Brasseler USA, Inc

Savannah, Georgia

Interviewee:
Don L. Waters, JD
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Brasseler USA

Don L. Waters, JD

QUESTION No. 1

Inside Dentistry (ID): The dental industry and the oral health care arena have been changing rapidly within the past 5 to 10 years. What do you see as the most significant of those changes?

Don Waters (DW): Certainly new technology continues to impact the profession at an ever-increasing rate. While digital radiography, CAD/CAM technology, and dental implants are perhaps the three which tend to stand out, there have been numerous other continuous improvements in materials and technology that present the practitioner with treatment opportunities he or she did not have before. It’s the sum of these changes over a relatively short timeframe, I believe, that is most significant. Of course, our products bear heavily in this equation—burs, diamonds, and power products all must work in tandem with the materials.

QUESTION No. 2

ID: In what ways—both internally and in dealing with the broader oral health care marketplace—has your company responded to these changes?

DW: The foundation of Brasseler USA has always been and continues to be centered on dental procedures. As technology changes and new procedures emerge, it’s our responsibility to ensure that instrumentation keeps pace. We strongly believe that it is our responsibility to support new procedures with proper instrumentation; to place in the practitioner’s hands the best instrument for the procedure or step; to assure systematic dependable preparations. We make sure our R&D stays at the leading edge of instrumentation through close, ongoing dialogue with leading practitioners, public and private teaching institutions, as well as our customer base. We also continue to invest heavily in training our sales force, equipping them to converse intelligently with the practitioner and recommend instrument alternatives for virtually any procedure.

QUESTION No. 3

ID: What do you see as your biggest responsibility to the marketplace, and why does your choice rank as your No. 1 priority?

DW: Certainly providing our customers with instrumentation designed to improve their efficiency and maximize outcomes as mentioned above is important. But we also feel a responsibility, as a member of the dental community, to actively participate in various philanthropic initiatives. Brasseler USA has and continues to be a consistent supporter of a number of local and national causes, most heavily focused on dental education.

QUESTION No. 4

ID: What product categories—whether preventive, restorative, operative, auxiliary, diagnostic, etc—do you feel are most in need of innovation based on what’s currently available?

DW: I don’t think you can single out any one area as particularly lacking innovation or effective treatment options. In most situations, the dentist has multiple treatment paths he or she can implement based on the particular patient’s situation. In terms of delivery cost and treatment improvements, dentistry stands out among the various health care segments. While it is not product related, certainly access to basic, preventative dental health care is one area where much work remains to be done.

QUESTION No. 5

ID: What do you see as the best approach to the research, development, testing, and ultimate delivery to the market of such needed advancements?

DW: While improvements in the system, from basic research to delivery to market, are always possible, I believe the continual new product, material, and procedure stream that we have experienced in dentistry reflects an efficient, successful system. The entrepreneurial aspect of the entire profession, I believe, is key. The dental industry is one in which the person or entity that has an idea can commercialize it, and one where the marketplace freely and quickly decides on the utility of the product or service.

Brasseler USA, Inc's company headquarters in Savannah, GA.