Well, the CEREC 27 and a half meeting is over and the secret is out - Omnicam is here.  Powderfree, color streaming. What more could a CEREC doctor ask for?

I was honored to have been a part of the unveiling as I gave the first clinical presentation of the meeting on the Omnicam. What a blast to have 4,000 enthusiastic attendees screaming in approval of the new camera.

As I watched the meeting unfold over the weekend, I saw a tremendous range of emotions from the attendees.

When the Omnicam was first revealed and the crowd found out about the powderless camera and the streaming, there was mass euphoria over the fact that a powderfree camera that actually works was now a reality.

Moments later, it was divulged that not only was it streaming technology, it was also in full color. The crowd was enthusiastic as I can imagine the CEREC owners in the audience had seen anything like it before.

Over time, however, I sensed that there was a feeling of anxiety that came across from users not only at the meeting but on the online communities as well. Clinicians complained that they had just bought their system; they had just upgraded and now felt that their system was obsolete. Another common theme was the price – CEREC owners felt the price was too high for the upgrade as everyone hoped and fished for a better deal.

Let me address these two feelings that the users had and offer you my own thoughts.

To those of you who felt that you had been left in the dark about the new camera, you need to understand how secrecy works when you are dealing with government entities like the SEC. Obviously when you work with a publicly traded company such as Sirona and you are tasked with testing new products, you are obliged not to divulge any company secrets by signing a nondisclosure agreement. The threat of a lawsuit – or worse, jail time for insider trading – is not something that we beta testers take lightly. One slip of the tongue and careers are ruined and companies are destroyed.

Having said that, hopefully the need for the secrecy behind this new camera makes sense. I can promise you that if you recently upgraded or bought a machine, your specialist did not know about the Omnicam. Don’t get upset at them for not telling you. They simply didn’t know that anything like this existed or was coming. Very few did. And if someone told you they knew – they were obviously taking a shot in the dark because those who knew, didn’t talk. Those who didn’t know talked a whole lot. The entire sales team at Patterson found out about the camera this past Monday, Aug. 13. Everyone else found out a few days later on Thursday the 16th at the general session of CEREC 27 and a half. So any thoughts of getting upset at your Specialist should be ignored. They simply didn’t know.

The bright side of the secrecy is that there is an upgrade path for owners. Meaning that anyone who bought recently gets 100% of what they paid toward the newer camera. Since the newer camera is more expensive, the user has lost nothing. In fact, if you upgraded and you are now on the wait list for the Omnicam, then get the Omnicam later essentially using the Bluecam for free until your Omni arrives.

There is no upgrade path that Sirona and Patterson have set up where it’s cheaper to go directly from Redcam to Omnicam. If you have traded Redcam to Bluecam and then to Omnicam, it’s cheaper for you. Patterson knows they need to keep customers happy, and they wont be if they charged more to go from Red to Blue to Omni than going to Red to Omni straight.

Patterson and Sirona could have done the opposite – they could be more like Apple – i.e., no upgrade path. When Apple introduces the new iPhone or the new iPad, guess what? Not only is it more expensive, but there is no trade-in allowance for your older technology. I’ll take secrecy over losing money any day of the week.

This leads me to the second point. Those of you who feel the price of the Omnicam is too high need to understand the basic principle of supply and demand. Do I wish the Omnicam were less expensive?  Absolutely, who in their right mind wants to pay more? But just as new models of cars, phones, TVs, etc. cost more, so does the Omnicam. Currently there is very little supply of the Omnicam and lots of demand. This creates a high price simply due to market forces.  

Bottom line is, if you feel that the price is too high – don’t upgrade. Your Bluecam is a fantastic piece of technology and will serve you for years to come. As of last Thursday, it was the BEST intraoral imaging system on the market. It’s phenomenal and will remain as a great system for many years to come. In fact, the 4.0 software upgrade that has received high marks is the same for both Bluecam and Omnicam.

 I’ve got lots of thoughts and lots of tips and tricks that I will be posting regularly. Stay tuned and stay excited about the new Omnicam. The future with this system is going to be absolutely amazing. This is a game changer.

I couldn't go to the meeting this time...go figure! This camera looks amazing! Sam is right... the possibilities are endless. I can't wait to try it.

Sam the meeting was so amazing. A lot of R & D went into coming out with this beautiful piece of tech. I knew I was going to have to pay something. I tryed to order Monday before the show,sight unseen because I knew sirona was not messing around to have a meeting 2.5 years later. After seeing the technology I wanted more. If you never go where you have never been you will never get a head. I think someone said that....maybe I did! All I know is that I have some toys coming and I hope to be playing with them before Christmas . Thank Sam and everyone involved for making me believe in Santa again. He is bringing me more than I could have asked for.

Well, this is an interesting posting, two thirds are an apology for the unclear upgrade path.

As Lindell pointed out in another post the Omnicam 3D acquisition software is a work in progress. So "little supply" means limiting to friendly customers, which is understandable.

To get some common sense in this enthusiasm, the comparison to Apple and the reference to inLab 4 is not so smart.

The expanded focus from from single tooth restauration to complete rehabilitation exposes the inLab software concept to comparison with the competition used in dental labs.

Fact is that inLab is no match, still so in v 4.0. Fact is that software quality and usability (even in the Omnicam hardware) will be decisive to defend the market position of CEREC. So what we see here with "limited availability", moreover offending existing Bluecam users is a rather desperate marketing move ahead of the next IDS in Cologne. And back to Apple, within a few years the market leader Nokia was history. It was the software.

That is a very interesting post Michael. I would not expect anyone to come here and predict the demise of the CEREC system because you feel the software is not up to par with the competition. This so called inferior software according to you has been the best selling system in dentistry outselling the competition by a 10 to 1 margin if not more.

The introduction of the Omnicam to me would help solidify its standing as the leader in dental cad cam - not start a downward spiral.

Software has been and will continue to improve and no other company in dentistry has invested as much in research and development as has Sirona.

If you feel that the software and hardware are no match for the competition, then by all means, my suggestion would be to purchase the system that fits your method of practice best. The CEREC system is not for everyone but it is the most robust and heavily supported CAD CAM system available. Will it always be the leader? Thats for Sirona to worry about. All we do here is support the users with tutorials and information.

Thanks for reading and posting.

Sam you are a gentleman and a scholar........my language would have been different.

Dear Sameer,

Thanks for the kind reply. I bought a complete CEREC system, Bluecam, inLab MCXL etc for plus 100k Euro, knowing about the limitations.

Why did I buy it: because I like the chairside approach. It would be outside the scope of this blog to go into more detail, but with all information I have so far I stand to my comments.

Would I like Sirona to succeed, obviously because of my investment. And regarding language, english is not my mother tongue, sorry about that.

Keep up your good work, I learned a lot from the videos.

Michael


PS: I usually do not talk about my background, but in this case it might be meaningful. About 20 years ago I invented surgical 3D navigation and augmented reality. You can look up the Google database on US patents under Truppe, M. Also I developed and brought to market a surgical 3D navigation system with CE certification. Because of this I might have more sensibility for potential seismic shifts.

Dear Sam,
I purchased my Bluecam and tto delivery August 21 from Patterson. Only by coincidence did I learn of the Omnicam, which was launched August 15. My salesman of course knew by then, but did not inform me. So you cannot prevent me from questioning their good faith and so-called ignorance of this launch. Nonetheless, it is distateful of Sirona to lock us inlike this into a purchase, knowing they would come up with the omnicam soon.

More important, as I have used the Cerec Inlab system, I discovered many flaws with Cerec. First, it is not nearly as comprehensive as 3shape or Zirkon zahn. They sell you a two-axis killing machine while everyone else is now utilizing 5+1 axes. This is kuch more precise and rapid. No more talk of "considr bur geometry". Furthermore, and this is most important, Sirona is a closed system, which means you are forever married to it and only it. If you wish to use surgiguides, you are obliged to use theor CT scanner Gallileos. Good luck in spending the money for thst. You cannot refer your patients to any other centers. You cannot share files with other systems. Everyone else is going to open systems, Sirona locks you in to their product, blocks, etc. other systems use discs rather than blocks, much cheaper. All yhe other systems are about, are you ready for this, HALF the price of Sirona. Better, cheaper, open platforms. Go to Youtube and see the demos yourself. In my five months of owning it, I realize Sirona is a dinosaur, difficult to use on large cases, no dynamic occlusion, and on and on. I wish I had done my research better.
To sum up, they are becoming a dinosaur quickly, not like Apple, but more than IBM. They rely on theor past to justify e horbitant prices for an inlay and single crown basic machine at stratospheric prices.
I advise every doctor to apply scientific reasoning and educate themselves.
Thank You