The one piece of technology that I saw (and had already purchased) was Discus’s new diode laser, the NV,  that’s extremely small and cordless. The booth was crowded, but I took my friends over to show them because I  am so pleased with my NV laser. It’s great to get rid of the octopus-like units and replace them with a fountain-pen-size laser that works well.

I also saw Newton Fahl speak, and I hadn’t heard him in a few years. His presentation on composite resins was wonderful before, but it’s even better now. The quality of the presentation and the learning style he uses is above and beyond others I’ve seen. It’s particularly impressive.

Another hot topic was a full-day program on Botox and dermal fillers. The room was packed and the audience enthralled. This subject seems to continue to be of interest to dentists. The 200-300 seats were all filled, even though many states haven’t yet decided if dentists can even offer Botox. I think the writing on the wall is, dentists will push states to approve dentists use of Botox and fillers. It falls within the realm of cosmetic dentistry – and it also works for TMJ and headache treatment.

I took the 6 Month Smiles course by Dr. Ryan Swain from NY. The two-day course was perfect for my assistants and me, and it was right here in Denver. Between the flash drive information that I came home with and the course itself, I had everything necessary to get started. One thing that helped us get up and running fast is that we had Invisalign certification, so we were updated on recent orthodontic concepts. We applied our knowledge of that product to the new product. The transition was easy.

We went with 6 Month Smiles because we did not want to comply with Invisalign’s new regulations. And we weren’t getting fast, good results as we had hoped. We were looking for a more predictable method for esthetic change on anterior teeth in a short period of time. 6 Months Smiles seems to provide what we wanted – it’s esthetic, predictable, and fast.

In a very short time, digital dental impressions have become the obvious future of what we’re going to be doing in the industry. Be sure to look for the technology at big exhibits and shows so that you can learn about its capabilities and limitations.

We’ve had iTero in my downtown Denver dental office for over a year and a half, and we’ve had tremendous success with it. Consistently, patients are very impressed. There’s always a “wow” factor with new technology, which isn’t a reason to buy, but it does impress patients. They see the benefits, and they can participate some in what we’re doing. Those who’ve had lots of dentistry and have had to suffer with traditional impressions really appreciate it.

The price for digital imaging technology is around $25K. There is certainly an investment, but there are a number of things to consider – no impression materials are used for traditional method of impressions; fairly routinely, tray impressions must be retaken. A digital impression retake has no cost. Just erase and retake. It’s like a digital camera versus a film camera – there’s no cost for additional digital shots, so you can take and erase as many as you like.

Weigh all the plusses and minuses when looking at cost. How soon does digital imaging take to pay for itself? Some profitability is more indirect – better quality impressions, better model work with the lab. The reason we really enjoy it and would not go back is the increased accuracy. When we get a crown back from a lab fabricated from digital impression, it almost always fits better with occlusion than crowns made from conventional impressions at the same lab. There’s big-time savings in the office at delivery of restoration being quicker.