2017 IDS (International Dental Show) Report

ErgoPractice News – March 2017

Questions and Answers from Cologne, Germany

Last week SurgiTel once again exhibited at the largest dental trade show in the world – the International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne Germany. The event hosted more than 155,000 visitors who would meet with 2,305 exhibitors from 59 countries.

During our exhibit, we answered questions for clinicians from all over the world. Over these five days, several questions and topics were often repeated. In this month’s newsletter, we thought it would be helpful to summarize those questions and answers in our 2017 IDS Report.

Please share these “questions and answers” with anyone you know who is looking for loupes. They may be looking for the answers to these questions!

Questions and Answers

Q: “What is unique about SurgiTel?”

1. SurgiTel was born from an optics company, General Scientific Corporation, which was founded in 1932. General Scientific started making loupes with the SurgiTel name in the early 90s to provide clinicians with the total ergonomic solution for their workplace. To this day, SurgiTel is the only loupe company in the world providing top quality magnification in fully custom and truly ergonomic loupes.

Q: “How can I work ergonomically?”

1. Unfortunately, this question was posed only after we first asked clinicians about their neck pain. Too many clinicians have neck pain and believe it is “just part of the job.” Not true at all! Pain is a signal from your body something is very wrong! In this case, a signal you are on your way to a career-ending injury. When clinicians tried on our ergonomic loupes they could feel the difference right away. Until that moment, they assumed their pain came from some other source, such as a sports injury or a bad pillow. Many had paid a lot of money for prestigious brands which were just not ergonomic. Just paying more money does not equal more ergonomics!No matter what any loupe company tells you, research shows if you are tilting your head more than 25 degrees forward as you work you are at risk of chronic neck pain and injury. SurgiTel loupes are specifically designed to help clinicians look down while keeping their heads up.If you would like help measuring your head tilt, contact us!

Q: “What magnification is the best/most popular?”

1. SurgiTel has a large number of magnification options. From 2.5x to 8.0x. Many clinicians were hoping we could simply tell them the “right” magnification. The reason we carry such a large range of magnifications, however, is so each clinician can find the right magnification for them. The required magnification power to see certain detail varies according to the clinician’s working distance. For example, imagine viewing a target at 15 inches and then at 19 inches. At 15 inches the target will appear larger and we can perceive more detail. At 19 inches the target is farther away, so it will appear smaller and we will perceive less detail. The same effect applies to all magnification levels. We can see the target at 15 inches 36% better in area size than at 19 inches. This is called the working distance effect. It is very important to consider your working distance when choosing a magnification.There were many, many loupe companies at IDS reselling non-custom, imported 2.5x loupes. A few clinicians told us these companies had said nothing over 2.5x was necessary. These clinicians were surprised to try on our loupes and find magnifications such as 3.5x and 4.5x could be lightweight, easy to use, and provide a far superior image.

Q: “What LED light is the brightest/strongest?”

1. Many clinicians asked us for the brightness of our lights. They had come from other light companies who had touted the brightness of their LED headlights, hoping their clinician would assume brightness equals quality. If only things were that simple! Yes, a minimum brightness is required, but lights that are too bright can cause eye strain and wash out images. Some clinicians feel their light is not bright enough because their image is unclear. Yet true image quality comes from a clear and uniform beam such as from SurgiTel’s achromatic optics. Turning up the brightness on a poor light is only “turning up” the lack of clarity.

Q: “Why so much!?”

1. Many exhibitors at IDS were offering non-custom, 2.5x power, pre-fabricated loupes. These loupes were sourced from various regions of the world and resold by various providers and dealers. As a result, these loupes could be sold at very, very low prices. When speaking to clinicians where we had a language barrier, it was difficult to explain how those loupes would not provide much visual benefit, cause eye strain, and quickly break under normal use.Over the five days at the trade show, we spoke to tons of clinicians who had many great questions. Our entire team was all exhausted by the time we got back to the US, but we were proud to be part of such an impressive event. We were very happy to help clinicians who made the switch to SurgiTel and who told us our products had the best ergonomics and vision at the show!If someone you know has poor magnification or lighting, or even worse has neck pain, please forward this report to them. They may be looking for the answers to these questions right now!