Welcome to our recap of Day 1 at the International Dental Show (IDS) - the world's leading trade fair for the dental industry.
IDS kicked off with a bang, attracting a huge crowd of over 160,000 dentists, and dental professionals, with more than 2,000 exhibitors on display from more than 50 countries.
This is the first IDS since 2019 that hasn't had any COVID-19 restrictions in place, and it was incredible to see the entire world-wide dental community come together and share what makes our profession special - innovation and a desire to provide the best care we can for our patients.
This year's IDS promises to be a highly informative and exciting event with a packed program of seminars, workshops, and product demonstrations.
Of course, we'll be here to tell you everything exciting happening in the digital dentistry realm for the entire event.
So, let's dive in and take a closer look at the highlights of Day 1 at IDS 2023.
This is everything we saw and we will continue to visit every digital dentistry booth we can over the next 4 days.
Shining 3D shows off three new products
We got up close and personal with some of the latest releases from Shining 3D: The MetiSmile and the FabWash Post-processing Unit.
First thing we saw was the Aoralscan 3 Wireless - this builds on the success of the Aoralscan 3 which we have already reviewed. It is essentially the same scanner but now in a wireless option which is fantastic. I tried it, it worked well. No major issues and the wireless connection seemed stable. If you want to know what I think about the Aoralscan 3 read my review here.
Second the FabWash. It looks great - although it was not being used. Essentially it is a washing unit that also removes the printed parts from the build platform automatically. You just have to insert the build platform into the washing unit after you have completed printing and it will do the rest. Quite a cool innovation from China.
Lastly the MetiSmile. I personally tried it at the booth and it was impressive. The cost of this facial scanner is only 5,000 USD making it much cheaper than most others on the market, including the RayFace which I reviewed and thought was a fantastic offering.
The MetiSmile's speed is impressive. Taking a face scan with the MetiSmile took only about 10 seconds and the results were clear and detailed. Shining has done a great job integrating this into their software too.
As mentioned above. The biggest advantage over other products is the cost.
SprintRay Pro S Crown Kit + Ceramic Crown Resin
We had a great chat with some of the leaders of the SprintRay Company including John Cox, the Chief Growth Officer, who gave us a detailed rundown of the new SprintRay Pro S Crown Platform and overall direction of the company.
It is truly impressive seeing how serious SprintRay is taking printed final restorations and they are spearheading this in the industry. Their new Pro S Crown Kit is evidence of that.
This compact build platform and resin tank are specifically designed to print multiple single-unit crowns with maximum speed and efficiency, utilizing the power of heat and hard anodized aluminium to deliver crown prints in as little as 10 minutes.
It's compatible with SprintRay's Ceramic Crown 3D Printing Ecosystem. The ecosystems offers AI design which is completed in minutes, and ultra-fast post-processing thanks to SprintRay's ProCure 2.
With this optimized workflow, dental professionals can deliver ceramic crown 3D prints chairside to patients in less than 45 minutes. Pretty cool stuff!
Asiga UltraGLOSS
Asiga's new tray UltraGLOSS allows you to 3D print clear parts with a pre-polished surface directly from the printer. With UltraGloss, you don't have to do any manual post-polishing or special handling. Here are some key points:
- No special post-processing steps required.
- Simply 3D print your parts using Asiga's new UltraGLOSS material trays.
- Wash and cure as normal, following the material manufacturer's guidelines.
- Enjoy a pre-polished finish direct from the 3D printer.
- Ideal for the manufacture of dental occlusal splints, clear earmolds/ear shells, lenses, and visors
UltraGLOSS is great for dental professionals looking to improve efficiency and reduce the need for manual post-processing.
The Era of the 3D Printer is here
Perhaps the most interesting thing about IDS day 1 is that it reinforced what many in the digital dentistry community already knew - 3D printing is well and truly the biggest thing in this space right now.
I can't stress this enough - the sheer number of different 3D printers from companies around the world is astonishing. Let alone all the different resins that we saw. It is truly impossible to cover them all.
Although there were a few new intraoral scanner releases at IDS (we cover these below). It was nothing compared to the number of 3D printers we saw.
3D printing has revolutionized the way we as dentists can operate, making everything from orthodontic aligners and implant models to surgical guides and crowns more efficient and cost-effective.
3D printing materials have also been developing rapidly. Including Zirconia for 3D printed crowns.
With 3D printing, dental professionals can produce custom-made, accurate, and highly-detailed dental appliances in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional methods.
Our industry now has the ability for greater customization and flexibility than ever before, and I for one can't wait to see where dentistry goes from here.
We will be seeing many more 3D printer companies like our friends at Formlabs and the cool things they have released in the coming days!
DentaFab 3D Printer
We had a great chat with DentaFab, expect to see a full overview video with them coming soon!
NextDent 5100 and LCD1 3D Printer
The NextDent 5100 is a high-speed dental 3D printer powered by 3D Systems’ proprietary technology that is one of the fastest printers on the market. I have personally used it in my clinic for years.
The interesting new release (prior to IDS though) is the LCD1 3D Printer by NextDent.
This is an Ackuretta OEM product sold by NextDent.
Many will know that the Ackuretta LCD Printer is wildly popular and frankly, NextDent choose a good one to resell.
We will release a full video overview but the most interesting thing I learn was that the printer will be fully open. This is a big shift from NextDent's usual ethos which up until this point was a fully closed printer.
It comes with a wash and cure unit just like the Ackuretta one. Very interesting and it seems like it will be a great offering.
The growth of in-house 3D printers in dental labs is predicted to exceed 50% globally within three to five years, driven by easier registration, certification, improved ease of use, and growing expectations from clinicians.
KaVo Dental Chairs with an Intraoral Scanner Built in!
After Planmeca announced their acquisition of KaVo, many were wondering how future collaborations would look.
Well, we found out at IDS 2023!
KaVo dental chairs will come with the option of having a a white labelled version of a Planmeca scanner inbuilt into the dental chair.
Nothing much else to say. I tested it out and it is quite cool that you can pick up the scanner from the dental chair itself and start using it for scan immediately. Is this the future? Scanners being incorporated into the dental chair itself?
New Intraoral Scanners at IDS 2023
As expected, a few companies launched brand new intraoral scanners at IDS 2023. You can expect full in-depth reviews on these scanners - much like our other objective scanner reviews. For now, here's what we've seen released:
3DISC - OVO
The OVO combines an intraoral scanner, dental camera, and software to help dentists, patients, and labs monitor and visualize a patient's dental health over time.
It weighs only 165 grams and provides an interactive visualization of 3D data, images, and videos on an included iPad that comes packaged with the scanner.
The focus with the OVO seems to be enabling better patient communication so they can visualize and monitor dental health, consider treatment options, and evaluate results.
We had a full interview with the team at 3DISC that we will release shortly!
Eighteeth - Helios 500
The Helios 500 is a new scanner set to be released by Eighteeth. It's an original scanner by the company.
There aren't many details on this scanner at the moment, but we'll update you as we get them.
They key thing to note is that the RRP is ... 5000 USD.
That is crazy value. I will find out later in the show if it is any good.
Alliedstar - AS 260
Alliedstar have announced their latest intraoral scanner, the AS 260.
It looks set to be an offering between the AS 100 and AS 200E.
We recently reviewed the AS 200E and found it to be a great scanner, and the first wireless scanner ever from China.
The company will now offer the AS 100 as their most economical option and their AS260 as something that is a step above (especially design and manufacture wise) but it is not wireless.
The AS 200E will continue to be their wireless offering.
We will do a full review on this scanner in time!
And that is everything! A quick recap of some of the key things that we saw on Day 1 at IDS!
Anyone who has been to IDS knows how incredibly big this event is. We will continue to keep you updated with everything we see including all the major releases in the digital dentistry space.
If you have any questions let us know below!