Brazil becomes reference in dentistry
Valor Econômico
One of the many amazing things about Brazil is that the dentistry practiced in the country is one of the most advanced in the world. The ability of its dentists and the size of its market, which grew rapidly in recent years, have been attracting some of the largest companies of dental materials, such as the American Dentsplye and Ultradent and the German KaVo. "It's an environment that encourages the original researches", says Luiz Abreu, Managing Officer of Ultradent for Brazil and South America, who got to Brazil in September 2007.
During its short presence in the country, Ultradent has already developed two products to be sold worldwide. One of them, to be launched soon, is a tool called "apex locator" that helps in the evaluation of the work required in treating channel. The other, called Tilos, is a set of straps for the treatment of channel, designed to be less intrusive. Abreu says the company has "at least" four more products and techniques under development in Brazil. Besides, Brazilian professors of Orthodontics are permanent members of the international team of evaluators of Ultradent, involved in the development of new products.
Abreu says the Brazilian Dentistry is a combination of the cultures of the United States, which put emphasis on aesthetics, and Europe, where "focus number one is that the teeth should fulfill the functions nature gave them". Brazil has developed such hybrid culture because of income inequality. A minority of the population can afford - and demands - the more sophisticated treatments. A much more numerous majority needs to accept the services made available by much more limited budgets.
There is a tradition of the public services in dentistry. The city of Campinas was the first in Brazil to add fluoride in the drinking water distributed to the population, after a dentist was elected to the Municipal Government. Today, nearly all water distributed in Brazil has fluoride added to it. But not all conditions are ideal for innovation in Brazil. As notorious as social inequality is the country's humiliating bureaucracy. The Ultradent Tilos line, developed by Brazilians, is already on sale in the USA, Europe and Japan, but not in Brazil. "We can develop new products, but the process of registration is one of the most complicated in the world", says Abreu.