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28 I I feature _ interview _VOCO, based in Cuxhaven on the northern coast of Germany, is an established internation- al provider of high-quality dental materials. In addition to products for restorative dentistry, it offers a wide range of materials and prepara- tionsforthefieldsofprostheticsandprophylaxis. cosmetic dentistry spoke with Olaf Sauerbier, CEO and chief of Marketing and Sales, about new products and aesthetic trends in restorative dentistry. _cosmeticdentistry: TheAssociationofDen- tal Dealers in Europe (ADDE) has recently pre- dicted growth rates above three per cent for most European dental markets. Do you see any signs of recovery in your company? Olaf Sauerbier: To be honest with you, the recession never really caught us. We usually tend to perform slightly better than the overall market and expect to be no different for this business year. The year 2010 started off better than last year ended, and we saw some significant growth in most of our business segments in the first and second quarters. Although we have invested significantly in our German businesses by extending our sales team by 15 new employees, foreign markets are very important to us. At the moment, we are expand- ing our existing businesses worldwide, especially in North America. It will be a while before we are able to take full advantage of the enormous potential this market has to offer. _Did the products you introduced two years ago at IDS Cologne meet your expectations? The most important product we introduced at IDS in terms of sales was definitely the non-run, non-drip NDT syringe. This new delivery form helped us to increase sales of most of our highly flowablematerialslikeGrandioFlow,GrandioSeal and Ionoseal. Our gingiva-shaded restoration system Amaris Gingiva has also shown good per- formance. We have to admit that the market for suchaproductisstillsmallbut,ontheotherhand, we see the demand for aesthetic restorations of exposed necks of teeth increasing owing to de- mographic changes and people ageing. Those who have highly aesthetic requirements will find it hard to pass this product by. Another bestseller has been the one-compo- nent,light-curing,nano-reinforced,self-etchbond Futurabond M that we launched in SingleDose and in a three-bottle value pack. Not to forget the Rebilda Post System, an award-winning complete system for placing 15 posts in post-endodontic treatment, that sold successfully in Germany and abroad within a short amount of time. _Some segments in dentistry, dental implants in particular, have shown decreasing sales. What is the situation in the market segments you are involved in? The recession might have had devastating effects on companies offering upscale materials and equipment but the situation in restorative and preventative dentistry looks far more prom- ising. In the segments in which we are actively in- volved, such as prosthetics, prophylaxis or dental cements, we have been able to achieve growth rates between 10 and 20 per cent. cosmeticdentistry 1_2011 “Foreign markets are very important to us” An interview with Olaf Sauerbier, CEO of VOCO GmbH Olaf Sauerbier (left) in talks with DT Group Editor Daniel Zimmermann.