Dental Asia May/June 2020

Dental Profile
intraoral scanners, from all vendors that are keen to collaborate.
At the same time, being backed by a larger organisation allows us
and our products to have more impact in the future.
exocad has the best-in-class products for CAD/CAM and
implantology, and when it comes to digital orthodontics, there’s
no way around Align for best-in-class. The two customer bases do
not overlap. So the two companies truly complement each other
ideally. If you look at digital dentistry, you have solutions for CAD/
CAM, implantology, and digital orthodontics, but cross-discipline
workflows are still unnecessarily cumbersome. I’m enthusiastic
about the ability to combine ortho-restorative treatments moving
forward.
Another thing I’ve noticed when working on previous projects with
Align is that despite the difference in the size of the organisations,
the culture is surprisingly similar. It’s innovation-driven and agile,
with a fascination for technology that I truly appreciate.
Tillmann Steinbrecher
Mr. Savic: Also, sometimes it’s not just about the technical part.
Each company has their own unique culture, and we’ve learned
to make the best even of differences. It certainly didn’t happen
overnight.
exocad’s software is high-performance and runs robustly, even
when dealing with large and complex cases. What motivates the
exocad’s team of engineers to keep pushing the boundaries of
digital dentistry?
Mr. Savic: I think the motivation comes from being recognised by
the exocad user community for what we do. Rather than being
just customers, loyal exocad users who form their own groups on
social media feel like a large family. Even when their feedback is
disapproving, it is still important to us, because this is the only way
to become better.
Mr. Steinbrecher: We empower our engineers by giving them
both the responsibility and freedom in their decisions in the
technical side, as well as how they manage their projects. We have
our engineers interact with customers directly so that they get
unfiltered feedback, both positive and negative. They are starting
to realise that they’re instrumental in changing the market.
What’s the reaction to the acquisition been like from the exocad
community?
Mr. Savic: They are mainly asking questions like “Will we still get
the software?” or “Will exocad remain independent as a company?”
and I think by now most understand that we will continue today
as we did in the past. Personally, the impression I received is it’s
almost like we have fans who see themselves as part of the exocad
team. So the thoughts of the exocad community are extremely
important to us, not only now, but also in the future.
Could you share a little about the upcoming exoplan 3.0 release,
Galway?
Mr. Steinbrecher: Galway is a beautiful town that is the European
capital of culture in 2020. We are releasing our software this year
as Galway, with exoplan 3.0 being the first in the cycle. All Galway
releases will feature a completely overhauled user interface. The
design concept revolves around making the software as simple to
use as an app on a cell phone. We want to make it accessible to
new users, while those who know and love exocad will still feel at
home, with new and existing features in a freshened look.
There is also quite a major update of exoplan, with a focus on drill
guides for edentulous patients, dual-scan protocol, as well as
greater automation in the guided workflow.
With the acquisition by Align Technology of exocad, how will the
development of exocad products change in the days to come?
Mr. Steinbrecher: The key philosophy of exocad – its open
architecture – is not going to change. We will keep building
partnerships, integrating various types of hardware, such as
In your opinion, what trends do you foresee in Asia?
Mr. Steinbrecher: I think that some trends that exist worldwide
will be particularly strong in Asia. Generally, in technology, there is
a trend that mostly applies to emerging markets in Asia – certain
steps are just skipped. In Europe or in the United States, people
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DENTAL ASIA MAY / JUNE 2020