China Shesays Medical Cosmetology Inc., which operates a network of specialized medical cosmetology hospitals, clinics and skincare centres in Sichuan province, China, announced that it has recently introduced the CEREC AC porcelain teeth 3D restoration robot at its flagship hospital in Chengdu, becoming the first medical cosmetology company in China to utilize this cutting-edge dental instrument for its cosmetic dentistry procedures.
The Cerec AC robot, a dental restoration system primarily used for making porcelain prosthetic teeth, was first introduced to the Chinese market by Sirona Dental Systems GmbH ("Sirona") in November 2010 at the 14th International Dental Instrument Exhibition in Shanghai. The Cerec AC robot, which leverages the Cerec Bluecam technology, captures highly detailed images of dental conditions using a powerful blue light emitting diode. The equipment provides rapid, easy imaging results in a quantum leap in dental precision, reliability and efficiency as compared to traditional procedures.
The robot is expected to change the existing operating model for dental restoration by eliminating processors off the value chain and building the bridge for direct communication between customers and hospitals. As such, the robot eliminates any inconvenience from lack of communication between processors and customers, as well as the high frequency of return work due to mismatched sizes or inappropriate occlusion of teeth that may occur under traditional procedures. The robot is best known for its capability to significantly shorten the time for making a porcelain tooth from one week to an hour. The Company expects the robot to help add approximately 100 customers for dental restoration in a year.
China Shesays invested approximately $181,000 for the Cerec AC robot. With the cost of restoring a porcelain tooth ranging from approximately $300 to $900, and the number of porcelain teeth a typical customer will restore ranging from 8 to 16, the company estimates that the revenue per patient on average is approximately $6,000.
"Sirona is delighted to share its most advanced technology first with China Shesays, because Chengdu, where the company is based, is a fashion-conscious city with great consumer demand for cosmetic dentistry. Moreover, China SHESAYS, a representative of local medical cosmetology institutions, possesses unique brand equity due to its readiness to invest in high-technology equipment," said Henning Mueller, Sirona's president of China. "Sirona was founded in 1997 as a result of a private equity buyout of the former dental division of Siemens AG.."
"We are excited about the prospects of the CEREC AC robot in terms of bringing novel dental treatment experiences for our customers," said Yixiang Zhang, chairman and chief executive officer of China Shesays. "Instead of waiting for a week for permanent prosthetic teeth while having to use uncomfortable replacement prosthetics during the interim period, customers are offered a significantly more convenient alternative. As customers can actually witness the prosthetic tooth preparation process while they are in our hospital, we believe this level of transparency and efficiency will attract a broad clientele. In the future, we are committed to continuously improving all aspects of our customer service experiences as we strongly believe this is our key differentiator from our competitors."
"The introduction of the Cerec AC robot is also expected to significantly enhance our technological advantage in cosmetic dentistry, and further enhance the brand equity for our hospital. Our cooperation with Sirona, dubbed as the world's largest manufacturer of dental equipment, represents a significant milestone in achieving our leadership in medical equipment applications in China," added Zhang.
China Shesays operates a chain of specialized medical cosmetology hospitals, clinics and skincare centres in Sichuan province. The company has a full range of services including cosmetic surgery, cosmetic dermatology, cosmetic dentistry and cosmetic Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
It has become one of the fastest growing cosmetology businesses in China and it is one of the most renowned cosmetology hospital chains in Sichuan province.