An interview with SprintRay's Holger Emmert at DDS.Berlin

Anisha Hall Hoppe, Dental Tribune International

Fri. 28. June 2024

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Companies have brought their very best in technology and technique and provided hands-on learning at the Digital Dentistry Show in Berlin in Germany—DDS.Berlin—giving clinicians of all levels of experience a prime opportunity to advance their practice. Dental Tribune International spoke with Holger Emmert, head of marketing for SprintRay Europe, about SprintRay’s offerings at the show.

Holger Emmert.

Mr Emmert, could you share your overall impression of DDS.Berlin so far?
We are positively surprised by the quality of the participants and the very specific questions being asked. The general knowledge of the participants is higher than we normally encounter at a trade show or conference. It’s easier when we’re not starting from scratch and are able to offer clinicians and dental technicians a solution that really advances their practice.

Not everybody wakes up on a Monday morning and says, “I need to change the world!” That’s why events like DDS.Berlin are important, so that people can break out of their routine for a few moments during the year and come together for these exchanges.

What advice would you offer to a clinician who is trying to convert to a digital workflow?
I love that question, because that’s been my passion for the last 15 years! First, for a clinician who’s moving from analogue to digital, it’s not about technology only; it’s about understanding that he or she has to be open to learning something new, that it’s not just changing a piece of equipment, because the clinician’s workflow will change significantly. If approached from that angle, the clinician will want to learn from a partner he or she can trust. It’s really about partnering with a company that understands what it’s doing and has a reputation as a teacher and mentor. I’m convinced that SprintRay is such a partner.

“Events like this are important, so that people can break out of their routine for a few moments during the year and come together for these exchanges.”

Should a beginner try to learn end to end from the beginning, or start learning individual pieces of a workflow?
It is better not to try and learn different pieces. Each interface requires specific know-how and may not fit together with another interface. Since the beginner is not generally an engineer, he or she will need help, but separate pieces means there won’t be anyone to help the novice user. The user needs a partner who thinks the whole process through for him or her. In the field of 3D printing, SprintRay offers a comprehensive solution of hardware, software and resins.

The digital workflow starts with an intra-oral scanner. The next steps are design and manufacturing, and specifically, it’s important to consider how well these are connected via an established interface so that the user doesn’t have to figure this out alone. SprintRay tries to make this as easy as possible for the user. Once the user is more advanced, he or she can use the software to manipulate and change whatever he or she wants and take a dive deep, but this is optional. I think that’s always SprintRay’s idea: to make it easy to get started and help the user to build confidence.

Would you share why the workshops like the ones SprintRay provides are valuable for clinicians?

Every speaker wants to show the best of his or her work, but these are not usually the everyday stuff. Digital is not about the best things only; it is also about the everyday things—and finding the right balance is what SprintRay does. We like to work with presenters who are excited to show off their unique cases but who are also eager to demonstrate basic things, like replacing an amalgam filling using a minimally invasive solution via 3D printing, which is a very simple thing to do. It is not challenging once you have mastered the workflow. We want our workshop attendees to think to themselves, “Oh, I can do that, and I don’t need to take seven more courses to be able to do that! I can get a unit shipped and installed the next day.” That is the message we wish to convey; we want to demystify 3D-printing processes for dentistry and show clinicians that using 3D printing is not rocket science. We try to balance the remarkable with the everyday so that they don’t get overwhelmed.

Editorial note:

More information about SprintRay’s website can be found here.