Moving from Analog to Digital Workflows in Dentistry

3 Reasons to "Go Digital"

There’s no way around it: the future of dentistry will be digital. With advancements in scanning, treatment planning, and digital manufacturing, what was once prohibitively expensive is now accessible, already transforming thousands of dental labs and practices worldwide. As computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) become the standard of care, digital solutions have become a necessary consideration for any dental business.

1. High Quality and Precision: Digital dentistry reduces risks and uncertainties at every stage of the dental workflow, providing consistency, accuracy, and precision. Intraoral digital impression scanning removes many of the variables associated with taking a traditional impression, giving technicians more accurate data to use for designs. Desktop digital manufacturing equipment now have a high enough degree of accuracy and precision to handle even the most challenging workflows. All together, this delivers a range of high-quality custom products and appliances with superior fit and repeatable results.

2. Reliability and Ease of Use: A transformation in 3D printing and CNC milling towards desktop-sized machines and user-centric design have made digital manufacturing easier to adopt than ever before. Gone are the days of refrigerator-sized equipment, specialized technicians, and complex, hands-on, day-to-day maintenance. Now, you can expect machines that work out-of-the-box, with automated material management and easy-to-use software. Moreover, next generation machines like the Formlabs Form 2 3D printer enable a 95% print success rate, making for production tools you can rely on.

3. Cost Efficiency: At the end of the day, every dental professional has to make no-nonsense financial decisions based on what’s best for their business. With cost-per-part on 3D printing materials that range from $1–10, more affordable software, and rapidly decreasing scanner costs, a full workflow can quickly deliver ROI for dental businesses of any size – not just the big players. With the precision that digital workflows can deliver, the additional efficiency benefit of lower rework rates make going digital a no-brainer from a cost perspective. That’s before even considering the benefits of higher patient acceptance, reduced chair time, and improved clinical outcomes.

Get Started with Digital Dentistry

With thousands of dental practices and dental labs already adopting digital dentistry, there’s never been a better time to start exploring how to take advantage of new technology in your business. Visit formlabs.com/dentistry to learn more, or call a Digital Technology Specialist to get started.

This article was originally published in Sidekick Magazine.

About the Author: Gideon Balloch is the Dental Product Manager at Formlabs, manufacturer of the Form 2, the best-selling desktop SLA 3D printer.