CEREC celebrates 25 years in Las Vegas

Way back in 1985, the world's first ever computer-designed and milled ceramic inlay was created at Zurich University. 26 million all-ceramic restorations later and a world away in fabulous Las Vegas, I found myself as a Keynote Speaker presenting to more than 3,000 devotees all here to celebrate 25 years of CEREC.

Sharing equal billing with such well-known speakers as Frank Spear, Ed McLaren and Gordon and Rella Christensen among others, was truly an honour and a wonderful experience. The idea that visitors from other countries had headsets so they could listen to simultaneous translation (how do translators do that?) in French, German and Russian was also a bit mind blowing too.

Everything at a conference like this is on a large scale. There were seven screens; a podium longer than a cricket pitch and a tracking camera following the speakers wherever they felt like wandering; and a backstage AV team with one guy who told me he usually helped acts like Frank Sinatra and Wayne Newton! The keynote addresses were unopposed but the rest of the time there were breakout sessions - 16 concurrently - which made it hard to decide what to attend. In addition, there was a trade display larger than you see at an ADA Congress, big enough to serve hot food (of a surprisingly high standard) to more than 3,000 people at once! And what can I say about the entertainment each evening (they don't call it fabulous for nothing).

The presentations ranged from traditional to total hype but I found it interesting that virtually every American lecturer was selling a product. No, not a dental product exactly, but themselves! At some time during and certainly at the end of most keynotes and many of the breakout sessions, there were ad breaks in which the presenter promoted his/her next course or their website or DVD. I found this quite intrusive but the largely US audience didn't seem to mind.

It's hard to ignore the hype and it's difficult not to be affected by the lack of references provided by many of the speakers for their assertions, except for their own research of course. When I presented, I was concerned that my extensive use of references might not go down too well. In fact, I discovered that this audience, like any other, were much easier to convince when they had proof. They even laughed at my Aussie sense of humour although, I have to admit, I used words like dentin (no "e" at the end), restroom (toilet) and comPOS-it (composite) so I could be understood.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. If you've never been to a big conference in the USA, put it on your list of things to do - it's a blast!