Boston University partners with Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. to become nation's first all-digital dental school

It was reported this week that Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. recently entered into a digital dentistry agreement with Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) that will enable GSDM to become the first all-digital school of dentistry in the nation.

Related reading: Increase esthetics and ROI with Sirona inLab and Sirona Connect [VIDEO]

The unique partnership will provide dental students at GSDM the opportunity to learn about the current digital dentistry landscape in fully equipped operatories.  The dental students will have access to the latest Sirona digital equipment in order to experience a full digital dentistry workflow, including both dental and laboratory techniques and applications.  

"We are honored to enter into this first of its kind endeavor with Boston University,” remarked Jeffrey Slovin, President and CEO of Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. “Students will get to experience the true workings of a current dental practice environment and we commend the University for leading the way towards educating its students using digital dentistry techniques. We are pleased to collaborate with Boston University in setting the stage for the future of dental education.”

A digital dentistry task force was established to transform the dental school curriculum to a completely digital learning environment.  It evaluated the necessary facilities, equipment and technical support required to create a seamless all-inclusive system, to make the digital conversion as user-friendly and seamless as possible. The findings of that task force led GSDM to enter into an agreement with Sirona that will enable GSDM to become the first all-digital school of dentistry in the nation. 

How Sirona 3D Imaging Solutions create a dynamic virtual digital patient 

More information about Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. can be found here. 

Shortly after making the historic announcement, DPR’s group editorial director, Kevin Henry, sat down with Michael Augins, president of Sirona Dental Systems, to talk about what this means for the dental profession.

Henry: How did this huge announcement come about?

Augins: Sirona has been talking to dental schools about CAD/CAM and going digital for years. We already had a strong, long-term relationship in place with the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine and Dean Jeffrey Hutter had a vision for where he wanted the school to go. We started working on this almost two years ago and we’ve worked with various professors within the school to make sure we were all on the right track. We’re excited about this announcement and starting a new chapter of our relationship with Boston University.

Henry: How does this change the paradigm for dental schools across the U.S.?

Augins: Since we’ve made the announcement, several dental schools have contacted us to see how they can embark on a similar journey with us. I think there’s an excellent blueprint for how things will be done that’s been established by Dean Hutter. I know he is speaking at the upcoming ADEA meeting about this partnership, and I think we’ll gain even more interest from that.

Henry: What kind of timeline do you see for this to become the norm rather than the exception for dental schools?

Augins: This isn’t something that will happen overnight. Most schools have a long financial cycle and, if the interest is there, we will have to get into the budget talks sooner than later. However, I think that will happen within the next one to three years. Ultimately, I think most schools will have adopted the digital model within five to 10 years from now.