Digital Dental Labs

The CBCT technology arrived as fast as a TGV at the dentistry station some years ago. Many aspects of dentistry have become “Digital” with such technology- which was pretty much expected by many dentists, practitioners and professors. Some of us may agree or disagree on the benefits versus drawbacks; however, we would all agree that what we used to call 3 years ago a gizmo is becoming an everyday practice.

When you look at how dentists today manage their practices, examine their patients or in their OR, you will see that dentistry has gone through a rapid evolution in a very short period of time with the introduction of CBCT. Just a couple of decades ago, dentists used to send their patients to the local hospital for a scan and then sit for hours examining the pictures using every bit of knowledge and experience they have to read the scan and decide on the treatment modality. Before entering the OR, dentists have the specific surgical techniques that they will be using planned ahead – this imaging modality involved higher radiation and was not accessible to every dentist.

Afterwards, imaging dental labs started to emerge as an alternative to local hospitals. They provided services and support to dentists like sending the scan on a CD, providing a radiology insight and sometimes a dentist's second opinion. As time went by, dental labs started to become available around the corner. This was definitely a turning point in the dentist’s practice and more importantly it helped the dental society, as a whole, provide optimal dental services to their patients. When the new millennium arrived, dentistry entered the 3D dental imaging era and huge CT machines were replaced by office-fitting CBCTs. Printed films on the walls of dental offices were replaced by 3D digital images on small disks or at the push of a button on the dentist’s PC.

The evolution of the Digital Dental Labs compares closely to the evolution of the implant and prosthetic dental labs decades ago. Dentists used to have the majority of their prosthetics fabricated by a dental lab technician in their office. A number of national dental labs evolved providing those services in an outsourced model and now there is a dental lab around the corner for such services. The increase of the number of scans done by the CBCT owners or the imaging centers, created the need to outsource to the Digital Dental Labs.

Today, all a dentist needs to do is scan the patient (or send him/her to a local CBCT center) and everything necessary is done on the dentist’s behalf. Starting from a 3D image of the scan going through a scan interpretation, radiological opinion, treatment planning and ending with a surgical guide to make operations safer for patients and easier on the dentist. Such digital labs have also helped dentists navigate through the different guided surgery systems in the market. Either by providing the services on software he/she already owns or by offering the services in an Application Services Provider (ASP) model, where the dentist can try the software and get a guide without having to invest in a specific system. The following are the names of some of those Digital Dental Labs:

-3D Diagnostix, Inc
-Carolina OMF Imaging
-nSequence
-360 Imaging
-ROE Dental

A few years ago, dental labs were dentistry's new fad and now digital dental labs have become a distinguished player in this field gaining more land in the 21st century dentistry. Over the next couple of newsletter we will provide a survey of those different providers, their evolution and the benefits they provide to the dentist.