Planmeca PlanScan™ Makes Digital Impressioning Quick, Easy, and Efficient
Compendium features peer-reviewed articles and continued education opportunities on restorative techniques, clinical insights, and dental innovations, offering essential knowledge for dental professionals.
February 1, 2015
Volume 36, Issue 2, February 2015
Page(s): pp. 158
Several years ago, in an effort to upgrade his Castle Rock, Colorado, dental practice, Mike Moroni, DDS, selected Planmeca PlanScan™ for its ease of use and gave himself one month to “get up to speed” in terms of incorporating digital impressioning into his practice.
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Moroni says his practice has benefitted significantly from the use of this powder-free 3-dimensional (3-D) intraoral scanner, which accurately provides real-time digital impressions ranging from one-tooth to full-arch scans. Its STL data output enables him to easily send scanned data to any dental laboratory for design and completion. However, Moroni notes, he rarely sends crowns to the lab and prefers to mill them out himself in his office. He generally restricts the use of traditional impressioning to bleach trays and nightguards.
Having the system enables Moroni to offer his patients more comprehensive dentistry, and his dental assistants can handle many of the tasks. “They love it because they get to be more hands-on. After I prepare the tooth, they can take over. They can scan, design, and start milling the case—they can even do all of the lab work,” he asserts. “If it’s a crown, they’ll try it in, then bake and glaze it.”
Moroni has no doubt that being able to offer same-day dentistry to his patients has been a practice builder for him. “Patients love it—there is the convenience of having the work done in a single visit without needing to take off more time from their job, but they are also amazed by the technology and the ability to see the crown designed right in front of their eyes,” he says.
He adds that many of these patients refer their friends, family, and coworkers, and it is common to receive calls from new patients who specifically request same-day crowns. “When there is an emergency such as a broken tooth, the crown can be easily fabricated after a limited examination,” he says.
Another way that the PlanScan digital impression system has changed Moroni’s practice is that he rarely does bridges anymore. “I don’t remember the last time I did a bridge in the posterior because this technology indicates treatment should instead be an implant—which is a more comprehensive, long-term dentistry solution.” He specifies that while an implant crown can be placed in a single visit after the placed implant has integrated, the implant procedure itself is planned for a later date to allow for surgical preparation, including setting up a sterile room and placing the patient on antibiotics.
What Moroni especially likes about owning the Planmeca PlanScan is the exceptionally fast and responsive technical support the company provides. “If I need help with a case, remote support is always there. I can call the toll-free number and they are able to quickly log right into the system to see exactly what I am seeing on the screen, and then easily guide me through the troubleshooting process,” he explains. “Likewise, I once had an incident when an assistant dropped the scanner. Fortunately, my workflow was not affected because support was able to overnight a new one directly to my office.”
Overall, Moroni insists that practicing dentistry is exciting with the Planmeca PlanScan system, and he looks forward to the time when there will be no need at all for impressions—“when technology can scan everything, even edentulous arches, to fabricate dentures.”
As technology like PlanScan progresses, that day might not be far off.
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