Dentsply Sirona’s DS World Las Vegas 2026 Connects Clinical and Laboratory Education

Dentsply Sirona World Las Vegas 2026 is set to bring dental professionals together from September 24 to 26 for an education-focused event designed to connect clinical expertise, laboratory innovation and digital workflows. The programme is built around a central idea: greater confidence in dentistry comes not simply from acquiring more knowledge, but from understanding how clinical decisions, laboratory processes, technology and patient care work together.

Taking place in Las Vegas, the event will feature evidence-based presentations, interdisciplinary case discussions, hands-on training, laboratory education and opportunities to explore emerging dental technologies. Dentsply Sirona said the programme is intended to equip dental professionals with practical strategies that can support more predictable treatment outcomes, improve patient experiences, streamline workflows and strengthen clinical confidence.

Rather than separating clinical and laboratory education, this year's event places greater emphasis on the connections between the two. The programme will bring clinicians, laboratory teams and certified dental technicians into discussions around digital dentistry, implant restorations, prosthetics, digital dentures and collaborative workflows.

Main Stage Focuses on Practical and Evidence-Based Dentistry

The main stage programme will feature a line-up of clinical experts and industry thought leaders who will examine some of the challenges shaping modern dentistry. Presentations will combine evidence-based education with interdisciplinary case discussions, giving attendees opportunities to explore how different areas of dental practice can work together to improve treatment planning and outcomes.

Among the featured speakers is Dr Melonie MacDonald, who will examine how digital workflows can contribute to improved clinical outcomes while also supporting stronger patient engagement and professional satisfaction. Her session will look at the role of digital tools not simply as technologies used during treatment, but as part of a broader workflow that can influence communication, efficiency and the patient experience.

Dr Luciano Retana will focus on four foundational prosthetic principles that can guide decision-making across a broad range of implant cases. The session is designed to translate core prosthetic concepts into practical approaches that clinicians can apply in everyday practice, particularly when navigating complex treatment decisions.

Exploring the Connection Between Oral and Systemic Health

The programme will also examine the increasingly recognised relationship between oral health and broader systemic care. Dr Sejal Thacker will discuss the evolution of systemic care and emerging approaches to treating peri-implantitis. The session will explore how dental professionals can consider oral health within the wider context of a patient's overall health and how developments in treatment approaches may influence the management of implant-related conditions.

The focus reflects a broader shift within dentistry towards more integrated patient care. As clinicians increasingly consider the interaction between oral conditions, systemic health and long-term patient outcomes, education that connects different areas of healthcare can become increasingly important.

Clinician-Laboratory Collaboration Takes Centre Stage

Another major component of the programme will focus on the relationship between dental clinicians and laboratory teams. Dr Maria Van Huffel and Devaughn Fraser will guide attendees through the Atlantis BridgeBase workflow, demonstrating how closer collaboration between clinical and laboratory professionals can simplify processes, improve communication and contribute to more consistent patient care.

The session reflects one of the central themes of DS World Las Vegas 2026: treatment outcomes are often influenced by what happens between different stages of the dental workflow. Communication between clinicians and laboratories can affect everything from treatment planning and restoration design to production, adjustments and final delivery. By examining these processes together, the event aims to provide professionals with a clearer understanding of how connected workflows can reduce friction and create more efficient treatment pathways.

Complex Cases Highlight the Value of Connected Workflows

Dr Vishal Sharma will present complex cases demonstrating how interdisciplinary collaboration and connected workflows can contribute to greater treatment predictability and improved patient outcomes.

Complex dental cases frequently require multiple areas of expertise, making communication between clinicians, technicians and other members of the treatment team particularly important. Case-based learning can allow attendees to see how different decisions interact throughout the treatment journey and how technology can support coordination between professionals.

The emphasis on complex cases also reinforces the practical nature of the event. Rather than focusing solely on individual technologies or procedures, the programme aims to show how different tools and professional skills can come together within a complete treatment workflow.

Dedicated Laboratory Education Expands the Programme

For 2026, DS World Las Vegas will also feature a dedicated laboratory education track designed specifically for laboratory teams and certified dental technicians. The track will combine lectures with hands-on training covering digital dentures, implant restorations, aesthetic zirconia finishing and digital collaboration between laboratories and clinicians.

The dedicated laboratory programme is significant because laboratories play an increasingly important role in digital dentistry. As restorative and prosthetic workflows become more digitally connected, laboratory professionals are working with increasingly sophisticated technologies and materials while also collaborating more closely with clinicians. The laboratory track is designed to address these practical requirements through sessions that focus on both technical skills and workflow optimisation.

Digital Denture Training and Workflow Optimisation

One area of focus will be the Lucitone Digital Print Denture post-printing workflow. Attendees will explore processes including assembly, polymerisation and finishing, providing laboratory professionals with practical education around the stages that follow digital denture printing.

The programme will also cover advanced digital denture troubleshooting and workflow optimisation. These sessions are intended to help laboratory professionals identify challenges within digital processes and develop approaches that can improve efficiency and consistency.

As digital denture production becomes increasingly accessible, understanding the full workflow—from digital design and printing through post-processing and finishing—can be as important as understanding the technology itself.

Implant and Restorative Workflows

Implant restoration will be another important component of the laboratory track. Attendees will receive education on Atlantis CustomBase restorative workflows as well as Atlantis solutions covering cases ranging from single-unit restorations to full-arch implant treatments. The programme will also include education around Atlantis BridgeBase workflows, reinforcing the event's wider focus on connecting laboratory processes with clinical treatment planning.

For dental teams working on implant cases, coordination between clinicians and laboratories can be particularly important because restorative decisions often influence surgical and treatment-planning considerations. Bringing both perspectives into the same educational environment can therefore provide professionals with a more complete view of the treatment process.

Advancing Zirconia Finishing Techniques

Aesthetic restoration will also feature prominently, with laboratory professionals able to explore staining and glazing techniques for Cercon zirconia restorations. As zirconia continues to play an important role in restorative dentistry, finishing techniques can have a significant influence on the aesthetic characteristics of a final restoration. Education focused on staining, glazing and finishing can therefore help technicians refine both their technical processes and their approach to achieving desired clinical outcomes.

The combination of technical training with broader workflow education reflects the event's attempt to address the full range of skills required within modern dental laboratories.

Connecting Laboratories and Clinicians Through Digital Platforms

Another part of the laboratory programme will examine digital collaboration through Dentsply Sirona's DS Core cloud platform. Cloud-based platforms are increasingly being used to connect different participants in dental workflows, allowing information and case-related communication to move more efficiently between clinics and laboratories. The session will explore how digital collaboration can support communication and coordination between the two sides of the treatment process.

This is particularly relevant as dentistry moves towards more connected digital ecosystems. Technology is no longer limited to individual machines or isolated clinical procedures; it is increasingly being used to connect people, data and workflows across the entire patient journey.

Understanding the Expanding 3D-Printing Landscape

The laboratory track will also examine the role of Lucitone Digital Print within the broader and rapidly expanding range of 3D-printing resins available to dental laboratories. As more materials and digital manufacturing options enter the market, laboratory professionals must increasingly evaluate not only what a material can produce but also how it fits within their existing workflow, equipment and production requirements.

By placing specific products and techniques within the wider context of digital manufacturing, the programme aims to give attendees a more practical understanding of how digital tools can be incorporated into modern laboratory operations.

More Than 60 Hands-On Courses and 30 Lectures

Beyond the main stage and dedicated laboratory track, DS World Las Vegas 2026 will offer more than 60 hands-on courses and over 30 lectures across its wider educational programme.

The combination of lectures and practical sessions is designed to give attendees different ways of engaging with the material. While lectures can provide evidence, clinical perspectives and broader industry insights, hands-on courses can allow professionals to work directly with techniques, technologies and workflows.

Participants will also have opportunities to earn continuing education credits, making the event relevant to professionals seeking to maintain their ongoing education requirements while gaining exposure to new approaches and technologies.

Networking and Technology Demonstrations

Education will be accompanied by networking opportunities, product demonstrations and opportunities to explore developments shaping connected dentistry. For dental professionals, such events can provide value beyond formal sessions by creating opportunities to exchange experiences with peers, compare approaches and learn how other practices and laboratories are adapting to changes in technology and patient expectations.

The combination of clinical education, laboratory training and technology demonstrations is intended to give attendees a broader understanding of where dentistry is heading and how different parts of the profession are evolving together.

Building Confidence Through Connected Education

The underlying message of DS World Las Vegas 2026 is that professional confidence is not simply about accumulating information. It is about understanding how knowledge can be applied across a complete workflow.

For clinicians, that may mean understanding how digital tools influence treatment planning and patient communication. For laboratory professionals, it may mean understanding how their technical decisions affect clinical outcomes. For both, it may mean learning how stronger communication and better-connected systems can make treatment more predictable. By bringing these perspectives together, Dentsply Sirona is positioning the event as an educational platform that looks at dentistry as a connected ecosystem rather than a collection of separate professional functions.

Why This Matters

Modern dentistry is becoming increasingly digital, collaborative and interdisciplinary. A successful treatment can depend on the interaction between clinical expertise, laboratory precision, digital technology, materials, communication and patient expectations.

That makes education that crosses professional boundaries increasingly valuable. DS World Las Vegas 2026 reflects this shift by giving clinical and laboratory professionals space to learn within the same broader ecosystem. The event's emphasis on digital workflows, implant restoration, digital dentures, advanced materials and clinician-laboratory collaboration suggests that the future of dentistry will depend not only on better individual technologies but on how effectively those technologies connect people and processes.

The larger question is therefore not simply which new tool a dental professional should adopt. It is whether the entire treatment journey can become more connected, predictable and patient-centred.

Editor's Note

There is an interesting contradiction at the heart of modern dentistry. The profession has more technology than ever before. Digital scanners, cloud platforms, 3D printing, advanced restorative materials and increasingly sophisticated treatment-planning tools are transforming what dental professionals can do. Yet having access to more technology does not automatically make care better.

The real question is what happens when all of these technologies, people and decisions have to work together. A clinician may make an excellent treatment plan, but the outcome can still depend on how effectively that plan is communicated to a laboratory. A technician may produce an exceptionally precise restoration, but its success ultimately depends on how it fits into the patient's clinical treatment. A digital workflow may save time, but only if the people using it understand where it creates value and where it introduces new challenges.

This is why the theme behind DS World Las Vegas 2026 feels particularly relevant. Confidence does not necessarily come from knowing more. It can come from understanding how everything connects. That idea extends well beyond dentistry.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is DS World Las Vegas 2026?

DS World Las Vegas 2026 is an educational event organised by Dentsply Sirona for dental professionals. The event will combine clinical education, laboratory training, hands-on courses, lectures, networking and demonstrations of dental technologies and workflows.

2. When will DS World Las Vegas 2026 take place?

DS World Las Vegas 2026 is scheduled to take place from September 24 to 26, 2026, in Las Vegas, United States.

3. Who can attend DS World Las Vegas 2026?

The programme is designed for dental professionals across clinical and laboratory settings, including clinicians, laboratory teams and certified dental technicians. The wider programme also offers opportunities for professionals interested in digital dentistry and connected workflows.

4. What will the main stage programme cover?

The main stage will feature evidence-based presentations and interdisciplinary case discussions covering digital workflows, prosthetic principles, peri-implantitis, clinician-laboratory collaboration, implant workflows and complex dental cases.

5. Who are some of the featured speakers?

Featured speakers include Dr Melonie MacDonald, Dr Luciano Retana, Dr Sejal Thacker, Dr Maria Van Huffel, Devaughn Fraser and Dr Vishal Sharma. Their sessions will address clinical workflows, prosthetics, systemic care, digital dentistry and interdisciplinary treatment.

6. Will there be a dedicated laboratory programme?

Yes. DS World Las Vegas 2026 will feature a dedicated laboratory track specifically designed for laboratory teams and certified dental technicians. It will combine lecture-based education with hands-on training.

7. What will the laboratory track cover?

The laboratory programme will include digital dentures, implant restorations, Cercon zirconia finishing, Atlantis restorative workflows, digital denture troubleshooting, 3D-printing materials and clinician-laboratory collaboration through digital platforms.

8. What is the focus of the digital denture sessions?

Sessions will cover the Lucitone Digital Print Denture post-printing workflow, including assembly, polymerisation and finishing, as well as troubleshooting and workflow optimisation for digital dentures.

9. Will the event cover implant dentistry?

Yes. Implant education will feature across the clinical and laboratory programmes, including prosthetic principles, Atlantis CustomBase workflows, Atlantis BridgeBase workflows and solutions for cases ranging from single-unit restorations to full-arch implant treatments.

10. Will attendees be able to earn continuing education credits?

Yes. Attendees will have opportunities to earn continuing education credits through the event's educational programme.

11. How many educational sessions will be available?

The wider DS World Las Vegas 2026 programme will include more than 60 hands-on courses and over 30 lectures, in addition to the dedicated laboratory education sessions and main stage presentations.

12. Why is clinician-laboratory collaboration a major theme?

Modern digital dentistry increasingly depends on close coordination between clinicians and laboratory professionals. Better communication and connected workflows can help improve treatment planning, restoration processes, efficiency and the predictability of patient outcomes.