Innovation in dentistry has to strike a fine balance. On the one hand, there’s increasing demand for patient-centricity, practice differentiation and workflow efficiency. On the other, any developments need to offer tangible benefits for the sole practitioners or dental groups adopting them. In short, they need to be economically viable.

The pace of change in the digital economy means manufacturers of dentistry products, systems and instruments must go beyond incremental innovation to achieve this equilibrium. They need to identify emerging market opportunities, then quickly address them with cost-effective solutions to gain competitive advantage.

This paper explores five areas where strategic adoption and adaptation of non-core technologies could transform dentistry and give manufacturers the edge over competitors.