Dentsply Sirona World 2022 Filled with Education, Entertainment, Networking

Mona Patel, DDS, talks about digital dentistry at DS World 22 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Stan Goff)

Dentsply Sirona has built a reputation of putting on a great event each year and Dentsply Sirona World 2022 didn’t disappoint last week at Caesar’s Forum in Las Vegas.

The annual event, which was held Sept. 15-17, featured top notch education, entertainment, exhibitors, and networking opportunities. With Sameer Puri, DDS, serving as emcee for the “Ultimate Experience in Digital Dentistry,” clinical speakers in the general sessions featured periodontist Farhad Boltchi, Erin Elliott, DDS, Mona Patel, DDS, Michael Skramstad, DDS, and Mark Hyman, DDS, just to name a few. Dr Boltchi performed a live, simulcasted dental implant surgery highlighting step by step details regarding use of digital technology. The next day Dr Boltchi and his patient flew to Las Vegas to talk about the surgery.

Also on the main general session stage was a Friday discussion by Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, and successful businesswoman and philanthropist. She sat down with Dentsply Sirona’s Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer Erania Brackett for an inspiring interview in which Blakely shared her amazing story of starting up her intimate apparel company with pants and leggings. Ten years ago Blakely was named in Time magazine's "Time 100" annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and later she was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

Blakely believes fun and humility are keys to running a successful business, and she celebrates embarrassing moments.

“We have oops meetings and we usually pair a song with our mistakes,” she says. “It’s unbelievable what you can get people to do in the name of fun.”

Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, chats with Dentsply Sirona’s Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer Erania Brackett during an inspiring interview.

She added that she attempts to disrupt embarrassment and her goal is to bring fun back to corporate America.

Speaking of fun, the dental industry as a whole is having more fun now that the worst of the pandemic appears to be behind us.

“We’re in the greatest recession proof industry in the world,” Dr Puri declared as the event kicked off on Thursday. “We survived [a pandemic] and thrived. We’re going to move forward.”

Dr Puri, Vice President of education for CDOCS, then handed the microphone off to Andrew Robinson, Dentsply Sirona Senior Vice President, North American Commercial Leader, and Chief Digital Officer on Dentsply Sirona’s strategy and priorities in US market. Robinson talked about the more than 100 educational courses, the company’s DS Core platform that combines products, services, and technology to help clinicians shape the future of dental practices and focus more on what matters: treating patients. The platform provides cloud storage, a case files sharing solution, and access to high-quality service offerings for equipment and dental design needs.

Robinson then announced the first product launch from DS World 2022, Primescan Connect.

“You are the first to experience Primescan now available as a laptop configuration,” he told the attendees. “With Primescan Connect the future is here at DS World.”

The company announced its new laptop-based intraoral scanning solution Primescan Connect designed to offer dental professionals a fast and efficient intraoral scanning experience without requiring a bulky desktop. Primescan Connect has a specific laptop wherein clinicians can use the intraoral scanner for restorative, implant, ortho, and more modalities.

Dentsply Sirona’s Anna Bruns, a Senior Corporate Communications Manager in from Germany, would lead a press tour of the company’s booth later in the day Thursday, showing off the new launch as well as showcasing a wide array of digital technologies including the company’s recently introduced Primeprint 3D printing solution.

The tour included Dr Patel, who practices at Bayshore Dental in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. She talked about SureSmile clear aligners during the tour and also presented later during a general session and addressed how all of Dentsply Sirona’s digital technologies help her run the ideal practice to provide optimal patient care.

Friday night brought a 90-minute, hits-filled concert by Journey that had the attendees on their feet and singing along. (Photo by Stan Goff)

“With SureSmile GPs can easily utilize the new software and it features seamless workflows and live SureSmile technicians to assist in designing cases,” she says. “SureSmile is a great addition to most practices even if you’re not an orthodontist.”

Another hot topic was sustainability, and Dentsply Sirona’s Brackett talked about the company’s BEYOND program as well as partnerships with FDI World Dental Federation (FDI) and Smile Train.

Shortly thereafter the company’s new CEO Simon Campion met with the press and stressed his plans to focus on integrity, quality and compliance. Campion joined Dentsply Sirona from Becton, Dickinson and Company, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President and President of the Medical segment and prior to that served as President of the Interventional segment following BD’s acquisition of C. R. Bard.

When the breakout sessions and courses were not taking place, there was plenty of activity in the exhibit hall at Caesar’s Forum, where Patterson, Ivoclar, Kuraray, GC America, Solea and many other companies were on hand.

With the host city known for fun, DS World 2022 fit right in with some great entertainment as usual. Emmy- and Grammy-nominated actor-comedian David Spade, known for his 5-year stint as a cast member on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and his role as Dennis Finch on “Just Shoot Me”, was the headlining comedian who kicked off three nights of exciting entertainment at the Ultimate Experience in Digital Dentistry.

Friday night brought a 90-minute, hits-filled concert by Journey, who for over 40 years has been one of the greatest classic rock bands of all time. With 48 million albums sold in the U.S. they are the 25th best-selling band of all time.

Finally, Saturday night brought a fun conclusion to the event with the NEON Glam closing celebration at the Omnia Nightclub.