DenMat’s Snap-On Smile® Offers Convenient Solution for Geriatric Patients
Compendium features peer-reviewed articles and continuing education opportunities on restorative techniques, clinical insights, and dental innovations, offering essential knowledge for dental professionals.
February 1, 2013
Volume 34, Issue 2, February 2013
Page(s): pp 152
In general, geriatric dental patients are more susceptible to a specific set of age-related oral issues. The aging process, says Vanessa Amador, Product Manager for DenMat, alters the condition of teeth, mouth, and gums in various ways, with patients often exhibiting “longer,” more brittle teeth, and implants and fillings that age and need to be replaced. While clinicians must observe and appropriately respond to the oral health changes associated with aging, geriatric patients are concerned with more than just functionality—they also want good esthetics, Amador suggests. Today, she says, functional, esthetic solutions to common age-related oral conditions are available such as removable appliances like DenMat’s Snap-On Smile®.
Snap-On Smile is an easy and painless way to achieve esthetic outcomes in all types of patients, says Amador. A removable appliance that “snaps” over existing dentition (without drilling, shots, or change to tooth structure), Snap-On Smile gives patients optimal esthetics, and its propriety formula of high-tech dental resin ensures excellent function, according to DenMat.
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“Patients are able to eat and drink while wearing the appliance, which means that Snap-On Smile can be used as a short- or long-term cosmetic solution,” says Amador. She adds that it is ideal for patients who have gaps or crooked, stained, or missing teeth, and can be used in cases where the patients are not candidates for bridges or implants. It can be used to increase lost tooth height, close diastemas, or even as an implant provisional. “For geriatric patients,” she says, “Snap-On Smile can take the place of old-fashioned partial dentures.”
Prescribing Snap-On Smile can be a life-changing procedure for patients of all ages, Amador submits, but it especially makes sense to recommend it as a solution for the aging generation of baby-boomers in the United States. “Now and in the foreseeable future, there will be an increasing demand in treating the dental needs of senior citizens, especially in the field of cosmetics,” she predicts. “Geriatric patients want to be able to reverse the visible signs of aging, and they can do that by enhancing their smile. Cosmetic dentistry is quickly becoming recognized as a necessary treatment for keeping geriatric patients looking younger and healthier.”
In addition to having the capacity to transform a geriatric patient’s smile, Snap-On Smile is an economical solution. Its relatively low cost can be associated to the limited chairtime and resources required to execute the procedure. After the clinician takes an impression of the patient’s dentition, the patient is then empowered to determine the shade and shape of the appliance. Once an impression has been taken and the patient has made decisions regarding the appearance of his or her appliance, the clinician sends the information to DenMat, where its laboratory manufactures Snap-On Smile to the clinician’s specifications.
“Oftentimes, the entire process takes only two office visits,” Amador explains. “And those visits are entirely non-invasive, which also contributes to Snap-On Smile’s low patient cost.”
DenMat emphasizes that while Snap-On Smile is an ideal solution for geriatric patients, any patient who would like to improve his or her smile but either has limited funds or does not want to undergo an invasive procedure is a candidate. As such, the company has made available a number of resources for clinicians looking to incorporate the innovative product into their practice, such as one-on-one consultation at the point of delivery and an optional 2D Digital Preview to ensure accuracy and quality in each case submission. “Clinicians also have an array of marketing material available to them to help promote Snap-On Smile to their patients, and we’ve even started a TV and online consumer campaign to drive people looking for a Snap-On Smile to the dental office,” says Amador.
The volume of dentures and implant prosthetics is growing continuously and is part of the largest provisional sector, states Amador. With Snap-On Smile, DenMat is prepared to serve this market. “Snap-On Smile is a great cosmetic and functional solution for the geriatric population. The appliance is extremely versatile and can treat clinical issues without impinging on the gingival tissue or covering the palate. Patients can function normally throughout their day while wearing it.”
DenMat Holdings, LLC
2727 Skyway Dr
Santa Maria, CA 93455
800-656-9281
dentalaegis.com/go/cced317
