Australian Made for Dental Industry

Dentistry in Australia is usually of a very high standard technically. The majority of Australian dentists take their education very seriously and even after graduation, continue with their learning of new techniques, equipment and materials. Although our universities teach us at an extremely high international standard, they of course tend to teach with Australian techniques and ways. After we have been in practice for a while, these Australian ways become even more ingrained simply because they fit our society from where they developed.

We all recognise Australian dentists are normally no more than a year or so behind their USA counterparts when it comes to the use of the latest techniques and materials. Advancements in composite resin materials, glass ionomers and the like are usually quickly adopted and used. However in saying that, Australian dentists are very careful of new instruments, materials and particularly techniques and spend considerable time and effort questioning and investigating new ones before adopting them. I’d like to think now that the world faces what seems to be an enormous economic downturn and challenge across most spheres of industry, Australian Dentists will be focusing more on products and services that are either Australian made and/or Australian owned. Apart from the much publicised and obvious benefits of supporting local jobs and the retention of turnover and profits in Australia, this conscious strategy also provides us with the knowledge we have the quality of a product or service that in most cases is second to none. Just as important, we are also supporting our Australian industry backbone. When I say our Australian industry backbone, I am referring partly to the area of research and development, which is one of the very strong sectors of industry where we Australians clearly excel.

I can tell you that apart from a large team of support staff, dental4windows spend enormous resources on R&D. I am personally grateful that we as a board of directors are all of the same mind that the system must be at the forefront of delivering proven technology and systems integration to support dental practices within Australia and New Zealand. The system is designed and built to intuitively match the techniques, procedures and workflow practices of Australian dental surgeries and when you think about that, it’s easy to understand why the system has always been so popular. I believe this is in no small way a result of it being designed and developed by and for Australian Dentists. The only major system left that is Australian Made and Owned!

Australians in both Dentistry and Medicine have shown themselves to be always open to innovativeness in most areas of their environment. It’s not surprising when we consider what must be thousands of different consumables the dental and medical industry internationally have access to, that large international companies choose to import virtually every available product into Australia….. This is great for us in Australia as we have access to virtually the same technologies, products and techniques as the rest of the world yet can also be advantaged by the slight delay we show in adoption through our conservative approach in uptake. If and when we adopt a technology, product or technique, we have more likely seen the rest of the world prove it. This doesn’t seem to be the case however with Practice Management Systems as they are very much workflow and technique based and therefore very much more relative to the country where they are designed……

The more widely accepted outcome of profits from international companies is they are inevitably taken out of the Australian economy and disappear into other countries, stimulating other economies. The less apparent and certainly less publicised downside to these large international companies importing their wares and services into Australia, is the many products that don’t survive here will inevitably have their financial losses built into their products that do survive and are taken up and paid for by us as the consumers within dental. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the free market and see the constant benefits we all receive and above all, those our patients see and receive.

Let me just encourage us all to consider carefully when purchasing anything whether it be a car, equipment, consumables and yes even, Practice Management Software, is it Australian Designed, made and owned or are we sending profits and ultimately jobs off shore?

Again, if anyone would care to make comment or discus anything I have tabled here, please feel free.

Dr Frank Papadopoulos