Henry Schein reboots Connect Dental with new focus and expanded team

Henry Schein has relaunched its Connect Dental digital dentistry business unit across Australia and New Zealand. The umbrella brand encompasses equipment, materials and software with a service and support infrastructure designed to help practices and laboratories transition to digital workflows.

"Digital dentistry is revolutionising how both dentists and technicians operate," said Connect Dental Manager Quentin Daniels. "So as a business providing products and services to the profession, we need to ensure we are structured appropriately to meet the needs of our customers.

"The changes we've made to Connect Dental are to more closely align ourselves with the market and to deliver a range of services that we believe are well-suited to the current environment.

"What we're seeing, in particular, is a greying of the traditional divide between dentists and dental technicians. Technology is bringing that relationship much closer together and the advent of intraoral scanning, for example, is shifting the digitising of the impression from the laboratory to the clinic. As a result, our Connect Dental representatives are skilled and experienced to consult to both clinicians and technicians and supply both parties with the knowledge and solutions to make informed decisions. This effectively gives our customers a single point of contact for all their requirements.

"There is essentially a great knowledge gap in the market that we aim to fill. There are a plethora of dental laboratories well down the digital pathway already but for the rest, they feel like they're standing on the edge of an abyss and they're looking for help. A select group of dentists, equally, have been utilising technologies like CEREC and E4D for 30 years; yet for the rest, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered before any decision can be made. For laboratories, moving to digital production is the best option for future growth and success; for dentists, however, that choice is not as clear."

Apart from its extensive sales and support team across Australia and New Zealand, Mr Daniels said that a key strength of Connect Dental was its ability to offer customers solutions from multiple vendors, often with multiple product choices in each category depending on the need.

Connect Dental's portfolio of products includes intraoral scanners from 3Shape and Planmeca; benchtop scanners from 3Shape; milling machines from VHF, Roland and Planmeca; and 3D printing technology from 3D Systems. Complementing this is a full range of materials from leading manufacturers including 3M ESPE; VITA; Ivoclar Vivadent; Zirlux; GC; Polident; Noritake; and Berg Dental.

"We're looking to engage the market at every level," Mr Daniels said. "Whether you're using digital workflows already or looking at the technology for the first time, we want to help. We're looking to foster a model of cooperation between dentists and labs and our team are trained to talk with customers, understand their needs and then provide solutions to help them grow.

"We have offices in every state and we have skilled and experienced people in every state. We have dedicated support people online and on the phone and we have a CAD/CAM support technician on the ground in every state too. Our team has a wealth of knowledge in dental implants, CAD/CAM, guided surgery, cone beam CT and how to implement and integrate technology across all these.

"So if you're looking for a partner to help you go digital, then we're waiting for your call."