In his satirical report on the American culture named "Body Rituals Among the Nacirema," anthropologist Horace Miner refers to the "holy-mouth man" as one who uses a "variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods" to engage in "unbelievable ritual torture of the client."
Miner hits the nail on the head when explaining the dentist of the 1950s.
Thankfully, here in the twenty-first century, Assured Tech Services embraces dental advances. Read on to learn about the new dental technology that has the potential to revolutionize your dental practice.
New Dental Technology For Prevention and Efficiency
Smart Tooth Brush
Dentists visit public schools in the United States on a regular basis, benevolently teaching students how to brush all their surfaces for a sufficient amount of time.
What if a toothbrush could tell a kid what he's missing?
New dental technology includes a smart toothbrush--a toothbrush with sensors that tell the brusher if he's doing a good job.
In fact, some dentists claim the smart toothbrush with Bluetooth capabilities removes plaque twice as efficiently for children using them instead of a regular electric toothbrush.
Digital Dentures
Dentures of the past required multiple visits, uncomfortable moldings, and tedious fittings.
Thanks to digital technology not to mention 3D printers, dentures no longer require multiple visits.
Patients can obtain precision-fitted dentures in less time. So this means a better product in less time, happier patients, and better time use for the dentist.
Not only can dentists produce dentures more efficiently, but they also produce better dentures because of advanced software and materials. Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing make this possible.
New Dental Technology for Diagnostics
Augmented Reality
We've all heard of virtual reality, where your reality is replaced by a manufactured reality. But augmented reality adds to your current reality.
Think Ironman. When Tony Stark puts that amazing suit on, he has information at his behest, augmented reality, that he can't see without the suit. But he still sees reality.
But augmented reality isn't just a thing of fictional Think about fighter pilots of the 1990s where information was superimposed in their helmets so they could see altitude, direction, and speed of the plane and then information about which objects were within reach of their ammunition.
AR can be used to help train dental students and diagnose problems more precisely. AR allows three-dimensional objects to be inserted into a three-dimensional field and thus gives dental students with limited experience more information to make informed choices.
This technology has the potential to revolutionalize the dental field in both the clinical and educational setting.
New Dental Technology for Business
AI in Dentistry
Artificial intelligence programs can help dentists detect cavities more efficiently and thoroughly. It helps remove more human errors that lead to misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis.
Think about this: dentists typically interpret 10-15 sets of bitewing x-rays daily, and they scan for cavities on more than 300 surfaces. That's a lot of looking.
That's one person looking at 300 surfaces. Two eyes. Fatigue sets in naturally in all humans, so it's no wonder that some dentists miss a cavity now and then.
AI programs now can detect the cavity that a dentist may have overlooked because the human factor does not exist.
AI can also help with smart scheduling. You can use AI to schedule a patient appointment more efficiently. This reduces the need to train new staff and frees staff up to deal with other critical areas of the office.
AI can communicate with patients as well as schedule appointments. A good AI system can answer patient questions after procedures and will again free staff up to care for patients in the midst of procedures.
An efficient AI system can answer basic post-procedure questions such as what to expect or how to recognize emergencies.
In short, AI will allow humans to operate the office more efficiently.
Blockchain
If you've ever hard of blockchain, you've most likely heard it in conjunction with Bitcoin, the digital currency that many people claim threatens to take over traditional paper money.
But blockchain can be used in more than just the financial sector.
Blockchain is like a telephone system of data. It is a technology that creates data records, unchangeable and able to be distributed from dentist to dentist in a shared database system.
So blockchain allows you to send data without the data changing from one office to another office between networked database systems.
Blockchain software developers claim the data is secure and protected from data breach threats, an important factor in the world of medicine.
As you consider which software works best for your practice, make sure the software is HIPAA compliant software.
Some blockchain software is compliant, but not all are. Patient privacy is paramount, but so is efficiency. And there's a difference between security and privacy, so make sure your chosen software is not only secure but private.
Basically, blockchain would allow for the efficient transfer and sharing of information with security and privacy still in place.
Cloud-Based Software
Since the invention of the cloud, individuals have been sharing and storing information with ease. Cloud-based software allows dentists and patients alike to access information from any location in real time.
Automated systems like the block-chain mentioned above allow dentists to share information with other practitioners in multiple locations in real time.
Best of all, dental software, like most software, has become more intuitive.
It's nice when the guys who graduated from dental school don't have to call tech support for a software question and can just focus on oral health.
Technology Makes Mouths Healthier
Ultimately, whether you're using new dental technology to diagnose a patient more thoroughly or keep patients' records private, the geeks of today are making dental practices better.
With these innovations, dentists can focus on helping their clients have healthier mouths and less on which key combinations to punch on the keyboard.
If you're looking to update your office, contact us for all of your technology solutions. We can help you serve your patients well.