Niche visitor market: New center for dental training

A soft-spoken, well-mannered specialist in dental technology, Daniel Llop appears an unlikely candidate to spearhead the development of a niche tourism market for Reno and Lake Tahoe.

But Llop expects that his new nSequence Center for Advanced Dentistry in Reno fairly quickly may be contributing $5 million to $10 million a year in economic impact to the region as it draws dentists, vendors of dental products and teaching professionals from around the nation.

To get an idea how it will work, look at an April seminar run by nSequence at its 5,000-square-foot training facility at Kietzke Lane and Neil Road:

Twenty dentists from around the nation paid $625 each to attend a one-day training session alluringly titled "Cone Beam CT Imaging for the Dental Practitioner: Bringing 3D into the Dental Office with iCAT Technology."

The session accredited by the University of Louisville and taught by a couple of big names in the profession also drew a handful of dental suppliers, eager to hang out with sophisticated, forward-looking professionals.

Before long, Llop figures the center will be offering similar training sessions every weekend.

The reasons for his optimism are two-fold.

First, he's invested heavily relying on his savings from 25 years as owner of a dental lab in creation of the high-tech training center.

Twenty individualized training stations allow dentists to put their new skills to work on life-like dummies. A surgical suite outfitted with high-end audio and visual gear allows students to watch master dentists and teachers at work. Some 70 percent of the center's training is hands-on.

And the center includes technology that allows dentists to see high-resolution, three-dimensional scans of a patient's jaws and teeth an invaluable new diagnostic tool.

Llop thinks his center, one of about 10 similar facilities nationwide, is technologically well-positioned to train dentists who are seeing rapid changes in computerized equipment, materials and techniques in their profession.

"People are thirsty for training," he says, noting that the new technology changes the way dentistry has been practiced for 50 years.

The second reason for Llop's optimism about the center is its location in northern Nevada, with Lake Tahoe nearby.

That means nSequence can use the existing tourism infrastructure good air service, lots of hotel rooms to support its weekend educational programs.

And the menu of special events and outdoor activities in the region will help the center draw professionals who likely will linger for a day or two of leisure after their classwork is done.

"The lure is the package," says Llop, a Reno native and enthusiastic hometown booster. "They are able to touch and feel what the city has to offer."

He figures, too, the availability of an educational facility within a couple of miles of the Reno-Sparks Convention Center also might help draw meetings of dental professional groups that could conduct their main sessions at the Convention Center and breakout sessions at nSequence.

"We want to be known as a center of dental excellence," he says.