“I had never seen this before.” That’s how Dr. Peter Fritz, one of our esteemed Oral Health Board members, described a new robotic toothbrush device at the recent International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne, Germany.
I was fortunate to witness Dr. Fritz’s reaction as I attended IDS in March alongside three other board members. The IDS is the world’s leading dental trade fair, held every two years in Cologne. Thousands of exhibitors attend to demonstrate how their innovations are changing the dental industry.
As a first-time attendee, I was both impressed and overwhelmed by the size of the event. Navigating seven different halls alongside roughly 135,000 other attendees is no small feat. With comfortable shoes and a solid plan, the experience can be manageable—but without one, it’s easy to get sidetracked by all the attractions and miss something even more significant.
“I knew it was large, but I did not anticipate just quite how extensive it is,” said Dr. Luisa Schuldt.
“The number of attendees, the number of companies, the number of countries that sent companies to be represented there,” she added. “I think it was at least five times larger than I anticipated, covering all sorts of dental treatment, dental care, lab and surgical instruments, surgical equipment, biomaterials—just anything that comes to mind, they had.”
While walking the show floor and attending press conferences, I noticed several common themes: the importance of improving global oral health, increasing patient education through apps and digital tools, and—most prominently—the push to develop products that simplify workflows for dentists. With technology advancing rapidly and countless new products entering the market, it’s clear the industry has heard that dentists want more streamlined, integrated systems.
“This year was a little bit of everything, and everything was improving,” said Dr. Fay Goldstep, a frequent IDS attendee. “It was more of an improvement year.”
For Dr. Fritz, many of the companies present were ones you’d never hear of otherwise. And given the global nature of IDS, Canadian dentists are exposed to products that aren’t yet available in Canada—and may not be for years. In a nutshell, the event offers a chance to stay on top of innovation early and, most importantly, get excited about the future of the profession.
“What we see at IDS is going to be happening in North America five years from now,” added Dr. George Freedman. “So, it’s like looking into the future of our potential business environment.”
The next IDS will take place in 2027 — we hope to see you there!
About the author
Marley Gieseler is the Managing Editor for the Oral Health Group. She is responsible for writing, editing and managing content across all OHG brands. She is a Media Studies graduate from the University of Guelph-Humber. If interested in submitting content to Oral Health, please reach out to her at marley@newcom.ca.
