Truly international

The Koelnmesse was the venue as the dental world descended onto Cologne for the 35th International Dental Show last month. In spite of the potential travel problems caused by the wintery weather, the event attracted some 125,000 visitors who were treated to an exhibition of over 2,000 companies covering 150,000 square metres. The event was truly a global affair, boasting delegates from 149 different countries.

The IDS was officially opened by Ulrike Flach, the parliamentary under-secretary of Germany’s federal ministry of health. In her opening speech Ulrike said that the safety and quality of medical products have the highest priority. She also pointed out the excellent conditions for innovation in the healthcare industry. Ulrike stressed the importance of maintaining the balance between open access to innovations and the long-term financial stability of the system.

Size

The show proved to be even larger than previous events, with six per cent more visitors than in 2011, and an increase in exhibitors of 5.3 per cent. The 2,058 companies (from 56 different countries) presented a wide range of innovations, products and services. With such a diverse crowd the translator services on offer at the Koelnmesse were put to good use, though thankfully for me the primary language used on most stands seemed to be English.