Q&A: In-Office CAD/CAM

4 dentists answer Townies’ top questions about costs, training and more

The process of implementing an in-office CAD/CAM restoration system raises some common concerns among dentists. From profit to daily workflow, staff concerns to patient confidence, doctors have some universal questions regarding how adopting this new technology may change things for their practices.

The four dentists profiled below have implemented in-office restorations in their practices with the glidewell.io™ In-Office Solution. We asked them to respond to four common questions by relating their own experiences and offering some advice to dentists who might be considering a shift to digital.

How much does it really cost to bring a CAD/CAM chairside system into my practice? Can I justify this expenditure?

Dr. Thomas Rolfes: There’s always an upfront cost when you’re investing in something like this. My practice enjoys investing in new technology and does it often, so we’ve developed a test for our purchases to keep them realistic. We decide whether to buy based on if what we’re buying will help improve patient outcomes. Will it be faster? Less expensive for us or the patient? Will it end up being worth the cost because of what we get back from using it?

Our glidewell.io™ In-Office Solution paid for itself in less than a year. That’s the type of investment we’re happy to make.

Dr. Scott Barton: Once you begin looking into details beyond the sticker price of the system, it becomes a pretty simple math equation. You’re spending money to bring single-visit crown services into your practice, yes, but you’re also eliminating costs associated with traditional lab methods, and those costs add up to more than you might think.

For example, whenever you bring in a patient for a second appointment to seat a crown, it costs money in the form of chair time and labor. The same goes for situations where a patient loses a temporary between appointments—in those cases, you pay for material as well. Or maybe you received the crown back from the lab, but there’s something wrong with it and it needs to be shipped back—plus you need to make another appointment. It doesn’t take long for those costs to add up and outpace what you would spend on a system. And the minute that happens, you’re seeing a return on the investment you made to go in-office.

I’m concerned about the learning curve of adopting single-visit dentistry technology in our practice, and the amount of training and support my staff and I will need to become proficient. How much of a disruption to our workflow will this cause?

Dr. Jeffrey J. Sprout: This was one of the major reasons glidewell.io was the choice for us—it includes individual on-call support directly from Glidewell itself whenever and however you need it, whether it’s over the phone, by remoting into our system or whatever method works best for us at the time.

In our case, we have one assistant on the team who has become the person in charge of the glidewell.io workflow, in particular the proposal design process with the fastdesign.io™ software. Initially, of course, as with anything new, it requires a little time to get going, but between the on-site training we received and the ongoing, anytime access to the support team, our assistant got it squared away really quickly. I’d say it took her about two weeks to become fully proficient and ready to go without hesitation. Now she’s a pro.

Dr. Michael Buck: There’s always going to be some butterflies and anxiety with new technology. The first time after you adopt new equipment and you have a patient in the chair, you’ll probably be thinking, “Is this going to work? Will we be able to do this?” There’s that question mark about how in-office dentistry will actually manifest itself in your existing workflow and how that will play out.

Personally, I was very enthusiastic about bringing in-office crowns to our patients, and so confident that glidewell.io was the right choice for us that I knew it would all work out in the end. My enthusiasm helped lead my staff, who were a little anxious at first, to a place of confidence too.

We were all surprised at how streamlined the glidewell.io process truly was. From marking the proposal margins in the software, to clicking an arrow to generate the design, to confirming the contacts and then pushing one button to send it to the mill, we were very impressed with how easy it turned out to be.

Single-visit dentistry will be a big change in how we deliver care to our patients. How can I prepare my patients to make the digital transition with us?

Dr. Michael Buck: One of my biggest worries about adopting a chairside CAD/CAM system was how my patients would take to it. We have several patients who’ve been with our small-town practice for years, and they’re used to those temporaries and second appointments. I was concerned that they’d express doubt that these in-office, single-visit restorations were as good as the lab-made ones they knew so well.

Honestly, though, my patients were super-pleased. I have not yet had one be even a little skeptical—in fact, most are thoroughly impressed with the technology and the fact that they don’t have to wait around for two weeks for their new restorations.

Patients really do want single-visit dentistry, which you’ll come to learn when you bring a system onboard. The first time you make a crown where the shade is a little off, and the patient is expecting to be told they have to come back in another two weeks but instead you tell them to give you 40 minutes or so, they’ll be enthusiastic—believe me.

Dr. Thomas Rolfes: I can see how someone might think that patients would be tentative about changes to the care they’re used to receiving, but your patients have a level of trust for you—they come to your practice for care, after all. That means they’re likely to trust your decisions in methodology, too. In our case, we’re honored to have a pretty sterling reputation in the community for delivering excellent care while constantly adopting the latest technologies. The result is that our patients really trust our judgment and figure that, if we choose to bring in something new, it’s probably because it’s really good and will help us deliver better outcomes for them.

I’ve never had a patient tell me they didn’t want a single-visit restoration. I’ve had them ask about how the method differs from the traditional way, and it’s always fun to explain that and even show them the system if they want to see it. Be ready to answer questions and share your enthusiasm and they’ll more than likely be right on board.

Tell us about why you chose glidewell.io over other systems on the market. What makes it stand out from the rest?

Dr. Scott Barton: I’ve used CEREC®’s in-office CAD/CAM system before, and know it pretty well. When I first adopted glidewell.io, I had to get used to the differences between the softwares. Luckily, due to the nature of fastdesign.io software, the adjustment process was very smooth for me. That’s because the software, and the glidewell.io workflow itself are much easier than those of CEREC.

The glidewell.io process really does produce crowns that are ready to go. With CEREC and the other systems, you have to perform several steps between the milling of the crown and its actual delivery. Those steps don’t exist with glidewell.io. It’s out of the mill and into the mouth.

The training and support from Glidewell was also a major part of why we chose this system. CEREC didn’t have a lab I could contact for help like glidewell.io does. With CEREC, if I needed help on a crown, I would have had to find somebody there with the time and ability to remote into my system, which would be tough if not impossible since it wasn’t something offered to me. With glidewell.io, that’s part of what you’re paying to have. And it’s fantastic.

Dr. Jeffrey J. Sprout: My practice previously owned the E4D Dental System for in-office restorations. We used it, but not nearly as much as we use glidewell.io. The main difference for us is how intuitive Glidewell’s fastdesign.io software is versus the E4D system’s software.

When glidewell.io was installed in our practice, a team from Glidewell spent the day with us teaching us how to use everything in person. After that, our assistant who is in charge of the design process hit the ground running. And now she’s got it nailed down.

For us, it’s really all about the consistency. glidewell.io gives us consistent design proposals, consistent results from the mill, and consistent quality and accuracy. This keeps our workflow consistent and increases our productivity all the way down the line. It has absolutely changed our practice for the better.

To receive more information about the glidewell.io In-Office Solution, call 888-683-2063 or visit www.glidewell.io/tipin.