CHALLENGES OF GOING DIGITAL IN DENTISTRY

THIS ARTICLE COVERS BASIC LEVEL CHALLENGES FACED WHEN EVALUATING THE SHIFT TO GOING DIGITAL IN A DENTAL PRACTICE OR LABORATORY.

TIME 

Time to implement seems to be the single biggest obstacle faced when it comes to making change to our daily routines. The time to incorporate Digital Technologies into a daily workflow for a dental practice or laboratory is no different and can be understandably overwhelming. From evaluating products and software’s that will meet your demands to actually sitting down and learning how to use the tools / services you have selected in order to attain a proper R.O.I. takes time, a lot of time.  

An additional factor to consider is the widening gap between Dentists and Dental Technician’s hands-on application of material science for the creation of functional long term prosthetic dental devices. Where most Dentists are spending a majority of their time identifying and correcting diseases of the oral cavity, a Dental Technician spends 100% of their time working on prosthetic fabrication. The amount of time spent on the processes of acquisition, manipulation, and production have one asking the other, “What is Time Worth”.  

KNOWLEDGE 

Having a true understanding of your workflow requirements / clinical needs is the first place to start with your technology evaluation and it’s not always easy to find the forest from the trees. With so many available viable options to choose from you may ask, “How do I know what is right for ME and MY situation?” Well, there is no perfect answer here. It is really codependent upon your current digital environment and your saviness with computers and other applicable technologies. Do you have a Cone Beam CT machine, a benchtop or intraoral scanner? What about a Dental Mill? The attributes associated with existing technologies will assist you in defining an“Optimal Workflow” for your situation. Don’t have any of these technologies in place? No worries, just think “Open” when it comes to system selection. An “Open System” will allow you to plug and play solutions to meet your needs now and into the future.

DATA SHARING 

Once the right tools have been selected for your specific situation a patient data management strategy is needed. Some of the “Optimal Workflows” available to you include proprietary data transfer solutions already built-in. These typically meet the needs of “In-System Workflows” where an integrated transfer solution has been developed as part of a known system deployment tactic allowing users to maximize systems data both locally and remotely without much effort. Other solutions will require manual transfer of data for both local or remote manipulation and/or production. Examples of standard file formats for usage in Dentistry include but are not limited to: .DICOM; .STL; .PLY; .OBJ and options of transfer include Cloud Systems, Direct Connection Access Points, and Data Migrations Systems amongst others. The key to data transfer of patient information is HIPAA compliance and data encryption protection, so choose your solution accordingly.

CONCLUSION

These are only some of the many basic level challenges faced when evaluating the shift to going digital in a dental practice or laboratory. I encourage working with a Digital Dental Technologies Advisor to identify your current situation, get you educated on viable possibilities specific to you, and most importantly = Create Your Digital Plan.

This article has also been published on LinkedIn