In just a couple short days much of the American dental industry will converge on Dentalcompare’s hometown of San Francisco for the 2012 American Dental Association Annual Session. Like most major dental shows, ADA 2012 will feature the launch of numerous new products, an impressive selection of educational opportunities and of course opportunities to catch up with and meet new friends from throughout the industry.
I’ve attended a number of shows during the years I’ve been a part of the dental industry, but I’m extremely excited about this one, because it will be my first big tradeshow as Editor of Dentalcompare. Normally attending a tradeshow as a member of the dental media means racing from booth to booth to get the details on every new product launch, maybe filming some videos and sitting in on a few lectures. But this show will be a bit different for me.
Not only is the show in Dentalcompare’s backyard, but we are going to be rolling out some exciting new features of the website at the show. I’m extremely excited to be able to talk about these new projects as we begin to push them live. The updates build on our already robust product directory and also include the editorial program I’m in the process of rolling out.
I’ll be at the Dentalcompare booth (#434) when I can, as will other members of the Dentalcompare team, so stop by to take a tour of the site and learn about some of our upcoming projects. We’re always interested in adding to the team of clinicians contributing to our website, so if you have thoughts on products, trends or other things dental that you want to share, definitely let us know. The best part is, because these updates will be live online, you can check them out even if you’re not at the show.
Of course we're not the only people making news at the show, so I’ll still be plenty busy learning about and publishing updates highlighting the new innovations on display around the exhibit hall.
Digital impressions systems are certainly going to be a one of those highlights with 3M ESPE showing off their True Definition Scanner, 3Shape demonstrating their TRIOS system, Sirona giving people who weren’t at the recent CEREC event a chance to see the new OnmiCam and likely other new and upgraded systems on display as well.
Soft tissue lasers are another high tech area where new innovations will be on display in San Francisco. I’m excited to see the stylish looking EPIC 10 diode from BIOLASE up close. I’m also curious to see how clinicians respond to the new Alta MLS soft tissue laser from Dental Photonics which I came away impressed with after seeing it in action during a recent visit to a local practice.
New materials will also be hard to avoid when walking around the exhibit hall. Bisco, GC America and DMG America are all showing off new cements, Voco has a new temporary crown and bridge material, DenMat is showing off a new veneering system and Tokuyama, Parkell, Ultradent and others all have new materials ready as well.
There are plenty of other new products I plan to get a look at including software from Dexis, Carestream Dental, 1-800-DENTIST and Dentimax, SciCAN’s latest autoclave system, and a trio of new offerings from DentalEZ.
Those are just some of the new items I’m aware of, but half the fun of attending a tradeshow is encountering the total surprise. I’m hoping to run into more than a few that get the Dentalcompare clinical team excited.
But not everything that happens at a tradeshow takes place in the exhibit hall. There are plenty of exciting lectures and panel discussions planned featuring renowned speakers from throughout the dental industry. Dentalcompare Technology Editor Dr. Larry Emmott is presenting three sessions and participating in one panel discussion. These are sure to be entertaining and interesting sessions.
The fun is certain to carry over into the evenings as San Francisco is a terrific city for dinning and features world class museums and other attractions. It’s going to be an action packed few days, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone who can attend and sharing my experiences with those of you who won’t be able to make the trip.