For 14 years, I assisted chairside in a small rural town in Texas (population 6,000 or so), in a single GP office with four operatories. I went through the everyday motions of comforting my patients, taking radiographs, preparing my operatory, pouring up models, disinfecting and sterilizing. Day in and day out, things stayed the same, until about two years ago when we came across the E4D Dentist System.
On first impression (no pun intended), we had to ask each other many of the questions that I’m sure all dental professionals have when they first come across digital dentistry: Could this really work in our office? Would our existing patients be interested and receptive to this change? Could we attract new patients with the system? Could we handle the actual fabrication of the restorations? And could we get the same quality restorations we expected and our patients deserved?
The answer to all of these questions is and was: Yes!
We even made the decision to incorporate chairside CAD/CAM dentistry with the E4D before we invested in other technology such as digital radiography.
What we found was that the ROI and savings with the E4D allowed us to then invest in other technology opportunities in our office.
After having the system integrated into our office by a very knowledgeable and friendly member of the E4D training team, the system took off in our office like a rocket. My dentist trusted me to take the restoration from start to finish. This gave him the opportunity to do other procedures, after which he would come back to seat the restoration when it was completed.
I started out with three same-day restorations per day — scanning only intraorally, designing in front of the patient, milling out the restoration, then characterizing for esthetics with a simplified stain and glaze technique.
The results were amazing; my dentist was more than pleased — top line and bottom line.
The nice part was there were no temporaries, no impression material, but there was an immediate gratification for the office and the patient. Our patients were more than eager to have a same-day restoration.
Soon after the word spread that our office could provide a final restoration in one visit, we started getting calls and new patients who wanted more efficiency in their care, and we even had a unique group of patients who were about to be deployed to Iraq and could not serve our country until restorative care was finalized — all in one day.
My favorite was the very busy corporate sales patient who traveled quite a bit: he had broken a tooth at the most inopportune time. He came into our office and took not one but two conference calls while I was designing and finishing his restoration.
Some people are “afraid of the learning curve.” Well, after about two months, there was not a posterior case I was hesitant to tackle, including quadrants. From there, it was a quick step to the anterior cases and implant restorations. The sky was the limit with the E4D system.
So often, we as dental assistants sit chairside assisting the case, using creative efforts to make temporary restorations that are simply cut off in a couple weeks and thrown away. What a thrill it is now to know I’m creating final restorations, and my patients are using my creation every day for function and esthetics.
I’m now part of the restorative cycle — a big part and an even greater contribution to my practice.
Don’t hesitate to dream what “could be” in dentistry or in your practice. Chairside digital dentistry works — no matter how big or how small your practice is. The time is now — challenge your capabilities and engage what is best for your patients, team and office.
Take a close look at the E4D Dentist system and see how great the change can be.
ChairsideCAD, available from exocad, is the choice of software for leading manufacturers of dental CAD/CAM systems, according to the company, and it has ...
NEW YORK, N.Y., USA: With intelligence, ambition and a naturally outgoing personality, Stephanie seemed to have a bright future ahead of her. Unfortunately,...
As you enjoy perusing the booths at this year’s Midwinter Meeting in Chicago, you’ll get up close and personal with some of the industry’s newest ...
WAUKESHA, Wis., USA: Functionally and esthetically optimal dental restorations traditionally have been fabricated by restorative clinicians and dental ...
Labs are seeking long-lasting solutions, and these require long-lasting commitment from the CAD/CAM system provider. 3Shape recently proclaimed its ...
Everything seems to be going digital. Photography. Music. File Storage. Even dental labs, which will benefit patients as well as the dentists who serve ...
SCOTTSDALE, AZ / NEW YORK, NY, USA: Sirona Dental Systems, a company that pioneered digital dentistry 25 years ago and a leading producer of dental CAD/CAM ...
Building on the success of its i-CAT FLX cone-beam 3-D imaging technology, i-CAT, a brand of the KaVo Kerr Group, launches the i-CAT FLX V-Series, the ...
Sirona Dental Systems, the company that pioneered digital dentistry 25 years ago and the world’s leading producer of dental CAD/CAM systems, was ...
Something amazing happened last week. I successfully milled a zirconia crown that was designed using nothing but my newest iPhone application. All I had to ...
Live webinar
Tue. 11 February 2025
7:00 PM EST (New York)
Prof. Dr. Wael Att, Dr. Robert A. Levine DDS, FCPP, FISPPS, AOD
Live webinar
Wed. 12 February 2025
12:00 PM EST (New York)
Live webinar
Wed. 12 February 2025
1:00 PM EST (New York)
Dr. Sausha Toghranegar DMD, MS
Live webinar
Thu. 13 February 2025
10:00 AM EST (New York)
Live webinar
Wed. 19 February 2025
1:00 PM EST (New York)
Live webinar
Wed. 19 February 2025
1:00 PM EST (New York)
Live webinar
Wed. 19 February 2025
2:00 PM EST (New York)
To post a reply please login or register