Dr. Ina Wüstefeld: “CeramTec is investing heavily in expansion of production capacities and in further clinical studies”
This interview was first published on frag-pip.de and quintessence-publishing.com. Please find some excerpts from the interview video on our Instagram channel.
Just under a year ago, Dr. Ina Wüstefeld took over as Managing Director of Dentalpoint AG (now CeramTec Switzerland LLC). Since then, a lot has happened within the company. In this interview, Dr. Wüstefeld looks back on the past year, talks about her experiences and gives an outlook on the future of the company.
Profile: Dr. Ina Wüstefeld has a doctorate in dentistry and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She has many years of experience in Medical Scientific Affairs and has held various commercial leadership positions throughout her career, most recently as Vice President Global Regulatory & Medical Scientific Affairs. She has been Managing Director of CeramTec Switzerland LLC (formerly Dentalpoint AG) since July 2023.
Hello Dr. Wüstefeld. First of all, congratulations on your first year as Managing Director of CeramTec Switzerland. How has the year been for you as the newly appointed Managing Director?
It has definitely been a very exciting and inspiring year for me and the whole team: A new environment, a different country, cool people at the Spreitenbach site, a highly dynamic environment and this drive to move forward with our ceramic implants. That was wonderful. It was challenging, but I really enjoyed it. I also met a lot of new people and learned a lot myself. I am very grateful for that.
When you took up your position, you were Managing Director of Dentalpoint AG. You have been Managing Director of CeramTec Switzerland LLC since the beginning of the year. What is the story behind the company’s change of name?
The name change was definitely a positive thing – also in my personal opinion. We are part of the global CeramTec Group and have now grown even closer together. When a small company is absorbed by a larger company, there are always some administrative challenges. But with the joint team that we have on site and a high level of identification with the expertise that CeramTec brings to the table, we want to generate the best solution for users and patients. That is our focus. And the whole team was very happy to have a partner with a strong investment profile – a parent company that is an expert in its field, that opens many doors for us and stabilises our presence in the various sales channels in which we are active.
CeramTec is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-performance ceramics and has a portfolio of more than 10,000 different products, parts and components made of technical ceramics and ceramic materials. How do you, as CeramTec Switzerland, benefit from this extensive expertise?
Yes, the expertise is indeed extensive. We clearly benefit when it comes to the further development of our product portfolio. CeramTec also manufactured and marketed dental ceramic implants before its acquisition of Dentalpoint. We now have the pooling of expertise at different locations and in different areas, so to speak, and will then have the opportunity to continue to bring a great product to the market and develop it further. And the market itself is evolving. Users and patients are very interested in scientific data and evidence. And here we can build on what the CeramTec Orthopaedics Division has already achieved. I believe that we have taken this step, which is very important for a company to be successful in the future.
As an implantologist, you naturally pay attention to published studies. This is important for ceramic implants because modern zirconia implants have not been on the market for very long. When will the breakthrough happen?
The breakthrough has already happened. Clinical evidence is very important in dentistry and of course we are seeing more demand for it from patients and users. We know from meta-analyses that the five-year survival rate for ceramic implants is over 97%. With 10-year data, the cumulative survival rate is over 95%. This clearly speaks in favour of ceramic implants. And that's where CeramTec's contribution will be: to further substantiate the scientific data situation, to initiate new studies, but also to collect retrospective data – our implants have been on the market for a very long time – and to publish it. Many dentists working in implantology have also found that modern ceramic implants can achieve optimal treatment results and long-term patient satisfaction. I have also noticed that more and more patients are taking a closer look at the implant material and are opting for white and biocompatible implant material.
The S3 guideline on ceramic implants emphasises that the data situation for one-piece implants is more favourable than for two-piece implants. Is this a reason for users of two-piece ceramic implants to be cautious?
Although there is more published data available today for one-piece ceramic implants, our experience is that the two-piece design is more in line with what the majority of implant and prosthetic users want, including subgingival implant healing without interference and undesirable early loading, the possibility of bone augmentation, more prosthetic flexibility if the prosthetic axis needs to be changed, and no cementation of abutment and crown. I am also sure that in the near future there will be more scientific evidence in favour of two-piece ceramic implants. And we are actively contributing to this.
Are there any ongoing study projects on the Zeramex XT implant system that you can tell us about?
Several Zeramex XT study projects are currently underway. Prof. Dr. Dr. Bilal Al-Nawas, Prof. Dr. Eik Schiegnitz and Priv.-Doz. Dr. Dr. Keyvan Sagheb are currently conducting a case series on Zeramex XT implants and Docklocs® abutments, which are used to secure a prosthesis in edentulous patients. Initial results from the short-term follow-up indicate that the Docklocs® concept is reliable and predictable. Another project currently underway is a retrospective study on Zeramex XT implants by Dr. Dr. Thomas Mehnert. The data on survival rates presented by Dr. Dr. Mehnert at the Zeramex Congress is very encouraging. Dr. Elisabeth Jacobi-Gresser is also conducting a retrospective follow-up study on Zeramex XT implants. As mentioned earlier, CeramTec is investing heavily in further clinical studies to generate even more scientific evidence.
Workflows have become highly digitalised in recent years. Do you see this as an opportunity?
More and more dentists are using digital workflows. This is understandable as it makes implant treatment more precise and significantly reduces treatment time for patients. For dentists and dental laboratories that work or want to work digitally, we have been offering Zeramex Digital Solutions since 2020. And with one-piece monolithic crowns that can be placed without joints or adhesive gaps, our Swiss centre of excellence has a unique competitive advantage.
These are exciting insights. What is the outlook for CeramTec Switzerland?
The outlook for CeramTec Switzerland is very positive. We have received substantial investments from the parent company to expand the Spreitenbach site in Switzerland and our other production and development site in Lauf, Germany: We are investing in machine capacity, expertise, additional employees and experts as well as in our three sales channels. We have our strong Zeramex® brand, which we sell directly in the DACH region (Germany/Austria/Switzerland), our private label business with other partners and we also act as an extended workbench for OEM customers. As a result, we have a high market penetration in the overall ceramic implant market, which we naturally want to support. Customer demand is high and our aim is to provide users and patients worldwide with dental implants from CeramTec.
Dr. Wüstefeld, thank you very much for this interesting interview and all the best for the future.
