After five days, the 37th International Dental Show (IDS) came to a close on Saturday, 25 March 2017 with new record results and an excellent mood. Over 155,000 trade visitors from 157 countries attended the leading global trade fair of the dental industry. This corresponds to a 12 percent increase compared to the previous event. IDS particularly experienced growth among the foreign visitors: The share of international trade visitors increased by almost 20 percent up to around 60 percent. A slight increase was also recorded among the national visitors. Thus, IDS once again proved its significance for the dental world.
The Federal Health Minister, Hermann Gröhe, who personally opened the 37th IDS, sees the dental industry as a pioneer in the health care sector: "We haven't experienced such a success story in the field of prevention as in the last 20 years in the field of oral health anywhere else. We underline the approach in all health areas, that avoiding diseases is better than laboriously healing them or relieving pain and in this aspect we can learn a lot from the field of dentistry." At the same time he emphasised the economic significance of the medical sector in Germany: "The health industry is an outstanding branch of industry in our country with above-average growth rates and crisis-proof jobs. We have a great interest in continuing to nurture this powerful element of the German economy and reinforcing its chances of success."
"IDS 2017 even succeeded in surpassing the high goals and expectations we set ourselves. In particular the international growth rates underline the fact that IDS is a cosmopolitan and hospitable leading trade fair for the entire dental industry. In connection with the numerous innovations presented, IDS is trend-setting and a fantastic trade fair experience for all industry players," said a delighted Dr. Martin Rickert, Chairman of the VDDI. He sincerely thanked all of the people involved for this fantastic result.
"Cologne was the global capital of the dental industry for five days, which we can be very proud about. Once again IDS prove that it is not only the biggest international platform, but also by far the best platform for networking and for successful business deals within the dental industry. The strong growth in the number of visitors above all from abroad demonstrates the charisma and significance this event has worldwide. The ongoing positive development of IDS is also a success story for the trade fair location Cologne," commented Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Office of Koelnmesse GmbH.
"We are delighted that our numerous activities in the run-up to the event at home and abroad have been rewarded with such an outstanding success," confirmed Dr. Markus Heibach, Executive Director of the VDDI.
Good mood, well-filled order books
The focus of IDS 2017 lay on digital production and diagnosis methods, intelligent networking solutions for the practice and laboratories, smart services for dentists and dental technicians as well as the further improvement of patient care and thus oral health worldwide (see here the expert comments on IDS 2017).
The wide spectrum of products and the depth of the offer also convinced the visitors from all over the globe once again. As a result the mood over the five days was excellent. The best prerequisites for the representatives of all of the relevant professional groups to use the time in Cologne to inform themselves, establish contacts, nurture business relations and do business. The exhibitors were delighted about the high numbers of international trade visitors and the quality of the visitors that found their way to their exhibition stands. Almost all regions experienced significant growth again in terms of the number of visitors: Considerably more trade visitors attended IDS from Central and South America (+52.9 percent), Eastern Europe (+43 percent), the Near East (+31.9 percent), Africa (+31.7 percent) and Asia (+28 percent). North America (+15.7 percent) and Europe (+12.6 percent) also showed significant growth.
According to an independent visitor survey, 45 percent of the trade visitors from abroad were decisively responsible for procurement decisions within their companies. In total, around 80 percent of the respondents from Germany and abroad stated that they were involved in the procurement and purchasing decisions within their company. The order books of many companies were correspondingly well-filled after five days of the fair.
The conclusion of the visitors was also positive: Around three quarters of the respondents were (very) satisfied with IDS 2017 overall, as well as in terms of having achieved their fair goals. 90 percent of the visitors interviewed would recommend business partners to visit IDS. 70 percent plan to visit IDS in 2019 again.
Dental care as a significant economic factor
"The International Dental Show (IDS) has once again lived up to its reputation as the world's leading trade fair for the dental sector," summed up Dr. Peter Engel, President of the German Dental Association, on behalf of his profession after the trade fair closed, adding that "The dental trade is an important employer and economic factor. Furthermore, the dental industry is crisis-proof and makes an important contribution to the job driver, the health sector."
Uwe Breuer, President of the Association of German Dental Technicians (VDZI) confirmed this impression: "The International Dental Show has from the point of view of the VDZI once again proven itself to be the meeting place for specialists from the dental laboratory and dentist's practice. The expanding digital working methods in the laboratory and practice will demand an even closer collaboration between both experts in the future." Overall according to Breuer primarily the milling and CAD/CAM devices have been further developed. Now, however, the dental laboratories will have to take a close look at which technology they would like to and are able to offer in the laboratory. "But all of these technologies are not conceivable without well-trained young professionals in the dental technician trade. The highly trained young dental technology apprentices once again impressively demonstrated their skills at this year's IDS in the scope of the Gysi Prize Competition," stressed Breuer.
IDS 2017 in figures
At IDS 2017, on a gross exhibition area of 163,000 m² (2015: 158,200 m²), 2,305 companies from 59 countries participated (2015: 2,182 companies from 56 countries). These included 624 exhibitors and 20 additionally represented companies from Germany (2015: 636 exhibitors and 19 additionally represented companies) as well as 1,617 exhibitors and 44 additionally represented companies from abroad (2015: 1,480 exhibitors and 44 additionally represented companies). The share of foreign exhibitors was 72 percent (2015: 70 percent). Including estimates for the last day of the fair, over 155,000 trade visitors from 157 countries attended IDS (2015: 138,500 trade visitors from 151 countries), approximately 60 percent of whom (2015: 51 percent) came from abroad.*
*The figures relating to visitors, exhibitors and exhibition space for this trade fair were determined and certified according to the standardized definitions used by the Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM).
The next IDS - the 38th International Dental Show - is scheduled to take place from 12 to 16 March 2019.
About IDS
IDS (International Dental Show) takes place in Cologne every two years and is organised by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI) and is staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.
100 years of VDDI
The VDDI celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. It was founded as the Association of German Dental Manufacturers on 24 June 1916 and organised the first Dental Show in 1923. In 1928 the VDDF organised the first International Dental Show. Today, the VDDI has 200 member companies with 20,000 employees. The overall turnover is more than Euro 5 billion with an export share of 62 percent.
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