FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2012
Contact: Dick Bragaw
(847) 997-3876
Contact: Kevin Smith
(847) 439-1919
Digital Technology Applications in Implant Dentistry "Causing a Revolution," Ping Fu tells AO MeetingAnnual
PHOENIX, AZ, March 3 -- Applications of digital technology to dental implant procedures are "causing a revolution no less important and dramatic than that of the railroads," entrepreneur Ping Fu told the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Osseointegration (AO).
"Dental implant procedures today use digital technology for effective replacement, improved patient experiences and treatment planning," Ping said. "Healthcare processes that once took place only face-to-face can now be executed electronically."
Ping Fu is Chairman and CEO of Geomagic, Research Triangle, NC, a leading software company that pioneers 3D technologies. Previously, she was Director of Visualization at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), where she initiated and managed the NCSA Mosaic browser that led to Netscape and Internet Explorer.
"Digitizing is creating a second economy that's vast, automatic, and invisible, thereby delivering the biggest change since the industrial revolution," she told the AO audience. Ping Fu came straight to the U.S. from a Chinese prison, and her journey to entrepreneurship is a remarkable American dream.
"However, we don't eat e-food, don't sleep on e-beds, and don't chew with e-teeth. This means that ultimately, the integration of both digital and physical workflows (both old and new economies) will make or break your business," she said.
She spoke at the AO's 27th Annual Meeting, held in the Phoenix Convention Center, March 1-3.
Complete program information is available through the Academy's website, www.osseo.org. For more information about Ping Fu and Geomagic, go to www.geomagic.com.
With more than 6,000 members in 70 countries around the world, the Academy of Osseointegration is the world's leading dental implant organization. Its goal is to advance the field of osseointegrated implants by fostering collaboration between representatives of different dental disciplines - oral surgery, periodontics, prosthodontics and general practice - through clinical and evidence-based research and education.
Founded in 1985, it provides a focus for the rapidly advancing biotechnology involving the natural bond between bone and certain alloplastic reconstructive materials. In dentistry, the primary application is replacing missing teeth by affixing a titanium implant into the jawbone, then securing an artificial tooth into the implant that will look, feel and function like a natural tooth.
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