Outdated tools and technologies are no longer cutting it. Digital dentistry has the power to accelerate treatment, improve results, and demonstrate your practice’s commitment to providing next-level, high-quality care.
From virtual treatment planning to computer-guided surgery, digital dentistry enables you to provide custom-tailored and less invasive treatment with beautiful results. This article will cover the latest digital dental technologies out there and explore how they can improve patient care and outcomes.
How digital dentistry benefits your patients and practice
Digital tools and technologies can help you provide safer, more effective care with an emphasis on patient comfort. Whether your patient needs preventative, restorative, or aesthetic treatment, digital dentistry leverages advanced technology and AI to help you plan, visualize, and optimize care.
Digital dentistry encompasses everything from AI-enabled diagnoses and treatment plan simulations to digital impressions and custom fabrications. Such dental innovations can streamline appointments, reduce chair time, and help patients and practitioners make better-informed decisions.
What the latest digital dental technologies can help you achieve
Digital dental treatment planning and smile design
Using digital technology and AI, virtual treatment simulations can help your patients visualize their options and outcomes before the work begins. Digital dental treatment planning is especially helpful in cosmetic dentistry, where digital smile design (DSD) helps patients see the potential results of smile makeover options, ultimately helping them feel more involved and secure in their decisions.
Digital impressions
Rather than making physical moulds, intraoral scanners capture the shape and contours of your patients’ teeth and gums in 3D. Often used for dental restorations like crowns and bridges, as well as for orthodontic appliances, digital impressions are more accurate than moulds and reduce the need for remakes.
Digital imaging
Unlike film-based imaging, digital images can be enlarged, shared, and presented onscreen almost instantly to facilitate patient consultations and treatment planning. Digital imaging is highly accurate, reduces radiation exposure, and helps speed up patient visits.
3D printing
Today’s digital printers can fabricate everything from clear aligners and night guards to restorations and dentures. They provide optimal precision and fit while reducing patient wait times.
CAD/CAM
Computer-aided design/manufacturing technologies can produce tailor-made restorations, such as crowns, bridges, inlays, and onlays. Highly efficient and precise, they help you provide beautiful custom restorations much faster than traditional methods.
Digital dental workflow and practice management software
Digital dental workflow platforms, such as the Flow practice management system, can help you increase productivity and billing and reduce client wait times. Flow facilitates easy and effective communication between rooms, keeps appointments on time, and can help your practice run like a well-oiled machine.
Computer-assisted surgery
Used in reconstructive surgery and restorative procedures such as implants, computer-assisted and robotic systems can enhance precision and accuracy, minimizing tissue damage so your patients recover faster.
AI-enabled diagnosis
As artificial intelligence continues to transform healthcare, AI-enabled image analysis and diagnosis are helping to optimize treatment recommendations and results.
Conclusion: Digital dentistry is critical to your dental practice’s success