Wednesday, February 27, 2013
I’m starting to think the Chicago Midwinter meeting is the equivalent of the Consumer Electronics Show. There seem to be more product introductions here than any other dental meeting, and it is always a chance to get a glimpse of the future. Dentalcompare has full coverage of the event via news items, videos and blogs, but here are what I feel are a few standout products introduced at the show.
As a disclaimer, these were not products we were paid to discuss, but what I felt to be instrumental to our industry.
Next Gen Diagnosis – The Canary System from Quantum Dental Technologies
The industry seems to be having a difficult time embracing caries detection beyond the dyes we used back in dental school. The Canary System aims to change that, and they have an entire mountain of research to prove it. The biggest difference between this system and others that have come before is its ability to detect decay up to 5 mm below the surface of enamel.
Why is that important? It can “see” in the interproximal surfaces, and even peek under old sealants or composites. It also allows us to quantify whether or not our hygiene recommendations are working. Up until now, we might give a patient a prescription for ClinPro 5000, but have no real way to detect if it’s working. Now you can have the patient back to re-measure a lesion and know for sure. The Canary System stands out because it allows you to do more than simply “watch” a suspicious area.
Next Level Practice Management Software – Dentrix Ascend
We have seen trends inside and outside of dentistry that have transformed bulky software programs into slick browser-based alternatives. The beauty in that approach is you don’t have to install anything to roll out a new workstation in your office. Just open up your internet browser, log into the software site, and you have full functionality of the program.
Prior to Ascend, Dentrix was heavily module based, a pain to install, and upgrades were an all day project. It was a dinosaur slowly sinking into the Tar Pits of Windows 2000. Dentrix Ascend, now a two year old development project and available in a limited beta release, pretty much fixed every complaint I have ever had about Dentrix. It works best on Google’s Chrome browser, which means it runs full versions of the software on Android, iOS, Mac, or PC. Updates are pushed in the background so you never have to worry about installing a new version or a CDT update. The interface is patient focused instead of module focused, and a single click allows you to easily navigate your patient and practice data.
Imaging support is coming soon as well, and you will be most likely able to use your current sensor. Eventually, you will even be able to capture Dexis images right into the browser, and have those files uploaded to the server in the background. The program also “learns” from you, so if a claim is not paid longer than what is average for your office, it will alert you to follow up. If you are a power user of Dentrix, you will find the current version doesn’t have absolutely everything you need just yet. But if you are using all the basic features, you just might want to check it out while it’s still in beta.
Next Phase Sealer – Brasseler EndoSequence BC Sealer
Bioceramics are biocompatible ceramic materials. They either resemble, or are closely related to, your body’s own materials. Brasseler’s EndoSequence BC Sealer is part of their EndoSequence line for root canal therapy, and is a bioceramic built at the nano-particle level. Traditionally, sealer materials suffered from shrinkage, or were affected by moisture in dentinal tubules which negatively impacted their ability to form an adequate long term bond.
The EndoSequence BC sealer is hydrophilic, and on contact with that moisture present in the tubules, goes through a chemical reaction to form Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, or Hydroxyapatite. In other words, this stuff cures into the very stuff the tooth is made from. Plus, there is no shrinkage, with research showing the material actually has a fraction of a percent of expansion. This is a product that definitely reinvigorates the possibility of root canal therapy before a dental implant is considered.
Next Step Digital Impressions – TRIOS Scanner from 3Shape, The Pod Solution
3Shape launched its digital impression scanner in the U.S. back at the 2012 American Dental Association meeting, and already they are taking the next step with the product. The existing scanner was part of a larger cart, stylish, but similar to other digital impression machines. Now they have a handheld scanner that attaches to a mounting base that attaches to a computer using just a standard USB port. OK, technically, the base unit connects to a USB/Ethernet converter to allow you to place the camera farther away from the capture PC. But that is it.
You can literally unplug the camera and move it to another room similar to the way you might move a USB intraoral camera between operatories. The camera also sports an in-unit heater that prevents fogging of the lens on capture. At this convention, they had the camera hooked up to a MacBook Pro running Windows 7 on Parallels with an i7 and 16MB of RAM. That’s definitely a heavy duty laptop, but not an impossible technology configuration to set up for a few operatories, or for a second practice location.
Bonus Product: Cinemizer OLED Video Glasses from Total3DSolutions
One of the biggest trends at the Chicago meeting was the continued move to digital dentistry. One new product that has less to do with treatment, and more to do with the patient experience, was the Cinemizer OLED Multimedia Video Glasses from Total3DSolutions.
Actually, forget the patient experience. You know you want a pair of these. They are wraparound glasses with integrated high-def screens where the lenses would go. They say it is the equivalent of watching a 40 inch screen two meters away. The glasses connect to virtually any video source, whether it’s a Blu-Ray player, a tablet, or your smartphone. And if the feed is in 3D, the glasses will show that too. I was tempted to buy a pair, if only for the plane ride home.
There were numerous other product launches and upgrades on display in the CDS Exhibit Hall and each was designed with the goal of improving on a previous generation or solving a problem faced by clinicians, patients or office managers. It’s always worth looking at something that might help you do your job better, but the products I profiled here are the ones I keep coming back to because they’re at the leading edge of the industry trends pointing toward more flexible practice operations and enhanced patient outcomes.