Digital Impressions are not the Future…

October 21, 2009

They are the Here & Now!!!

Okay, maybe a little hyperbolic.

You get that way after spending two hours listening to Mr. Mike Walsh of Cadent, Inc. extol the virtues of his company’s iTero digital impression system.  The dude knows his stuff.  He’s entertaining, and he’s clearly passionate about his product, as he should be.

I’m not here to push any particular system – We have the ability to work with data from Cadent, 3M’s Lava COS, and Cerec – I’m writing this because I believe – Check that, I know –  these systems work NOW, and that using them will improve your quality of dentistry and the quality of the restorations you receive from your laboratory, whether it be me or someone else.

As for Cadent -

• The company’s system is unique in that it does not require powdering.
• The company claims that it captures “all the data” unlike other systems which capture reference points (enhanced by the powdering) and then extrapolate any missing data.
• The company’s output is defined as Open Architecture, which means I’m not restricted to what I can do with the data once I receive it.
• The company claims the system – as is, right now – is capable of handling 95% of your cases.  They are currently working on developing implant impression protocols, which will go along way towards moving the dial up to 100%.  (Mr. Walsh stated last night that they have worked with Biomet 3i’s Encode system and have cases in the mouth right now, but that protocol has not been released.)
• Most single tooth impressions can be accomplished in as little as 3 minutes.  Assistants can easily be trained to perform the opposing arch scans, which leaves the dentist to take the scans of the preparation, adjacent teeth and bite relation which can all be done in under two minutes.  Having recently discussed this with our client who is currently working with iTero, I can tell you these numbers stand up in the practical world.

Last, but not least, Cadent is offering a great promotion where they will waive the first $5000 in scan fees if you purchase a system before the end of 2009.  Scan fees range from $25 for a quadrant impression to $35 for a full arch impression – comparable to the material costs incurred using conventional impressions. The $5K should get you somewhere between 150-200 scans.

I’m thinking that you may just see a similar promotion from 3M for the Lava COS sometime in the very near future, and I don’t care which system you buy – JUST BUY ONE!!!  Once your insertion times drop to a routine 5 minutes, and your patients are singing your praises, you will wonder why you waited so long…

© 2009, Jeff Saylors. All rights reserved.