DT News - UK - Interview: “We are ready”

Dental Tribune International

Mon. 25 April 2016

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In just two weeks’ time, the UK will see one of its largest digital dentistry events ever when Henry Schein Dental’s fifth annual Digital Symposium opens in London. Through its ConnectDental digital solutions, the company has positioned itself at the forefront of the ongoing digitisation of dental practices. At the Dentistry Show in Birmingham last week, Dental Tribune UK had the opportunity to speak with UK ConnectDental General Manager MacKenzie Richter about the event, the adoption gap and plans for the future.

Dental Tribune UK: Ms Richter, you have been leading Henry Schein Dental’s digital business in the UK for almost two years. How far, in your opinion, has the country come in terms of digitisation of dental practices?
MacKenzie Richter: One of the questions that people always ask me is how far behind the UK is lagging compared with Germany or the US, for example. While it is certainly behind in the rate of mass adoption, there are UK dentists who are really cutting-edge when it comes to the use of technology. What the market here lacked in general was any real initiative from a distribution company. Henry Schein Dental had dipped its toe into dental CAD/CAM and 3-D imaging, but we needed to structure our plan and develop our communication with the market. This is what we have done with ConnectDental. There are many misconceptions among dentists and what we do now is educate them and provide them with a systematic approach as to how best they can enter the digital world. A particular digital solution may be right for Dentist A, but not necessarily for Dentists B, C or D.

You previously worked for Henry Schein in the US. What are the main differences between the two countries regarding the adoption of digital technology?
There are so many similarities in the market once one moves past the limitations of the NHS. Particularly the mid-sized, privately owned dental practice groups have grown tremendously in both the US and the UK. It is these mini-corporates involving up to ten practices that need to streamline their work so that they can be more efficient. It is usually much easier to introduce a digital workflow to single practitioners because they control what they do day to day and what their team does; this certainly becomes a little bit more difficult as the scale grows. At Henry Schein Dental, we have created a vision of how to best partner with these groups and provide them with more benefits, whether it is our business solutions, customised pricing or fiscal plans to support digitisation.

From your experience with ConnectDental, how quickly do you think the UK can close the digital gap compared with other markets, like the US or Germany?
In addition to chairside CAD/CAM, we are expecting continued rapid growth of intra-oral scanning. This has gone from a topic that was interesting for the early adopters to something that dentists are now recognising as affordable and that will help them to move to a digital workflow. It goes back to our ability to understand the vision of our customers. By truly understanding their objectives, we can help them achieve their goals.

Our investment is tremendous because of the pace at which dentists are now adopting the technology. We have doubled our sales team responsible for chairside CAD/CAM and our laboratory team has increased by over 100 per cent. Overall, we can say that our investment has been well timed to cope with the demands of the market.

How does the digital business facilitate Henry Schein Dental’s market position overall?
To be honest, any company can sell a piece of equipment; some do it well and some less so. Our goal is to capture the relationship as a whole, similar to what we already do with consumables. For us, it is critical that whenever we sell a piece of equipment to customers, they are competent in how to use it. We want them to be satisfied with our overall service and support. That is why we invest in their education and ensure that they have a community with which they can engage. When a customer understands that there is a partner invested in his or her success, it is a little bit easier for him or her to undertake what may initially appear to be a daunting step.

Education is clearly the focus of your upcoming Digital Symposium in London in May. What can dental professionals expect from this event?
We are very excited about this year’s symposium, as it is the first time in the UK that the entire dental profession, from dentists to technicians, will come together as one digital community. It is long overdue. There is a great deal of coordination going on in an effort to ensure that we are going to deliver a phenomenal programme, both for people already using the technology and for those considering the best way to adopt it. Aside from showcasing the various solutions, there will be a great deal of discussion on workflow, not just in restorative dentistry but also in other fields, like orthodontics or implantology. To aid the learning process, we have created lounges where customers can come in and play with the technology in a relaxed environment. Rather than standing in an exhibition booth, they can spend as much time as they like in order to understand how it can benefit them. It is an exciting prospect and we are ready to deliver a really ground-breaking event.

Thank you very much for the interview.

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