How to find the right new products for the best patient care [VIDEO]

At Dr. Jeffrey Cecil’s practice, education and patient comfort always come first.

Dr. Cecil and his staff pride themselves on educating their patients on everything dentistry has to offer, and helping them make the right decision when it comes to their dental care. The team members want to provide the best care possible, and to do so at a price their patients can afford.

That’s why this Durham, N.C., dentist doesn’t take new product implementation lightly. Before he incorporates the latest and greatest advancement into his practice, he wants to know it’s going to work the way it should and that it’s going to improve the quality of care he provides. He loves gadgets but he’s not an early adopter-he wants to make sure a product or new technology is worth the investment before introducing it to his practice and his patients. That’s why it took Dr. Cecil so long to incorporate digital impression taking into his practice.

He had to give the technology time to develop into something that best met his patients’ needs, and the early digital impression taking systems just didn’t meet that criterion. That all changed when he heard about the 3M True Definition Scanner.

“Many dentists get seduced into buying things they think are great, and they end up on the shelf somewhere,” Dr. Cecil said. “This is the first time in a long time I’ve purchased something like this that I would never give back.”

Moving to digital

Dr. Cecil has practiced in the same town for 30 years, 20 years in his current practice, and is fortunate to have loyal patients who trust him and his team when they make treatment recommendations. He built his current practice from the ground up, and made sure he implemented the best design flow to create a space his patients could feel comfortable in. He fills that space with products and technologies he believes in, and he couldn’t be happier with his decision to incorporate the 3M True Definition Scanner into his product mix.

The early scanning systems were complete systems with a milling machine that only had the capability to make one type of crown. He serves an array of patients in his practice, and he needs to be able to use different kinds of crowns for the different situations that come up. If a patient comes in with 3 or 4 PFM crowns in a row, he’s not going to put an all-ceramic crown next to them.

When the actual scanning devices came out, giving dentists the ability to do any crown they want, that got Dr. Cecil’s attention. He started researching the different options, and decided the 3M True Definition Scanner made the most sense for his practice.

“What sold me is the fact that it’s a continuous video system as opposed to a laser taking pictures,” he said. “And it’s easy to use. I went to the Henry Schein office in Raleigh and tried the demo unit. It was just perfect for me in my hands. I ended up getting one and it’s been great since.

“But the thing that intrigued me is this open source software can be downloaded to in-office milling if I decide that’s the way I want to go. It’s upgradable.”

Patient reaction

When Dr. Cecil and his team explain the new technology to patients they’re quite impressed-and relieved they don’t have to deal with what they know as “goop” to get that impression taken. They don’t have to worry about the awful taste, the gagging and the discomfort that comes with traditional impression taking, and if the impression doesn’t come out perfectly the first time, Dr. Cecil doesn’t have to start the process over; he simply re-scans the area he missed.

“Patients are just amazed. It’s hard for them to look up at me and see my eyes wide open in amazement and not be amazed too. I’m like a little kid at Christmas with this new toy. I’m a dentist, and my goodness gracious the technology behind this has gotten to be incredible. They’re just as amazed as I am,” Dr. Cecil said. “It’s great to be alive in this new century. Dentistry truly has come a long way since I graduated in 1983.

“It’s a great time to be a dentist.”

The Trifecta advantage

While the 3M True Definition Scanner is a recent addition to Dr. Cecil’s practice, he’s used other products and 3M ESPE materials for years to ensure his patients receive the best care possible. The Trifecta method-3M™ ESPE™Lava™ Ultimate Restorative, 3M™ ESPE™ Scotchbond™ Universal Adhesive and 3M™ ESPE™ RelyX™ Ultimate Adhesive Resin Cement-is among those products.

This crown and bonding method (available for in-lab or in-office milling) fits into Dr. Cecil’s philosophy of doing excellent work, he said, and is easy to use. The Trifecta products work together to create beautiful crowns his patients love, and in less time.

“Everything is manufactured to work together and it does. A lot of things are manufactured to work together and you look at it and say that’s crazy,” Dr. Cecil said. “I’ve cemented every crown with RelyX Ultimate cement and Scotchbond Universal adhesive, and when all three are put together it’s a thing of beauty. You can’t even tell there’s a crown there. You look at a lot of teeth with crowns and say ‘Wow, that’s pretty obvious.’

“When you look at someone with a Lava Ultimate restorative crown cemented with the Trifecta Method, not only can patients not tell it’s a crown, a lot of dentists can’t tell. It blends well. You don’t see margins. It seals well. It’s a great system.”

It all comes back to what’s best for the patient

Dr. Cecil and his team make every product purchase with the patient in mind. They educate their patients about the products they incorporate into their office and have built a trusting and comfortable environment that’s invaluable to everyone involved.

“The practice is all about taking care of patients, and my staff members, their number one goal is to make sure the patient is comfortable. If you ask them what their primary job description is, they would tell you that it’s to educate the patient first and then to make sure the patient is comfortable,” Dr. Cecil said. “They follow up after procedures like an extraction, they check how they’re doing that evening, make sure everything’s OK. They follow up after a crown’s been placed and make sure everything is OK.”

The patients, the new technology, his team-all of this makes Dr. Cecil’s job a joy, something he truly loves. And the fact that he can provide patients with high-quality care using products like the Trifecta Method and 3M True Definition Scanner make his job all the more enjoyable, and motivates him to keep learning and doing what he loves.

It truly is a great time to be a dentist, and it will just keep getting better as technology continues to improve.

“I’ve been practicing 30 years and in 30 years I have yet to miss a day of work. Not one. Part of that is the fact I just love doing what I do,” Dr. Cecil said. “I love working on patients, seeing patients, interacting with them, doing good dentistry. I want to get here a little earlier every morning now so I can scan some more impressions. It makes it fun. I love getting paid for my hobby.”