Blog Category: Dental Technologies

The Future of Digital Dentistry

Digital dentistry is growing at a fast pace and there is more on the horizon. For dental practices, the developments in the digital dentistry sphere mean that offices must play catch up in order to enjoy the numerous benefits that come with digitizing. Here are some of the benefits that will keep getting better as the future of digital dentistry becomes a reality.

Improved Workflow with Digital Dentistry

Improved workflow already exists because of digitization in the dental office. For example, the advances in intraoral cameras like the IRIS USB 2.0 Dental Camera have triggered a shift to paperless dental offices. Images from the intraoral camera can be stored in a patient’s digital file directly using the dental office management software integration with the imaging technology.

Similarly, it’s now easier than ever to receive or send the patient’s records if the primary dental care provider changes. All this is possible thanks to digilization.

Faster Turnaround Times for Dental Patients

The future of digital dentistry will also see a further reduction in the turnaround time needed to provide various aspects of dental care, such as the fabrication of restorations (dental crowns, for example).

This is possible because the links between the fabricators and dental offices are stronger due to digitization. A clear example is the way you can transmit the images captured by the XTG Handheld X-Ray and IRIS Intraoral scanner directly to a fabricator instead of preparing and shipping the mold. This reduced turnaround time eliminates lengthy wait time for patients who need restorations.

Better Diagnosis with Digital Dentistry

Patient care largely depends on the ability of a dental office’s accurate diagnosis of each condition before treatment procedures can be initiated. The future of digital dentistry contains many areas of diagnostics. For example, caries detection is evolving rapidly. Already, sub-enamel illumination devices like LUM have made examing the mouth a breeze. It was nearly impossible to have a clear quality picture in previous years. Before the LUM, dentists would miss important clues that would help in diagnosing the patient.

Lower Costs for Your Practice with Digital Dentistry

The future of digital dentistry also holds promise regarding the costs of providing care to patients. For example, the use of intraoral scanners and cameras like the IRIS USB 2.0 Chair Dental Camera increases the accuracy of the dental restorations made. In addition, costly rework is avoided, and the savings made are transferred to the patient in the form of lower charges.

Furthermore, the future of digital dentistry will see more in-house fabrication of restorations rather than what is the current practice of sending models and any fabrication work to external entities. Fabricating in-house can lower costs because the markup, shipping and other costs associated with outsourcing are avoided.

3D printing technology is also becoming more readily available, and its cost is dropping fast. This has exciting prospects because “dental restorations on demand” will become commonplace once this technology matures.

Improve Communication with Digital Dentistry

Digital dentistry also promises to improve communication at different levels. For example, the IRIS Intraoral Camera for Mac and all the other intraoral cameras made by Digital Doc have made case presentation a breeze because a dentist can simply display the images on a large screen in an operatory. Patients see the problems their dentist is referring to, so it is easier for those patients to accept the treatment recommendations of the dentist.

In addition to that, digital dentistry also allows dental offices to send patients online reminders or notifications about appointments and other related issues. In the future, the applications of digital dentistry will expand even further as the dental practice management software is further exploited in the wake of all the technological developments in the industry.

As you can see, the future of digital dentistry is full of promise, and dentists can take a proactive approach in bringing all the advancing technology to their offices as and when such technologies can increase efficiency cost-effectively. Digital Doc is happily available to help out during your office’s transition process.

Traditional Dental Impressions vs. Digital Dental Impressions

If you would like to provide dental restorations services, such as dental crowns, in your office then you’ll need to take dental impressions first. You can offer your patients traditional dental impressions or you can use digital dental impressions. This article discusses the two types of dental impressions you can provide in your office.

Traditional Dental Impressions

Traditional dental impressions are obtained by placing dental putty in the mouth of your patient. This putty hardens slowly. Your patient will bite down on that so dental impressions are left in the substance.

Thereafter, a lengthy process of preparing the mold for the restorations begins and sometimes, retaking the dental impressions may be required to fix any errors made during the previous session.

There is a nearly universal dislike of this traditional dental impression capture method by both dental care professionals and patients alike because the putty triggers the gag reflex in patients and makes for unpleasant dental visits.

Additionally, traditional dental impressions are time-consuming for the patient and for dentists. In addition, you may have to repeat all these steps if the restoration does not form correctly for your patient.

All these issues prompted a better way to get dental impressions, and digital dental impressions were brought to the market by Digital Doc and a few other manufacturers.

Digital Dental Impressions

Digital dental impressions are taken by the use of an intraoral scanner like the Heron IOS Intraoral Scanner. This scanner captures images of all the intricacies of your dentition and creates 3D images of your dental structures so that a restoration can be fabricated. Digital dental impressions have a number of advantages over the traditional way of getting dental impressions.

First, less time is required to take the impressions simply because dentists can move the Heron Intraoral Scanner within the mouth and in a minute or so the required impressions are secured. This is unlike the traditional dental impressions that require you to wait for a long time before the putty sets so your patient can bite into it.

Secondly, your patient will have a more enjoyable dental visit since they will not have to spend a lot of time with unpleasant-tasting substances in their mouth. Digital impressions eliminate all that and the process is completed quickly, as already mentioned earlier.

Additionally, the digital dental impressions obtained are accurate and hardly ever require a retake since the images captured are sent directly to the fabricator so that the restorations made conform to the structures in your mouth. The chance of human error during the capture of the images or the fabrication of the restorations is reduced since everything is done digitally.

Furthermore, you will be pleased to learn that digital dental impressions are eco-friendly if you are concerned about the environmental footprint of everything that affects you. Digital dental impression technology saves the energy that would have been used to store the materials used to get the impressions. Numerous materials, such as dental impression trays, are also not needed when taking digital dental impressions.

As you can see from the discussion above, digital dental impressions have so many advantages over traditional dental impressions. If you’d like to acquire Digital Doc products like the Heron IOS Intraoral Scanner in your office and provide excellent services to your patients, contact Digital Doc today for a consultation!

Communicating Dental Technology Advancements to Your Patients

It is common for staff at dental offices to hear patients commenting that “You have acquired another toy!” when they see a new piece of dental technology in the office. Such comments highlight how important it is for dental practices to communicate effectively with their patients about the technological advancements which have been obtained. That communication will not only improve your bottom line but it can also lead to dental practice growth due to a better appreciation of the effort and the resources you are investing in order to provide better patient care. The following are some of the avenues your dental practice can use to communicate dental technology advancements to your patients.

Call-Waiting Messages

How many existing and possible patients call your dental office each day? Those phone calls give you a big opportunity to communicate and showcase the latest technological advancements that you have acquired.

For example, if you have just installed an IRIS HD Camera, design recorded informational messages that can be played when a caller hasn’t been put through to one of your staff at the office. That message should pique the interest of the patient in the new technology and prompt him or her to ask for additional information about that technology when he or she visits the dental practice.

In this way, you can upsell that technology and increase the rates at which patients ask for the new technology to be used when they are being attended to. Consequently, the technology will quickly pay for itself when patients welcome it after hearing the message played as they wait to talk to someone at the dental office.

Email Blasts

The contact information of all your present and past clients can be harnessed to educate those individuals about the technological advancements you have made at the dental practice.

MailChimp and Constant Contact are some of the tools that you can use to design those email blasts so that you can get the word out about the latest technology which you have installed.

Remember to avoid being salesy in those email blasts. Otherwise, the patients may send the message to the spam folder. Just make the emails educational so that the patients are left feeling that it is up to them to decide whether such technology should be used during their next dental visit or not. Chances are that more and more of the patients who get those emails will want to try out the latest tool, such as an intraoral camera, available in the dental office.

In-Office Marketing

You can also do a lot to communicate dental technology advancements to your patients within the dental office. The dental office provides the best setting for the messages to hit home since the patient will rarely be distracted by other things, such as their work.

Prepare leaflets and flyers on the salient points about the new dental technology you have acquired. The key features of the technology and how the patient stands to benefit when that technology is used can be emphasized in the leaflets and flyers. Hand these materials to the patients and ask them to scan that information as they wait to see a professional (hygienist, dentist, etc.).

Educational videos can also be shown on the screen in your waiting room. The videos can show a practical application of technological advancements, such as the latest IRIS HD Camera so that patients see how useful the technology is. For example, the video can show how a hidden defect was detected using the technology.

Use Social Media

It is a good marketing practice to know where your existing patients and those you wish to target as future patients are spending their time so that you communicate to them about the technological advancements made by your dental practice. Social media is one of the places where you can convey your messaging.

Facebook Live is one feature you can exploit to reach your target audience. You can also engage the patients using your Facebook page so that vital information about the new technology can be shared. Any concerns that patients may have can be addressed before those patients visit your office for a routine or scheduled procedure.

Now may also be the time for you to get a YouTube channel that you can use to communicate dental technology advancements to your patients. Video communicates more effectively than the written word can so harness this mode of communication for better results at your dental practice.

Don’t acquire new technology and fail to make information about that technology available to your patients. Use the suggestions above as inspiration when selecting the most cost-effective ways through which you can communicate dental technology advancements, such as the acquisition of an IRIS HD intraoral camera, to your patients so that the dental practice can grow as a result of its fast uptake of technological advancements.

Buyer’s Guide

Buyers Guide to Intraoral Cameras

Intraoral cameras are such a helpful diagnostic tool that modern dental practices cannot afford not to have one. The cameras have a wide range of benefits including easing patient education, making case documentation effective and easing case referrals to specialists, among other uses. But how to select the right intraoral camera? This brief guide will take you through the major considerations you can weigh when comparing different intraoral cameras on the market.

Image Quality

Start by determining what purposes you need to use an intraoral camera like the IRIS HD Camera for. For example, one dental practice may use the camera to present cases to patients in order to increase case acceptance rates while another practice will only be interested in the images for documentation purposes. Another dentist may want to use intraoral cameras to take external images too.

Each of those end-uses will require varying levels of image quality. For example, case referrals to specialists require images of the highest quality possible so that the specialist can quickly identify the issues that require attention.

The crucial factors that affect image quality include resolution (the higher the resolution the clearer the image), the type of lens used, the lighting and the sensor or CCD chip. Discuss these specifications with your preferred supplier so that the most appropriate camera can be recommended for your needs.

Camera Design

Ease of use should also be at the top of your mind when you are shortlisting intraoral cameras before making your selection. All intraoral cameras like the IRIS USB 2.0 Chair Dental Camera are compact and lightweight. However, you need to hold a few in your hand and compare how comfortable you will be when using each of those cameras. Select the one that “feels right” in your hand since you may have to use it dozens of times each day.

Also, consider how the intraoral camera takes images. Does it have a button that the user pushes to capture an image? Make sure that the button will be easy to use when the camera is oriented in different positions. Other intraoral dental cameras have a small panel that you push to capture an image. These may be easier to use in case you are turning the camera around in a patient’s mouth in order to capture images from various angles.

Your Patient Management System

Think about your patient management system as you shop for intraoral cameras. Make sure that the camera you buy will easily integrate with your patient management system without any unnecessary inconveniences.

For example, select a camera whose images can be imported into the patient’s file with a single click instead of a camera that requires you to execute multiple steps to insert images into a patient’s file.

Computer System Requirements

Different intraoral cameras are designed for different computer systems. For instance, it would be unwise for you to buy the IRIS intraoral Dental Camera for Mac if your computers run on the Windows operating system. The IRIS USB 2.0 Dental Camera for Windows would be a better choice in such a scenario.

Similarly, consider the RAM requirements of the imaging software and the type of processor that the software runs on (32-bit or 64-bit processors). Selecting an intraoral camera which can run on either type of processor is a wise move just in case a need arises to upgrade your computers after buying the intraoral dental cameras.

Support Services

Tech support from an intraoral dental camera manufacturer can mean a world of difference in case you run into issues when you are installing or using the cameras. This support is especially crucial when you get to the installation phase when the software of the camera is being integrated into the patient management system.

Identify a supplier who has a track record of being available round the clock to provide technical support each time such expertise is needed. Stay away from suppliers who tell you that the manual is sufficient to address any concerns that you may have.

Every dental practice has unique needs. Start by defining your needs and then identify which intraoral camera features are crucial to addressing those needs. You can then determine what features fall in the “good to have” category and those you can do without. Ask for in-office demos and discuss with the supplier’s representative any issues that your team notices during the demo. You will then be able to make an informed decision as you invest in this useful dental technology.

Best Intraoral Camera 2018

IRIS Intraoral Camera Wins 2018 Product Award

Dental Advisor submitted the IRIS Intraoral Camera to nine dentistry consultants and asked them to subject the camera to a clinical evaluation over a period of four months. Their verdict? IRIS was given a 96 percent clinical rating overall by that team of consultants. Read on and learn about this camera and what that 2018 evaluation entailed.

Overview of the IRIS Intraoral Dental Camera

The IRIS intraoral camera is a user-friendly dental camera which has a five-point focus wheel. A dentist can use this focus wheel to determine how large or how small the area captured in the image should be. Eight positions are available for the user to hone in on the type of image to be captured, such as clear images of the arch, entire smile, the full face and so many other areas of interest.

The IRIS intraoral camera comes with a cable which is 15-feet long so that the user isn’t constrained when moving about to capture a variety of images when a patient is in the operatory.

The camera comes with two capture buttons to suit operators who are either left-handed or right-handed. This has the added benefit of easing the capture of images even when the camera is being turned around in the mouth of the patient.

Sony’s hi-resolution CCD and eight-point LED lighting makes the camera capture clear and sharp images with true colors.

The IRIS intraoral camera requires 1GB RAM, a 2.0 USB interface and at least 2.0 GHz as its computer system requirements. IRIS now makes a version for MAC computers as well. The camera is charged via the USB port on any PC.

Other Reasons why more Dentist’s Choose IRIS

High Definition 720p resolution
Motion activated auto On/Off
8-point true white LED array
One-piece slim design soft tip
Dual capture buttons for left or right hand use
One-touch 5-position electronic focus for a macro to infinite viewing with OSD
High performance impact and chemical resistant seamless body
USB 3.0 connector that fits standard delivery units

What the Consultants Said

The Stainless Steel Wand. The consultants agreed that the sleek, stainless steel wand is ideal for a clinical setting since this material is easy to maintain at the high standards of hygiene expected in a hospital setting. The stainless steel can also stand up to the harshness of some of the cleaning products commonly used in dental offices and hospitals. This is unlike plastic wands that soon wear due to the impact of the cleaning products typically used in a dental office or hospital setting.

Camera Software. IRIS also received kudos because the software upon which it operates was found to be easy to integrate into most of the commonly used patient management systems in dental offices.

The Lens. The 90° lens makes positioning the camera to capture images easy and intuitive. The images captured will, therefore, be sharp and clear due to the natural orientation of the lens.

The Barrier Sheath. Not many cameras can work satisfactorily when a barrier sheath is in place. Some models don’t even allow a barrier sheath to be installed. The IRIS intraoral camera is one of those few dental cameras whose image quality isn’t affected even with a barrier sheath in place.

The Lighting. The LED lights were found to be more than adequate to illuminate the field as images are taken. Those lights could also be turned off as a user is capturing images that have been backlit by x-rays.

The Consultants’ Conclusions

11% of the consultants who evaluated the IRIS Intraoral Camera said that it was similar to other intraoral cameras available. However, the majority of the consultants were of the view that the IRIS intraoral camera was superior to the other products on the market. All the consultants were in agreement that they would recommend the IRIS Intraoral Camera to any dental practice which needed equipment. They also recommended that dental practices using the IRIS camera should install a cable kit in all the operatories where they expect to use the IRIS intraoral camera so that moving the camera from one operatory to another is seamless. All in all, Dental Advisor relied on the report of the consultants to award IRIS Intraoral Camera the 2018 Product Award.