Industry

Sorry if this has been previously covered but I haven't seen this specific query since lurking around here for a few years now.

I have some questions that I have been thinking of for a while, maybe they're not that valid but nonetheless:

1) I understand part of the answer to this question is that these are competitive markets SDI ranges products in but I'm trying to understand just how fungible products are?

and

2) How does product switching work in this industry?

Probably an example would help:

Say I'm a student in dental school and I am learning the practice of dentistry in class/by observation/by doing as an apprentice. If we take one example of a product, acid etch, I am taught that for certain procedures I will need to etch a tooth. I'm taught the steps as well as the general chemistry involved with such a product and its effect on the tooth, risks involved etc. Also because the world is finite during my apprenticeship I see only one or two brands of etch products - this example can be extrapolated for the other product categories in SDI's range (as well as every competitors' range too I don't think this is a uniquely SDI problem).

Now I'm out of dental school setting up my own practice. I obviously want to have a good career and help my patients so I find my distributor, say Henry Schein, and log onto their website to start buying supplies. I know that etch is a basic consumable for a number of different procedures so I search for etch and I am shown 100 different etch products from 30 different suppliers - again extrapolate out for all the other categories.

So what do I do? Do I buy based on price (fungible)? Do I buy based on the brands I saw during my apprenticeship (not fungible)?

Let's say I play it safe and use what I know and I'm now 5 years into my career and my practice is going well. I haven't had any issues with the etch product I use and no patient has complained. I am at a trade show or reading a catalogue and see some other etch producers and hear their spiel. What incentive do I have to switch?

A) I don't think dentistry is the most price-sensitive industry but I see that producers run specials in catalogues etc. so there must be some price competition.
B) If I switch I have to use some of my patients and guinea pigs for the new product I'm switching to. Maybe I cheat and try it out on some staff in the practice or some patients who are open-minded to trying new things but at some point I need to risk someone to try this new product on and then even if the small scale tests are fine I need to risk rolling it out to my entire patient list.

I get that there are healthcare manufacturing rules etc. so hopefully there's not poison in the products but nonetheless what is the incentive to switch if things have been fine with the products I was shown early in my career and the risk is potentially to damage my practice?

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And the etch example is somewhat simplistic in that it is one component in various different procedures that is probably a lot more fungible than others. Say I am the same practicing dentist in the example above and I was shown a whole composite system used for cosmetic procedures during my training. Now if I want to switch to a different composite system there might be four or five different consumable changes I would need to make or else risk mixing and matching consumables from different producers and I don't know how compatible they are with each other because there doesn't seem to be an industry body or something that is tracking consumables compatibility plus there are so many producers and product lines the number of permutations is probably insane.

It seems to me that only the most inquisitive dentists would put in the effort to test out different products while the vast majority would just use what they have already experienced and that it would be heavily informed by their training. Is it even possible to try out all the different products in the course of a career while giving each one a fair shake?

I understand also that there is probably a multitude of factors so price, word of mouth, personal inquisitiveness, other incentives outweigh the risk of experimenting with different products but I am trying to get some feedback as to how it works hopefully someone has some experience and can share.