DT News - Latin America - Training for The Right Stuff

Javier Martínez de Pisón

mié. 15 marzo 2023

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In the dental practice, advanced clinical knowledge makes all the difference in the world. Actually, it can even determine the success or failure of a dental practice. But finding the right kind of dental education program to update clinical skills is a difficult task, which helps explain the success of a training concept that has been touring Latin America for over a decade. Started in 2011, the meeting is now in its 68th edition, and is called “W&H Innovation Day”.

Created and sponsored by dental manufacturer W&H, the meeting includes educational lectures and hands-on workshops designed to introduce clinical innovations to small, selected groups of dentists.

This meeting format, whose 12 year long record is proof of its success, allow all attendees to participate in lectures and hands-on, which is where the advantages of W&H's clinical solutions can be truly experienced and appreciated.

W&H President and CEO Peter Malata (second from left) traveled from the companys' headquarters in Austria to Bogotá, Colombia in 2018 to experience the "W&H Innovation Day" meeting, developed Oliver Goetzendorff, Area Manager for Latin America, who has organized 68 of these meeting in Latin America. (Photo: W&H)

Through the years, there have been "W&H Innovation Days" meetings in a wide variety of locations in Latin America, which provides an insight in how different they are from regular dental events: a small winery and vineyard in Mendoza, Argentina; Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao known for its colorful Dutch-style houses and, more recently, Guatemala City, where an even more original meeting was held at a university and at the Popol Vuh Museum, called "W&H Innovation Day and Culture", in which, literally, clinical innovations met the Maya culture face on.

"Innovation Days are meetings that offer lectures and hands-on workshops, where dentists experience first-hand all that can be accomplished with our product line in their daily practice."

Relations developed at these events among participants are special and long-lasting. And the educational value make them a must, an event not to be missed. They are what some call the right kind of training, which provides dental professionals with clinical skills that can be used right away in their practices.

To find out more about what makes these days of innovation and friendship special, we talked to Oliver Goetzendorff, who developed these meetings and is responsible for the all the Latin American market for W&H, including Brazil.

Can you describe an Innovation Day meeting?

W&H is a company that develops highly innovative products and solutions for the dental market. "W&H Innovation Days" are meetings made up of clinical lectures given by leading experts in different fields of Dentistry, and complemented by hands-on workshops, in which participant dentists experience everything that can be done with our line of products in their daily practice.

In which countries have they been held?

We've had "W&H Innovation Days" meetings in all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean several times. The first one was in Montevideo, and since then we have organized meetings in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama; in short, in all countries of Latin America.

How many of these meetings have you done?

So far, we have organized 68 "W&H Innovation Day" events since 2011. And next April, in Mexico, we will reach the 70th "W&H Innovation Day" meeting.

Dr. José Carlos Rosas Díaz practices his skills at a hands-on workshop in the "W&H Innovation Day" meeting, which took place in Lima in 2018. (Photo: W&H)

What type of products do you present?

At W&H, we no longer talk about products but about clinical solutions, which is what dentists need and want: solutions in Implantology and Oral Surgery, in Oral Rehabilitation and Prosthetics, Prophylaxis, Sterilization and Maintenance, among others.

How do these events benefit your brand?

They are unique presentations in which we offer state-of-the-art innovations in Dentistry, all of them complemented by the practical experience acquired through "hands-on" workshops with our products. They are special events, unique indeed, which showcase our innovative products at a special price, only on the day of the event.

"We no longer talk about products but about clinical solutions, which is what dentists want."

Is this a way to retain customers?

The meetings motivate dentists to take advantage of innovative clinical solutions. In turn, they allow us to learn something new every day from the speakers, which serves us to improve the day-to-day needs of dental clinics.

What's the focus of your research in Latin American cultures?

Personally, I am especially interested in the history of pre-Columbian cultures, and in the Spanish conquest of the Americas.

Participants at the "W&H Innovation Day" event in Santiago de Chile, in 2017. (Photo: W&H)

Is it true that you are going to publish a book about Maya culture?

Yes, it's a book conceived and developed together with my brother Holger Goetzendorff, about the evolution of dental esthetics from the time of the Egyptians, a journey that includes the dental inlays of the Maya. Its title is "Faces and Teeth. Dental Decorations in Ancient Times". The book has over 300 full-page images, and includes a cultural history of Maya artwork. The book will be published this year.

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