Interview with Ralf Sutter – Director of Development, Dentsply Sirona Instruments

What exactly is your job at Dentsply Sirona?

I am responsible for development in the Instruments department at Dentsply Sirona.

These instruments include turbines, straight and contra-angle handpieces, air and electric motors, ultrasonic scalers as well as tabletop devices such as diode lasers and much more.

How would you define pioneering spirit?

For me, a pioneering spirit means realizing a product request in such a way that, ultimately, it results in maximum customer satisfaction. However, even during the development phase solutions can arise which are innovative. It is often the case for example that they end up being granted a trademark right.

What leads to a pioneering spirit? And how can this be maintained?

For this, you need a team that is motivated from within and promotes these issues. In addition, exciting challenges and the working environment are also very important. A good team spirit is the prerequisite for developing innovative solutions.

How does Dentsply Sirona promote ingenuity and innovation?

On the one hand, we create the ideal environment for new ideas and, on the other hand, our staff are motivated when they see that their ingenuity is appreciated and valued. This can take the form of awarded patents as well as the positive feedback from customers on our products.

What is the role of dentists in identifying new innovations and solutions?

For a new product, it is especially important to know the needs of the customer in detail. At Dentsply Sirona, the focus is always on the dentist. After all, we design the products for them. This is why we engage in technical discussions with our customers; in doing so we are able to identify new requirements and then implement these in solutions.

What are you particularly proud of?

I am particularly proud of the fact that our team is continually able to develop innovative solutions. I also value how we use new methodological approaches to show that instruments which have used the same basic functions for many years can still be considerably improved. As such, we are playing an important role in enabling dentists to offer better and quicker dental restorations.