We are delighted to announce DSD’s recent official partnership with XO CARE.
A Danish company that creates high-end ergonomic dental chair units and chairside technologies, XO CARE is known for high-end design, quality and innovation, which are all qualities that we aspire to here at DSD. Through this partnership, we emphasize our aligned vision of excellence in dentistry that is achieved by great design.
Kim Sørensen, CEO and owner of XO CARE, expands on what this partnership means: “I think we have very much the same thinking in that we want to do the best for our customers. I mean, I think your tagline could also be extraordinary dentistry. And I think we have the same, I mean, we have very much the same competencies and experience. We use them for different purposes.
Your services are not the same as our services but I think we complement each other very well. And this is more or less my thing: I really like to work with and know people who are thinking about esthetics and quality and improvement of life for, in our case, for our customers – dental practices. I think that we have many, many common aspects. So I think it's very logical that we are working together and sharing experiences, and I also think and hope that we will together be able to develop some new solutions and create some new extraordinary things for our customers.”
Exclusive partnership benefits
To mark this alliance, DSD and XO CARE are extending a special offer to DSD Clinics - an exclusive discount on the purchase of an XO FLEX 2020 unit until January 2021. In addition, to celebrate this exceptional partnership, in November 2020 Christian Coachman invited Kim Sørensen to join him in a special episode of Coffee Break with Coachman: ‘The State-of-the-Art Dental Chair’.
In an insightful conversation, they discussed making beauty from efficiency and simplicity, and the process of combining art and engineering to create something that is functional and meets the needs of customers before bringing in esthetics. They also spoke about the four dimensions of value that XO CARE solutions provide for customers in pursuit of extraordinary dentistry.
To watch the interview between Christian and Kim Sørensen in full you can access it on our brand-new video streaming platform, WatchDSD, or read their conversation below👇 👇
Design in dentistry
Christian Coachman:
One thing is to design and manufacture good quality dental equipment. Another thing is to bring super high-level concepts of design to the equipment. As an engineer, you need to understand design but you don't necessarily need to make design your passion. I see that design is your passion. So, how did you combine engineering with this artistic side? Where did you learn design and how did you fall in love with design and how did you bring this to dentistry?
Kim Sørensen:
It's a good question. I never studied design but I had some good masters, I would say and the best of the best, who I learned the most from, was a man called Mr Lenatof. I bought his company about 25 years ago and worked together with him for many years. He was a great designer, I would say, and also did act like myself, but I learned a lot from him. And I think that his thinking and my thinking now is very much based on the Bauhaus tradition from Germany: very simple designs, nothing that you don't need. Back to basics, the absolute minimum that you need. This is, I think in our country in Denmark, we have a long tradition for, let's say, making things very lean and simple.
Christian Coachman:
I actually love design in general from the Nordic countries. You guys are really masters on many different levels in many different areas of design. So, having a company leading the design of dental equipment is not a coincidence, it's something that's natural for you guys.
You mentioned something about simplicity. I believe DaVinci said, "Simplicity is the ultimate level of sophistication." What is the process? Because there are two things that you guys do very well, I believe: creating sophistication with simplicity and combining esthetics with function. How can you explain this process of making not superfluous excessive beauty, but beauty from efficiency and simplicity?
Kim Sørensen:
Yeah, I think it's a kind of process that's difficult to explain. I would not say artistic but it's more like art than engineering. It's a combination of those two things. That on the one hand, I feel we must do something that is working, with things where they belong. Speaking about dental equipment, that it's functional. And I think of course, it's unique. One thing is good design in esthetics but if it’s not functional, it doesn't really help anything I think. So, the first requirement is that it must be functional, it must do the job. And then second, we try to say: "Without losing focus on doing the job, how can we make it look good?" And that is often the very long process that takes many, many iterations – a long time.
Christian Coachman:
You guys use a lot of the latest technologies, of course, to create the equipment, to plan the projects and to manufacture the pieces and everything. But with all the technologies that you use to manage the projects and manufacture the products, what is the beginning of the process like? Is it still very analog, very artistic? How do you sketch your ideas? How do you translate the first step?
Kim Sørensen:
I think the first step is to watch all the customers, the dentists working. "How do you work?" And it's very interesting to go to a dental practice and be a fly on the wall to see what they do. I have often wondered why they do the things they do or why they work the way they work. And then, the next step is to say, "What could be done? How could it be done in a different way?" But what I also think is very important is how we can use technology. I'm an engineer – how can we use technology to create solutions that can help our customers to work in a better way? The process, I think, starts by watching the user.
Function and esthetics
Christian Coachman:
So, it’s understanding the needs. It's not an artistic vision and then you try to fit this to the need. You start from the need and then through the process, you bring your art and design to make it look good.
Kim Sørensen:
Yes, but I think for us, function comes first; it must do the job. And then, the design or the looks, so the esthetics comes. Maybe it's a kind of combination, but I never compromise the function.
Christian Coachman:
Unfortunately, maybe many dentists should learn from that because we see nowadays, unfortunately, this whole thing with the superficial esthetics and veneers and smile makeovers where people are putting esthetics above function. Being functional can also be beautiful but beautiful should never come before function. Is that the way you think?
Kim Sørensen:
No, but I think it's a combination. I think it's a kind of iterative process. The first design doesn't look very good and maybe it doesn't function very well either. Then, it's a long process. So gradually, the design becomes better. But I think the most difficult thing is to not only have function but also have good esthetics – to have both. I think it's also a combination: it's the same process, you cannot split them, you cannot throw away the function and afterwards make the design, you need to do it in a kind of combined process.
Christian Coachman:
Do you agree that usually, naturally, when you develop something that is functioning very well, naturally it usually looks good as well?
Kim Sørensen:
No, I don't think so. You can have very good function that looks very bad.
Christian Coachman:
Yeah. For me function is usually a hint. It gives you a hint that if something functions well, then you can be creative to make it look better, right?
Kim Sørensen:
Yes.
Christian Coachman:
At the end of the day, if you had to make a decision on a certain feature of your equipment that is functioning very well and doesn’t look good, but if you were to make it look better, it would harm the function a little, which side would you compromise?
Kim Sørensen:
I find it hard to compromise on the function. I think it must work well.
Christian Coachman:
So, you push yourself to be creative, not harm function and find a way to make it look the best it possibly can?
Kim Sørensen:
If the function to start with, let's say, leads to a design that doesn't look good, I think it's hard work. You have to go through many processes and then hopefully - and probably normally in the end - it's possible to find the ways of also making it look good to combine the two. Normally it's possible but it takes a very, very long time. Sometimes people say, "Why do you never finish what you do?" And the reason for this is that I want to both make it functional and make it look good.
Extraordinary dentistry and providing value
Christian Coachman:
Your company has a tagline that I really like. You say, "Extraordinary Dentistry." What is it exactly you guys mean when you say extraordinary dentistry?
Kim Sørensen:
First, I would say that it's in contrast to ordinary dentistry. In my eyes, it's something better than let's say, ordinary dentistry. But also, I think it's about giving value to the customers. It's not only about selling a dental chair; it's also that our customers who invest in our solutions get value for their money.
And what do I mean by value? We are looking at four different dimensions of value. I would say in the dental unit business, many people think that a dental unit is a dental unit. I mean, it's a kind of generic product, everybody says it's the same, maybe the only difference is the price and maybe the design.
But I also think that the functionality is very important. Why do the practices invest in a dental unit? They do that because like you, they want to make teeth. So of course, it matters that you have a good tool that can really help you do quality work for your patients. The first thing is the quality of treatment – to give the customers, the users, a good tool that really works. And the second value is, from the point of the patient, that the patients are comfortable and safe. That's also important. Also, that they can stay calm. If they are comfortable and feel safe, they are probably more relaxed and you can easily work with them.
And the third thing is the health of the dental team themselves. Many dentists have health problems.
Posture, yes – most dentists have some kind of problem with their health.
And the fourth thing is that a dental practice is also a business and there must also be profitability and high productivity in the work. So, then those are all four value dimensions. If you can do all those four things, we make extraordinary dentistry.
Christian Coachman:
With DSD, we research and we try to understand the behavior of patients when they see professionals that are beyond average. How can you make people perceive you as different, as extraordinary, as not common – how can you stand out, how can you differentiate yourself and how can you create a special experience for the patient, and what is the impact that this generates on the patient? Often, without the patient even noticing, this is the unconscious perceived value that will bring return on the investment for the doctor.
It's proven that high-end design and high-end technology generates an unconscious positive response in people. People relate high-end design, high-end sophistication, high-end technology to quality, to trust, to confidence, to comfort, and so on. I believe that all these factors come embedded in a chair like this. Do you agree?
Kim Sørensen:
I agree, yes. I also think for patients in general, it's difficult for a patient to judge whether a dentist is going to do a good job or not do a good job. How can they? I mean, maybe in your business with esthetics you can see the difference, but speaking about traditional dentistry, it’s not easy for the patients to judge that.
I think a signal for quality is how the practice looks when you come into the practice, does it look professional or not?
Christian Coachman:
All the details will generate a psychological impact that, at the end of the day, will make the patient judge. Patients are constantly judging. And as you said, since they don't know dentistry and dentistry is very hard for a non-dentist to value, this judgment is a combination of factors. Yes, if you do a crown and you bite and it breaks, you know it was poorly done. But many times, patients don't know how to value that. So they are unconsciously looking around and giving a rating for this dentist – and all these details count. I can tell you that design, quality, sophistication, behavior, experience, ambiance, everything counts.
Kim Sørensen:
I agree. You're right.
Christian Coachman:
When a dentist looks at your chair and tells you, "It looks cool but there's another chair that is one third of the price," when a dentist is challenging you with the value and you only have a few seconds, what are the words that you would use to make the doctor re-think what he just said and consider exploring having a chair like yours?
Kim Sørensen:
Well, I would first try to understand the values of the specific dentist that I am speaking with. Is it about doing the best possible treatments? Is it about having health problems himself or herself? I have the four topics that I mentioned before so I will try to understand which one of those four topics is the most interesting for this person. And then, I will explain our solution.
For example, if I have somebody like you, who is - I believe - very interested in doing high-quality treatments, I will speak about how precisely you can control the instruments of the unit, that the instruments are placed so that you can reach them without losing focus on the patient so you don't have to look away and can focus and do a bit higher quality work. I would speak about things like that.
But in general, I would also speak about the lifetime or the service life of the product, because our units are normally used for a period of about 20 years. So the time of depreciation is about 20 years and I think not all units on the market last for 20 years. So, even though the price is maybe, let's say, double of an ordinary unit, if it lasts double the time and it has a double lifespan, it doesn't cost more – it's just a better solution.
Christian Coachman:
And if I may add one thing, as you said, function and beauty don't necessarily come together. You may have an amazing piece of equipment that can last for 20 years but maybe it won’t look good or won’t be the trend in 10 years. And what I like about the fact that you guys focus on clean and simple sophisticated design is that usually it becomes a classic. Good design is not about the trend; it goes beyond the trend and it becomes a classical design. You look at something that was designed by Bauhaus 50 years ago and it still looks good. So, do you believe that the chair that you're designing today has such a quality of design that will still look good in 20 years?
Kim Sørensen:
The chair that we sell today, the basic model of this chair was brought on the market about 16 years ago. So, it has already been 16 years, well, we have made lots of improvements and so on. But basically the product is 16 years old and I think it can last for many more years. And then after that, it will last 20 years in the dental practices. So, I think the lifespan of our products is something like maybe 40, 50 years: it has a long time span.
Why is design important?
Christian Coachman:
Yeah. And if a doctor tells you, "I know you guys are saying that you have amazing design, I don't care about design that much. Why is design important?" How would you answer this?
Kim Sørensen:
I will sometimes try to put myself into the situation of my customer. And I think what you can say about dental practitioners is that you work eight hours a day on your unit, your chair, every day of the week, for maybe 20 years. I mean, maybe you spend like 20 - 30,000 hours on this chair. Maybe in your bed you spend as much time but apart from that, you don't spend so much time with anything. So sitting down with your chair every day, if it still looks good after a long time, I mean, it matters I think for your wellbeing.
So, that's one thing. But also, in some places it's difficult to attract employees. If you want to attract employees, one of the things you can do is to have a nice-looking practice and also nice-looking units. And even for the patients, like we spoke about before, if they see a practice that looks good, with good-looking chairs and units, it's a way to attract patients.
Christian Coachman:
I definitely understand the importance for the dentist. If you're going to spend almost eight hours of your day there, Monday to Friday for decades, can you imagine one third of your professional life looking at something ugly? That's the first point that you made that I think is very important. The other point, the impact on the patient, we already mentioned that, but you mentioned a new point that I liked very much: the impact on the staff. A good-looking practice will not only make the existing staff more proud and happier to work there, but you will probably attract better people, good people; smart people are attracted by good things. So, if you have an office that looks good, you have a tendency to attract better people to work with you.
Kim Sørensen:
I agree.
The future for dentistry
Christian Coachman:
Where do you see the industry going and what are the new projects that you guys are involved in?
Kim Sørensen:
I think that, let's say in general, I think the trend is that dental practices get bigger. In the old days or until recently, a dental practice was with one dentist and a few employees. Now we have big dental groups. And so I think that you have the big practices with many operatories and many employees meaning that you must have solutions that are easy to understand and to work with. Because people are maybe working part- time in the practice, they never read the instructions for use, so it must be intuitive and easy to work with the product and understand the product – and I think that is getting more and more important. Dental units have something to do with design I think, to make it easy to and intuitive to use and work with.
Another trend is that we need to document more and more what we do. All of us. We, the manufacturers, have a lot of new legislation that requires that we document everything we do. And I think even for dentists, this is the trend: that we need to document everything. So, we also need to make solutions that can help the dental practices to document what they actually do.
And the third thing has been emphasized, I think, by the Covid situation: sepsis and the cross-contamination problems, many people have been speaking a lot about aerosols the last few months.
And the fact is that some studies show that in a dental operatory, everything is aerosols, they go everywhere. They just don't stay around the mouth of the patient, they spread all over the room. So, I also think that traditionally, the treatment room was also a storage room for all kinds of things. But the fact is, aerosol is also spreading everywhere, then you need to disinfect practically everything in the treatment room. So, I think the time of storing things in the treatment room is over – you need to have the sterilization somewhere else and only let's say, bring in the things that you actually need for the treatment, kind of lean thinking. So, I think lean thinking from manufacturing will also come into dental practices – you plan your work and you bring into the operatory only the things that you need.
Christian Coachman:
They need to be easy to clean.
Kim Sørensen:
Yes, easy and fast but not to clean more than necessary. And I also think that dentists will have to - because the cleaning will take a longer time anyway than before - so I think that to maintain a high productivity, dentists need more than one chair. Maybe they need two, maybe they need three chairs that they can work on one chair while the other or the two others are cleaned and disinfected, that's the way to keep up the productivity. So, that also puts some requirements on the design of the unit and on the working space. I think also the size of the treatment room will get smaller so that you can have more treatment rooms in the same practice size. So, that's some trends that I see.
Christian Coachman:
Yeah, the architectural projects for modern clinics will change a little bit, not only bringing the concepts of good taste, design, experience and ambience, but also efficiency, ergonomics, biosafety. So, I know that your equipment is in line with all these objectives: biosafety, simplicity, user-friendly, design, esthetics, function, ergonomics, ambience, experience and performance. These are - I think - the best words to describe all the good ideas that we are bringing into dentistry.
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