Considering Digital Dentistry Still?
Today’s line of intraoral scanners are nothing like the ones of the first and second generations. Today the features and accuracy have been extremely enhanced to allow for multiple indications and restorative processes to be used with Intraoral scanning. Today’s scanning, digital technology, and capabilities have provided the ability to save time, money and see more patients, all while providing more accurate solutions.
Scanners today are considered by many to be more accurate than traditional impressions. In addition to the hardware advantages, there are also many software functions that help shorten the workflow considerably from previous generations. There are not many challenges in intraoral scanners as there once was. Here are some strong points to consider while looking to jump into the digital dental world when it comes to intraoral scanning.
Increase Patient Flow and Save time
It has been confirmed by many studies that intraoral scanners save time. Now the job is comparing the digital workflow to your existing workflow to see what is best for your practice or office. It takes 5 minutes to scan and you are done, and ready to send your lab the file so they can begin working on the indicated restoration or solution. No material is used, no waiting for the impression material to dry, no gagging, and no mess. Sending cases digitally also saves on shipping time, reduces the number of days in the lab, and Only requires 1 way of shipping. The solution is the digital workflow. With these benefits, you will be able to see an increase in the number of patients you’re able to scan in the same amount of time.
Increased Accuracy and Reduction of Manual Errors
Since the accuracy and reliability of intraoral scanners have been established from numerous studies and research organizations. Reducing the time and physical aspect of taking an impression, manual errors are significantly reduced. There is a slight learning curve but with most technology in today’s level of user experiences, it’s a short time to get up to speed. Our CEO Kamil Karroum says “For our lab, it’s much easier and more accurate to process work from digital impressions”
Save Money
While the exact savings of switching to digital changes from practice to practice. However, the savings are significant especially if you currently take several impressions per week. Since it is a digital impression there is no waste of impression material, containers/single-use plastic coverings, and also shipping materials and the price for a shipping label to send the impression to your laboratory.
Improve Patient Comfort
As discussed earlier, the concerns of using impression material can include, gagging, having to dry the mouth very well, and even unforeseen allergies. Taking a physical impression comparatively is unpleasant for everyone involved. Digitally scanning is more comfortable than taking a physical impression and there are many customer surveys from around the world to back up that. It goes by quickly and there is no mess around them. It’s much less threatening than the physical impressioning process”. By improving their comfort during the impressioning process it goes a long way to achieving patient satisfaction from their entire experience.
By all accounts of the digital dental market, it is expected to grow year over year for the foreseeable future. It is not going away, it is not a fad and the technology is stable and reliable. The advantages of increasing patient flow, saving time, increasing accuracy, saving money, and improving patient comfort by switching to a digital dental workflow. The goal here was not to sway to one product or another because there are many products that have unique features and benefits to align with different existing workflows. Updating – not upgrading to digital dental workflow is now a necessity for many and indications and virtually all aspects of the dental industry.