Finnish Innovation Award honours pioneering dental products

QAdental was chosen by the jury of dental professionals in recognition of the solution’s aim to address inequality in dental care by providing a platform that enables dentists in remote areas to improve their knowledge and skills in order to perform more challenging treatment. They can consult online with a network of specialists, learn from shared patient cases and gain access to educational content (such as lectures and articles) “We wanted to create a place where all consultations, answers and learning material are available for all members, so the learning experience won’t be limited to one person,” Nyman told Dental Tribune Online.

Furthermore, the jury recognised Finnish dental manufacturer Planmeca’s CALM algorithm with an honourable mention. The end-user solution analyses and compensates for patients’ movement in the imaging process—a common challenge to CBCT imaging—eliminating the need for retakes and thus improving the quality of and the time needed for imaging in dentistry. According to the company, the CALM algorithm is the first solution to address the challenge of movement artefacts in CBCT imaging.

A second honourable mention went to Dentsply Sirona’s CEREC Guide 2 surgical guide for implant placement. According to the jury, CEREC Guide 2 serves to improve implantation, requires no models and boasts a higher degree of precision than conventional methods. This, in turn, improves patient safety and the quality of the restoration.

“We are delighted with this award,” commented Dr Frank Thiel, Group Vice President of CAD/CAM at Dentsply Sirona, on the achievement. “We see this as confirmation of our concept of offering complete intelligent solutions from diagnosis through planning and the final restoration for the patient.”

First introduced in 2015, the Innovaatio Award has been presented annually and highlights the best products and services on display at the exhibition. In future, the award competition will take place every other year, with the next being held in 2019, the organiser has announced.

The Finnish Dental Congress and Exhibition is the largest dental event of its kind in Finland. The 2017 event was held last weekend and was jointly hosted by Messukeskus Helsinki and the Finnish Dental Society Apollonia, who arranged the training sessions and lectures. According to the organisers, about 10,000 dentists, dental nurses, dental hygienists and other dental professionals, as well as students, attended the event.

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