How PlanScan and same-visit dentistry are helping to restore smiles

In this installment of “I Use That,” we spoke with Dr. Michael L. Young about his use of Planmeca’s PlanScan CAD/CAM Restoration System.

With a well-established practice in Sterling Heights, Mich., Dr. Young believes that the PlanScan System has helped him to practice his vision of conservative dentistry.

What Dr. Young says about the PlanScan System:

The PlanScan system allows me to practice the biomechanical principles that I learned from Dr. John Kois in a predictable and efficient manner. We know that the more tooth we remove to fabricate a restoration, the more we increase the risk to the tooth.

To minimize the risk, I try to minimize preparing the axial wall of the tooth, and to keep the preparation in the enamel as much as possible. Evidence has shown that bonded, all-ceramic restorations are an excellent choice with very favorable results in longitudinal studies. Provisionalization of these types of preparations can be challenging, so I find it more efficient to eliminate the provisional by completing the restoration in the same visit using CAD/CAM.

I have been fabricating restorations with chairside CAD/CAM since 2004. I switched to PlanScan in 2013 because I was very impressed by their new scanner, NEVO, now called PlanScan. The wand, or scanner is “plug and play.” In addition, they introduced a laptop system in lieu of a cart. I purchased a second laptop for minimal, additional cost in order to take advantage of the plug and play capability. In my humble opinion, this is the “game changer” in chairside CAD/CAM technology.

The Forces Shaping Digital Dentistry - Infographic

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Dental practices are facing more outside pressure: cost are increasing, yet reimbursement from dental benefit plans and yearly maximums are not increasing. It is a challenge to provide high quality care and excellent customer service when we are being squeezed in all directions.

We must be efficient and we must delegate what we can to our capable team. That is the next reason I made the switch to PlanScan: training. My practice is more productive and more efficient by using two laptops and two expanded-duties function dental assistants.

My dental assistants were able to scan and design high quality restorations before the system was installed in our office from initial training in Dallas. This has made a huge impact on my practice. My team loves the responsibility and we can schedule more productively due to delegation.

Related reading: How the Planmeca PlanScan gives the dental office full control [VIDEO]

My patients are impressed by the technology and appreciate that they do not have to return for a second appointment. They also love not having an impression taken and a temporary crown for two weeks. As my kids would say, “I know, right?”

There is also a “wow” factor with CAD/CAM technology. Patients mention their experience to others refer their family, friends and colleagues, and more readily accept this treatment in the future.

Considering technology and the speed of life, everyone expects things to be accessible right when they want them. I am able to provide this with PlanScan.

PlanScan same-visit dentistry is a win-win-win: my patients receive high quality restorations that look and function naturally in just one appointment (minus the temp and goop!), my team enjoys their increased role, and the practice is more productive and effective.

PlanScan is an effective system that allows me to practice minimally invasive dentistry and the biomechanical principles that help me sleep well at night.

Related reading: 3 reasons to apply Planmeca PlanScan in your practice

PlanScan
PlanScan CAD/CAM Restoration System, designed by Plameca and driven by E4D Technologies, can reportedly produce lab-quality restorations in hours instead of days - with remarkable speed and accuracy, intuitive design software, on-site milling, and no impressions or powder. The results of this system’s design is a vastly improved restorative process.