IDS 2019

•••9••• Messewelten Opportunities for orthodontists Digital technologies offer new possibilities for diagnostics, therapy planning and aftercare D iagnostics, therapy planning, therapy and aftercare – these are the four classic pillars of or- thodontics, but the tools and so- lutions are changing. Above all digital strategies have sustainably changed this specialised discipline over the last years. The visitors of the International Dental Show (IDS) will learn first-hand which current developments are push- ing orthodontics forward Today, the following applies for orthodontics as a whole: every practice owner considers upgrad- ing with digital technologies, the new founders possibly rely on largely, if not completely, digital- ised workflows from the outset. Analogue and digital 2-D X-rays are being replaced by 3-D X-rays. CT and MRT scans are also con- sulted, cases documented by digi- tal photos or moulded using the intra-oral scanner, patient data is digitally managed. Digital or a mixture between analogue/digital methods can be implemented for planning the treatment (intra oral scan or digitalisation of a plaster mod- el). Through the trend towards more open formats and gener- ally more open systems, inputting the moulding data into the plan- ning software becomes more and more simple and the entire plan- ning becomes easier. Particularly interesting here: A vir- tual set-up and also the design of orthodontic equipment is created based on purely virtual models. To what extent, the dental tech- nician is also involved and which tasks he is subsequently assigned with (i.e. printing physical mod- els, manufacturing the equip- ment and finally the transfer tray) is handled very flexibly today. The necessary data can be sent to and fro following the method the practice and laboratory have laid down as their optimal workflow. This also offers the specialised dental technician new opportu- nities. The visitor will experience different procedures at IDS 2019 and can gain valuable ideas there. Digitalised workflows fa- cilitate the job of ortho- dontists. Photo: Koelnmesse / IDS Cologne / Harald Fleissner