Solea Helps Dentist Improve Patient Experience, Elevate Clinical Outcomes, Boost Production
Compendium features peer-reviewed articles and continuing education opportunities on restorative techniques, clinical insights, and dental innovations, offering essential knowledge for dental professionals.
January 1, 2019
Volume 40, Issue 1, January 2019
Page(s): p. 58
Timothy Anderson, DDS, recognized early in his career as a dentist that patient satisfaction was integral to maintaining a successful practice. He believed it was important to mitigate the reasons people have for avoiding the dentist, such as pain, needles, numbness, and lengthy procedure time. Therefore, he made the Solea® laser from Convergent Dental an indispensable part of his Bismarck, North Dakota, practice. The Solea laser, he says, helps minimize and even eliminate these common deterrents and improves patient outcomes.
Anderson first started using Solea after discovering that Convergent Dental's three pillars-patient experience, clinical outcomes, and production/efficiency gains-aligned with his own. Initially, he purchased the laser solely for anesthesia-free direct restorative procedures. However, he soon realized the numerous other applications Solea had to offer, as it afforded him an "unprecedented ability to control tissue with the laser." The seamless transition from hard- to soft-tissue procedures without the need for any additional equipment, he adds, led to a significant reduction in procedure time, increased efficiency, superior clinical outcomes, and a measurable gain in production.
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Anderson eventually began using the CO2 all-tissue laser for such procedures as frenectomies, gingivectomies, biopsies, operculectomies, and gingival troughing. "Solea helped me recognize the missed opportunities of increased production. As my clinical skills using the laser increased with experience, so did the range of procedures we were able to perform," he explains. Solea soon became a staple for Anderson, and now, he insists, he never enters an operatory without it.
Eliminating the need for anesthesia, Solea expands the scope of Anderson's practice, he says. Yet what may be the biggest benefit of using the dental laser, he suggests, is its ability to create influential patient advocates for the practice. "Of all the technologies and advancements that I have introduced to my practice, none has had a greater impact than Solea," he asserts. "It has impacted patient culture and brought financial growth opportunities." Additionally, use of the laser has allowed his practice to keep more procedures in-house, as certain clinical barriers, such as invasive surgeries, the need for significant anesthesia, and delayed healing, have been drastically reduced.
Anderson also is complementary of the training Convergent Dental offers Solea users. He has found that the company is very committed to partnering with the clinician to ensure personal success with the laser. "Convergent Dental is dedicated to both advancing the patient experience and properly training customers on the technology," he observes. In his experience, Convergent Dental provides prompt, onsite technical support and in-office coaching. It also hosts an online community of like-minded clinicians and professional advocates that helps streamline the learning curve of laser dentistry implementation.
"The largest barrier to implementing Solea in my practice was myself," he acknowledges. "Once I trusted the process and what the technology was able to do, success followed."
With patient-friendly equipment such as Solea, along with the use of other technologies like CAD/CAM, CBCT, and 3D printing, Anderson says he has created "a culture of patients with new expectations of what it means to go to the dentist." Predictable, anesthesia-free procedures, he affirms, mean that patients "no longer have to fear the dentist." This, in turn, allows for more patients to receive more of the care they need, all while increasing the productivity of the office.
"Solea has not only made me a better dentist," Anderson submits, "but has created a foundation for my practice to forge lifelong patients."
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