By keeping it real with customers, ICONA believes their “thoroughbred” dental equipment will soon catch on

By Danny Chan

When you buy new dental equipment, are you looking for a piece of hardware that has specific features, good value-for-money, a certain look factor or reputable brand? While these provide a great place to start your research, other longer-term factors include interoperability, future upgradeable options, after-sales support, build quality and spare parts availability.

Interestingly, your product research is not dissimilar to due diligence undertaken by an equipment dealer scouting for new brands and products to represent in their local market. In fact, some like ICONA Pty Ltd take pride in having a meticulous curating process – bringing to market products with qualities that they believe can enhance the Australian practice.

Unlike the “supermarket” class of equipment dealers, ICONA carries a narrower band of product lines, therefore do not have the luxury to ‘test’ market sentiments or chop and change products that don’t pan out.

Having less wiggle room, however, means that ICONA is very choosy about which products they represent from the outset. Using horse racing analogy, ICONA’s Managing Director Richard Tankersley, says the company is focused on grooming “one to three thoroughbreds that we know – and can support – well.”

Their ‘less is more’ product-centric focus extends across giving suppliers the due diligence that they expect from ICONA; to being focussed on the IP of that product; to their sales team becoming “absolute specialists of the product” – not least manifested through their support of product users.

ICONA’s carefully sourced thoroughbreds include a familiar name – Midmark (USA) – as well as big European brands like Fedesa (Spain) and Airel (France). Although still relatively unknown in Australia, Fedesa is the sixth largest manufacturer of dental chairs in the world.

Besides sleek European designs, Australian dentists checking out ICONA’s dental chairs for the first time may be exposed to noteworthy features that are: Not widely available; typically available in higher-end units; or entirely original.

The Fedesa Astral is a flexible dental unit package that can be customised to fit your needs – offering continental or conventional delivery, or a delivery cart. Boasting German Hanning Electro-mechanical motors, the smooth chair movements offer easy and quiet switching between three memorised positions as set by operator, in addition to three default positions.

The Airel PE8 dental chair features a balanced instruments arm that may be easily reconfigured to support left or right-handed dentistry, both positions providing easy operator and patient access to instruments. Allowing for two/four-handed treatment procedures, the Airel K2 is a compact treatment unit that belies its robust framework and seamless ergonomics, including a non-return articulated arm with long hoses to work in any position.

Both French units feature what appears to be original design elements: Triple articulated headrest that with a single button, locks in position to support the patient’s head at multiple angles, including a convenient side-facing position as well as the option of a ceiling mounted delivery system.

That some of these brands do not resonate at home is not a major concern, Richard says, as word gets around pretty quickly, and he believes Australian dentists are savvy enough to spot a good deal.

“It only takes customers who are adventurous enough to give “new” brands a try and that’s how we will continue to attract and grow a community of Australian followers,” he enthuses.

An example of an adventurous buyer without prior knowledge of the chairs is that of Carnegie Dental Group, a practice located on Princes Highway in Melbourne. After paying a visit to ICONA’s Clayton showroom, the dentists were surprised at the excellent build quality, bundled features and reasonable price point of the Fedesa Astral chair and purchased a unit on the spot. Following up on the client months afterwards, ICONA sales rep Jessica Shehata, was told the dentists have been so enthusiastic about the new chair, they were “fighting over” who gets to use the room.

Another buyer is Bill Oberdan from Max Oral Surgery, based in South Australia, who flew in to visit the Melbourne showroom. Within about 15 minutes of seeing how the Airel PE8 chairs worked, he was convinced enough to buy two units.

“These kinds of testimonials,” says Roy Conyers, ICONA’s General Manager, “are critical for us because it tells us that you can’t go past a good product. Once the word spreads, more buyers naturally follow. There’s no need for hard sell.”

Adding that the Fedesa Electra with its kneebreak design is a great option for surgeries and mobile dental vans, Roy says that, once again, two Electra units were recently purchased by a Queensland surgery purely through word of mouth recommendation.

ICONA’s reputation as a reliable Australian supplier was initially forged as Midmark’s sole regional agent, facilitating the American manufacturer’s market presence and technical support through its establishment of a nation-wide distribution network. ICONA has secured a partnership with Medical Equipment Services (MES) to supply its extensive tech support expertise in the Victoria region, in addition to about 15 key resellers scattered throughout the country.  

Beginning as Midmark agent and now having entered the next phase with European representation, the one thing that sets ICONA apart, Richard asserts, is having an impactful corporate culture centred on building open and honest relationships.

This positive culture permeates every facet of ICONA’s business: Upstream to their overseas manufacturers; midstream between the company’s management and staff; and downstream through distributors to dentists and their patients.

The same way ICONA products are promoted through positive word of mouth, Roy says the grapevine is used to relay the dentist’s perspectives on ICONA’s customer service and after-sales support.

“We take a long-term view of all our relationships because they are geared towards establishing trust and stability,” Roy adds. “It’s important to us that our customers feel well supported throughout their equipment ownership – and hopefully think of us when the time comes for them to upgrade.”

“We’re in the equipment business where our customers only change or upgrade their products in 7, 15 or 20 years,” Richard interjects, “The open and transparent relationships that we have established with manufacturers, distributors and customers testify to our corporate DNA.”
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“Everyone that we work with knows that ICONA is committed to support and assist them for the long haul.”
 

Find out how NSK’s Dentalone (a.k.a. “Dentist’s Office Mobile Cart”) performs in the field for expanding mobile dentistry company 
 
By Danny Chan
 
Imagine how much more exciting and fulfilling your dental work would be if your “clinic” is not confined to the four walls of the surgery but could literally be transported to wherever your expertise is in demand. That was one of the motivations that led Caitlin Wainrib to start a risky business venture in mobile dentistry but as the interview for this article progressed, it soon became clear that it wasn’t the main one.
 
Resisting well-meaning opposition from family and friends, the gutsy Oral Healthcare Therapist set up Mobile Dental Clinics Australia (MDCA) not simply to free herself from the physical confines of a clinic – though she admits feeling “a little claustrophobic” at times – but in response to a growing realisation that certain demographics were underserviced by dental professionals, particularly that of aged care home residents.
 
Caitlin felt the dental plight of seniors living in aged care facilities more acutely than most, as it was the subject of her thesis as a Bachelor of Health Sciences undergraduate. The subject got personal when her own grandmother who was in respite care found it “practically impossible” to receive timely or affordable help for a broken tooth, despite her accessible location in Metropolitan Melbourne.
 
Although the world of mobile dentistry couldn’t have been more distant or foreign at the time, Caitlin was determined to unravel its possibilities from a logical standpoint that “mobile dentistry provided the most straightforward and affordable solution for delivering critical dental services to those who were missing out on them”.
 
To say that Caitlin made good on her research findings would be an understatement. They practically laid the foundation for a business that grew from a modest three-person team in 2016 to a nation-wide mobile dentistry network that today employs 80 staff, including over 30 dentists. Besides providing convenient and affordable dentistry to aged care facilities – which account for 90% of the work they do – MDCA also delivers much-needed oral care services to schools, workplaces, remote areas, prisons and many more places with limited dental access.
 
A significant portion of Caitlin’s research was devoted to finding the right type of equipment that could support the rigorous demands of an itinerant dental team. Taking a less trodden path also meant that she couldn’t turn to peers or Internet forums for help when technical issues arose for her mobile-specific dental equipment, hence it was imperative for her to locate a reliable supplier that could provide critical technical support at the drop of a hat. After trying out several products and suppliers, hitting several bumps along the way, the dental entrepreneur says she has found the ideal equipment and supplier in NSK.
 
The Japanese dental MNC, better known as a high-end handpiece manufacturer, is also the maker of Dentalone. Marketed as “the dentist’s office mobile cart”, Dentalone is created as a portable multi-instrument equipment box for dentists who practice on the go. More specifically, Dentalone caters for operative or preventive dentistry in the field such as humanitarian, home care, schools, army and hospitals.
 
Inside Dentalone’s compact luggage-like cart, the practitioner has access to a wide range of NSK’s high precision instruments including: Illuminated LCD control panel Multi Pad; autoclavable brushless NLX nano micromotor; integrated multi function ultrasonic scaler Varios170 with LED light; VA2-LUX-HP handpiece; 3-way air/water/spray syringe with LED light; saliva ejector; 500ml water tank; and 1-Litre waste container.
 
For an outfit like MDCA that on any given day, dispatches eight mobile dental teams to disparate locations with unpredictable weather and work conditions, via various modes of transport (including vans, ferries and planes), Dentalone has proven itself to be a rugged and reliable companion on the road.
 
“There’s no doubt that we work the (Dentalone) units very hard, pushing it to the limit. For a travelling dental team, we need them to be robust and the instruments must hold up despite the “rumble and tumble” nature of our work,” Caitlin attests.
 
“The fact that they have “survived” bears testimony to Dentalone’s excellent build quality.”
 
The MDCA teams are booked solid six months in advance so any last-minute cancellations due to equipment failure would entail huge financial costs plus it’s not as easy or feasible to reschedule patients when the operation sites are not permanent. Facing such stringent demands, the reliability of NSK’s products and support team is not taken for granted, Caitlin stresses:
 
“In the three years that we’ve been using NSK handpieces, not a single one has broken down and we use more than a hundred units of them. The robustness of these products is critical to the smooth delivery of services that we render on a daily basis.”
 
In terms of technical support and customer service, Caitlin sums up NSK’s performance in one word: Phenomenal.
 
“Whenever an equipment breaks down, we get instantaneous response from NSK’s technical team. Where necessary, they will even courier a part to be delivered the next day just to service your product.”
 
“We have had bad experiences with other suppliers and all I can say is that to compare their ineffectual after-sales support with NSK’s is like comparing apples and oranges – there’s just no comparison whatsoever!”
 
MDCA is currently trialling a more portable iteration of NSK’s mobile dentistry innovation known as Viva 8. Caitlin says of the nifty lightweight model, tipping the scales at 9.5kg:
 
“The fact that they are able to pack an entire surgery into a box that only weighs 9.5kg is a marvel, yet we benefit from its practical application every day. When you’ve got young women lugging these carts onto planes and ferries, having to load and unload them, the increased portability is a much appreciated feature.”
 
Ultimately, whatever improved convenience must be passed on to the patients themselves, Caitlin says, not forgetting the roots of her calling to start MDCA.
 
The same way the licensed pilot made a point to absorb the costs of flying out to under-serviced locations, she emphasises the need for the business to remain true to its volume-based model: “Make less per patient but see more patients.”
“I believe that if you practice ethically and professionally, success will surely follow. If I had gone into business with expectations of becoming a millionaire, I don’t think I would have derived as much job satisfaction and fulfilment as I have.” 

It is not what or who you know but who you are known as that truly matters. That is my salient, if enlightened, takeaway chatting with Brendan Nasser, a former Australian international Rugby Union player (or “wallaby”) and dentist for more than 30 years. 
 
By Danny Chan
 
What was intended to be a hindsight piece celebrating an individual’s sporting achievements dovetailed by an illustrious dental career – Brendan was one of two partners who both recently sold Toowong Dental Group (TDG) to Ekera Dental – became somewhat of a raison d'etre for enduring success.
 
The track that I was originally advancing effectively derailed when I assumed Dr Nasser’s Brisbane surgery walls must be plastered with Rugby Union memorabilia featuring shots of him and old teammates in action. Considering one of the initial founding TDG members also played rugby for Queensland, it was an easy assumption – I mean if any surgery in Australia deserves Rugby-infused decor, surely this was it. 
 
“My rugby days are well in the past. Lest I be accused of boastfulness, I’m reluctant to put up any photos (on the walls of the surgery),” he deadpans. “In fact, that’s the last thing I’d want to do.”
 
Not to be misconstrued as a snub, Dr Nasser quickly adds that he would not be the least perturbed by anyone broaching the subject – he frequently trades rugby and other sports-related banter with patients – it’s only the aggrandizement path that he steers clear of. In any case, he reckons more than half of his patients already know about his sporting background.
 
Dr Nasser was a dental undergraduate at University of Queensland (1986) when he started playing for Queensland Reds. He went on to play 21 games for the Australian Wallabies including 10 test matches as a backrow forward from 1988 to 1992, while plying a dental career in the public sector. This was followed by a 6-year playing and coaching career at the University of Oxford in the UK while he completed a Masters of Studies in Politics and international Relations (1992-1998). 
 
Rather than indulge my fascination about him going from pro sportsman to dental surgeon, Brendan says it wasn’t uncommon in those days to find white-collar professionals playing for the Rugby Union. Besides dentists, fellow moonlighters at the Rugby Union included medical doctors, accountants and lawyers. 
 
Harder to downplay, though, is the fact that Brendan belonged to the legendary squad that helped Australia lift the coveted Rugby World Cup in 1991. The only other time the silverware made it home was at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
 
Not one to relive glory days, Brendan deftly diverts my attention to the importance of preparing a safety net for what follows after. Being a dentist, he says, has provided him a challenging, fulfilling and financially rewarding career – though admittedly, inextricably intertwined with his sporting persona.
 
It was Dr Gil Shearer, he interjects, who recommended him to become a Practice Partner at Toowong Dental Group when an opportunity arose in 1998. Dr Shearer, a Specialist Endodontist at the time, is TDG’s Co-Founder – and former Queensland rugby player back in the 1960s.
 
“Although he was a player before my time, we had a rugby connection. You can’t deny that my rugby profile would have helped in my relationship with Gil.”
 
Brendan mentions another connection that helped paved his professional career, regarding his co-authorship of a series of clinical papers on the role of dental mouthguards in the prevention of sports injury – a subject matter that effectively melded his twin passions. The writing gig was made possible through the papers’ other co-author, Dr Pat Chapman, who is also Brendan’s lecturer at the University of Queensland Dental School and someone whom he considers a life mentor.
 
Dr Nasser’s healthy relationship quotient became more conspicuous as the conversation turns to the recent sale of his practice. Asked why he and his practice partner (Dr Brendan Guthrie) decided on Ekera Dental, the dentist lets on that compared with the other six corporates on his broker’s list, Ekera Dental’s Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Dr Tony Coulepis, was easily “the most relatable and responsive” to their queries.
 
“For the owner of a mid-sized aggregator with around 25 practices, Ekera Dental’s boss was down-to-earth enough to personally discuss terms with a prospective seller.”
 
“From the start, Tony would say that Ekera is a ‘non-corporate corporate’. I have since found that to be a fitting description.”
 
Unlike other firms that tend to corporatize the clinic’s branding and micromanage day-to-day affairs, Dr Nasser says Ekera Dental pretty much leaves them status quo. As one of the two partners who have remained as Practice Principals, Brendan appreciates the autonomy to continue running TDG and treating patients the way he has been for the last 21 years.
 
The practice aggregator is also famous for providing a seamless transition – no name/ signage change or big announcement – such that the existing dentist-patient relationship continues uninterrupted. In fact, that’s the whole idea, and Brendan couldn’t agree more.
 
“That’s arguably the most important thing!” he asserts. “Any disruption to the long-standing relationship can only be detrimental to the longevity of the dental practice.”
 
“For all intents and purposes, patients should continue to see TDG as the same trusted 50-year-old practice in the Western suburbs of Brisbane.”
 
For his part, Dr Nasser remains committed to the high clinical and service standards that TDG is known for. No plans for a semi-retired lifestyle, the 55-year-old stresses:
 
“I’ve always preferred to work than take days off. Right now, I’m very focused on meeting the practice and patient needs, and also the financial goals, even as I serve out the rest of my contracted tenure with Ekera Dental in the years to come.”
 
It may be a stretch but I see a common thread emerging from our conversation. From his enviable camaraderie forged in the crucible of competitive sports to his selection criteria for a practice buyer to his unwavering loyalty to patients and strong work ethic, Brendan is someone who is committed to healthy and successful relationships.
 
Like the watermark of his success, it’s faintly perceptible but if you look closely enough, you’ll see life’s stamp of approval on it. In subtle ways, it speaks to the grit and stamina of a professional athlete and veteran dentist – not to mention husband and father of four kids, aged 12 to 22.  
 
If there were anything aspirational to draw from Brendan’s success, it would not be his rugby, clinical or even people skills – though they are impressive. Neither is it about his ability to cultivate lifelong relationships that will somehow pay back in the distant future. 
 
His success story reminds us of a tried and true saying with regards to the way we treat the people around us: It defines who we are, and what we’re ultimately made of.