‐onset halitosis and the course of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

December 28, 2020 | Advertorial

HELSINGBORG, Sweden: Swedish manufacturer of dental consumables Orsing is actively looking into ways to reduce its share of greenhouse gas emissions and has recently introduced a product line entirely manufactured from renewable resources. Orsing’s eco-line includes the coil design saliva ejector Hygoformic Bio with its Hygoformic Bio Adaptor, the Hygovac Bio and Hygovac Vent Bio aspirator tubes, and the Bio Cup dental cup made of bamboo fibre.

December 25, 2020 | Interviews

With over 37,000 installations in more than 150 countries, exocad is the world’s leading original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for dental CAD software. Every day, dental technicians, and increasingly also dentists, design high-quality CAD/CAM-manufactured restorations for their patients with exocad’s robust software solutions. More and more people around the world have access to aesthetic and affordable prosthetics. More than ten years ago, that was exactly the vision of the two young software developers Tillmann Steinbrecher and Maik Gerth. In 2006, they met during a joint research and development project at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD (Fraunhofer IGD) in Darmstadt. The topic was CAD/CAM in dental technology. This year, exocad celebrates its tenth anniversary. On this occasion, CEO Tillmann Steinbrecher and CTO Maik Gerth explain how they developed DentalCAD and founded exocad.

December 24, 2020 | News

SILVER SPRING, Md., U.S./LONDON, U.K.: BioMin Technologies has announced that its BioMin Restore Plus toothpaste has received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for relief of dentine hypersensitivity. The toothpaste is available only on prescription from registered U.S. dental clinicians and is based on BioMin F, a patented bioactive glass complex developed in the laboratories of Queen Mary University of London in the U.K. Dr.Collins, the U.S. license holder, anticipates that the product will become available in the country in spring 2021.

December 23, 2020 | News

MOSCOW, Russia: The effect of a changed chewing habit in the context of dental implantology has not yet been sufficiently studied. Now, researchers from Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and RUDN University have found that a change in the dominant masticatory side following implant surgery may be a cause of implant failure. The study results could support dentists in planning their patients’ prophylaxis strategy.

December 22, 2020 | News

TURKU, Finland: During the first wave of the pandemic, the number of hospitalisations for SARS-CoV-2 infections in Finland was relatively low compared with the rest of the world, and since hospitals were not overburdened with patients who required intensive care, researchers had the time to examine COVID-19 and its relation to other diseases more closely. For example, researchers from Turku University Hospital and the University of Turku used this time to study the link between COVID-19 and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). According to their findings, OSA may be a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, and patients with OSA may anticipate more severe COVID-19 outcomes if they become infected.

December 18, 2020 | Interviews

Janne Ruokola, Planmeca’s sales manager for CAD/CAM products, has been working with CAD/CAM technology for more than ten years. In his career, he has seen first-hand how dental professionals can benefit from going digital. He believes digital workflows will become the new standard all over the world and recommends making the digital transition step by step with Planmeca’s complete solution.

December 16, 2020 | Business

KOBLACH, Austria: Headquartered in the Vorarlberg state of Austria—in the far west of the country, between the Alps and Lake Constance—the dental equipment manufacturer Amann Girrbach has been leading a quiet revolution for decades. As an early pioneer of dental CAD/CAM technologies, the company knows that the future of dentistry is digital, but it also understands that it will continue to rest on precision and quality. Dental Tribune International (DTI) visited the company’s home base and toured its newest manufacturing facility to find out more.

December 15, 2020 | News

Having had more than three decades of experience in the international healthcare industry, Donald M. Casey is better qualified than anyone to guide Dentsply Sirona through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s CEO recently spoke with Dental Tribune International about the success of this year’s virtual DS World and how the nature of product demonstrations has changed in 2020.