David Serra - CEO at Quirurgical Bontempi Spain
Episode summary
David Serra, CEO of Quirurgical Bontempi Spain, recounts building the Spanish distribution of the German Bontempi surgical instrument brand over roughly 35 years, starting at age 22 as a university economics student after a visit to the Expodental congress in Madrid. He argues that the industry's core challenge is translating clinicians' real needs into non-consumable steel instruments, a task requiring constant proactivity and quality. Serra highlights needle holders and scissors as Bontempi's historic mainstays and identifies the ZAGA Kit as his proudest achievement, calling himself its 'material father' and Dr. Carlos Aparicio its intellectual father; the kit solved an unmet global need in zygomatic implant surgery through precise blade inclination and handle geometry. As an Edentulism Conference 2025 sponsor in Barcelona, Bontempi will present the ZAGA Kit and a lightweight, cable-free magnifying helmet with an eight-hour battery.
Key takeaways
- David Serra is the CEO of Quirurgical Bontempi Spain and an economist by profession.
- Serra took on Bontempi's Spanish and Portuguese distribution around 35 years ago at age 22, while in his third year of university, after visiting the Expodental congress in Madrid.
- Bontempi's two historically most important instrument families are needle holders and scissors.
- The ZAGA Kit is Bontempi's instrument set for placing zygomatic implants via the ZAGA technique; Dr. Carlos Aparicio is its intellectual originator and Serra its manufacturing developer.
- The ZAGA Kit required precise design work, including adjusting blade inclination and using a longer, larger-diameter handle so the instrument would not shift when force is applied to lift a flap.
- Bontempi is a sponsor of the Edentulism Conference 2025, held June 5-7 in Barcelona, Spain.
- Bontempi's magnifying helmet is lightweight, cable-free, provides strong illumination and has a battery lasting about eight hours.
What you'll learn
- How the ZAGA Kit was engineered from Dr. Aparicio's specific surgical needs (blade inclination, handle length and diameter to prevent shifting during flap retraction)
- Why non-consumable instruments demand continuous proactivity and quality versus consumables like implants
- How evolving metal alloys changed instrument hardness and design over three decades
- The value of a lightweight, cable-free magnifying helmet with an 8-hour battery for zygomatic implant surgery
- How Bontempi turns clinician feedback across universities and specialties into new instrumentation
About the guest
David Serra
David Serra is the CEO of Quirurgical Bontempi Spain and an economist by training. Roughly 35 years ago, while in his third year of university and aged 22, he became the Spanish and Portuguese distributor for the German surgical instrument brand Bontempi after a visit to the Expodental congress in Madrid. He has since built the business around clinician-driven, non-consumable instrumentation and describes himself as the 'material father' of the ZAGA Kit, of which Dr. Carlos Aparicio is the intellectual father.
About Quirurgical Bontempi España
Spanish arm of the Bontempi surgical instrument brand, supplying dental and surgical instruments including needle holders, scissors, extractors, bone instruments and the ZAGA Kit for zygomatic implant placement, as well as a lightweight cable-free magnifying helmet.
HQ: Barcelona, Spain · Founded: c. 1990 (Bontempi Spain distributorship, per '35 years ago' in a 2025 episode) · https://www.bontempi.es/
Relevance to zygomatic implants: Manufactures the ZAGA Kit, the instrument set used to place zygomatic implants following the ZAGA technique, developed with Dr. Carlos Aparicio; sponsor of the Edentulism Conference 2025.
