In a release announcing Sirona Fiscal 2008 Fourth Quarter and full year 2008 results, Chairman, President and CEO, Jost Fischer said that the weakened global economy has resulted in a challenging dental equipment environment and anticipates that in fiscal 2009, both revenues on a constant currency basis and operating income excluding amortization will be flat compared to fiscal 2008. He is confident in the long term prospects of the business because of continued investment in research and development, best-in-class product offerings and excellent relationships with dealer partners.

Sirona recently launched the CEREC® AC Digital Impression Unit - a completely new digital image acquisition center for its CAD/CAM-based all-ceramic restoration system. It replaces the existing CEREC 3 acquisition unit with immediate effect. The cornerstone of the new digital acquisition center is the CEREC Bluecam®, which boasts an automatic image capture system, an anti-shake function, as well as an extensive depth of field. It is capable of digitizing quadrants in less than one minute. "In combination with the CEREC MC XL milling center, the intuitive and user-friendly CEREC 3D software and CEREC Connect the new CEREC AC represents a major step forward in computerized dentistry," says Fischer.

PracticeWorks, Inc. is part of Carestream Health Inc.'s dental systems group. PracticeWorks is the maker of KODAK Dental Systems, which help dental professionals streamline workflow and enhance patient care by enabling them to capture, share and use images and information easily and effectively.

The new KODAK 9000C 3D Extraoral Imaging System enables orthodontic professionals to obtain low-dose, high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D) images, as well as panoramic and cephalometric images, at an affordable price. "One-shot" cephalometric technology maximizes productivity and image quality with image acquisition taking less than one second, and panoramic image quality is optimized for the jaw morphology of the patient with the new variable focal trough feature.

Historically, 3D imaging has been complex, expensive to implement and often relegated to "high-end" procedures performed by specialists. "All that changes with the introduction of the KODAK 9000 3D System," says Rich Hirschland, President of the Worldwide Dental Business for Carestream Health. "While the system can meet the stringent requirements of specialists, it's also ideal for general practitioners who are increasingly performing more complex procedures as part of their daily practices."

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