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Digital dentistry improves student learning and patient care

A woman wearing a black hat and sweater seated at a table with a laptop

笔辞蝉迟别诲:听December 7, 2023

By: Cheryl Bell

For听Veronique Nguyen听and听Brandon Worthen, the future of oral health care is digital. During their studies in the Faculty of Dentistry, the two senior students have had the opportunity to work hands-on with the digital intraoral scanning equipment and can see the benefits for both patients and oral health care providers.听

Originally from Winnipeg, where she had been studying to be a psychiatric nurse, Veronique Nguyen came to Nova Scotia to pursue a diploma of dental hygiene (DDH). She knew she wanted to be in a health-care profession and dental hygiene appealed because it offered the opportunity for longer term patient relationships and the kind of work-life balance she was looking for.

A woman with long black hair and wearing dark blue scrubs sits on a chair in a waiting room Veronique Nguyen

In the second year of the DDH program, Nguyen has had the opportunity to get hands-on experience with the Faculty鈥檚 digital dentistry equipment. What she saw convinced her that the equipment has a significant role to play in dental hygiene.

鈥淎s a dental hygienist, I can use that technology to capture tooth and soft tissues in one go,鈥 she says. It鈥檚 also good for record-keeping, patient education, treatment planning, and referrals. She says the records can readily show the progression of gingival recession or a fracture.听

Getting patients involved in their oral health

What Nguyen believes is particularly beneficial, however, is the opportunity to get patients more engaged in their oral health by showing them scans and photos of their oral cavity on the screen. And by using a wand to scan patients鈥 mouths rather than the often-dreaded alginate impressions, patient fear and anxiety can be alleviated.

What does she find most exciting about digital dentistry? How environmentally friendly it is. 鈥淲aste management is one of the big challenges we face together in this world,鈥 she says. 鈥淲ith digital dentistry, I appreciate that we can take measures to reduce that waste.鈥澨

Happy to help people

As a junior A hockey player, Brandon Worthen saw his share of facial and dental injuries. But that wasn鈥檛 what put him on the path to being a dentist. The inspiration lay closer to home. His father, Terry (DDS鈥96), and brother, Josh (DDS鈥23) are both dentists, and his aunt, Grace Richardson (DDS鈥01), is an orthodontist. Worthen says that his dad always came home from work happy to have helped people. By his second year of university, he knew dentistry was in his future, too.

Although Worthen has been introduced to digital dentistry in class, most of the experience he now has was the result of summer research projects carried out with Dr. Chris Lee, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Dentistry.听听

In the summer after his first year of dental school, Worthen helped to scan stone models as part of the process of digitizing patient records, becoming adept at using the scanning wand as a result. After his second year, his summer project involved evaluating the accuracy of the digital scanners.

Like Nguyen, Worthen sees the benefits of digital equipment in the Faculty of Dentistry as a teaching tool and for patient care. He says the technology is useful for learning听tooth anatomy, and evaluating the quality of your work, such as crown preparations.听鈥淵ou can do a scan of your prep, blow the image up on the screen, and get instant, objective feedback on how good it is,鈥 says Worthen.

When it comes to patient care, he says that the technology makes a lot of procedures 鈥渜uicker, easier, more accurate, and more comfortable鈥. Reducing the number of patient appointments is also a great advantage. For a crown produced using conventional methods, for example,听it can take multiple appointments, especially if refinements are needed. With digital technology, the preparation, scanning, milling, and fitting can all take place in one appointment.听

A man wearing black scrubs and glasses stands with his hands on his hips Brandon Worthen

Making a good impression

Worthen believes that 鈥渆verything starts with a good impression鈥 and digital technology makes it easier to capture that. Partials, retainers, bite guards, surgical guides for implants, and even complete sets of dentures can now all be made quickly and with great accuracy. Having a digital file of a denture or retainer means that a new appliance can simply be printed and sent to the patients, without the need for multiple appointments.听 Digital dentistry is also allowing general dentists to do more and be more comfortable with orthodontics and clear aligner treatment.鈥

Another positive impact of the new technology is that working with the labs that do the 3D printing is much more efficient. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e all speaking the same digital language,鈥 he explains, 鈥渁nd by providing the labs with accurate scans, you鈥檙e helping to limit the amount of tweaking they have to do to make something work.鈥

Both Nguyen and Worthen know that digital technology will be a large part of their lives as oral health care providers. Clean, fast, precise, and efficient, digital dentistry offers a bright and exciting future. 鈥淲e鈥檙e coming into this at a good time,鈥 says Worthen.

Donor support has enabled the Faculty of Dentistry to acquire eight pre-clinical omnicams, four primescans, two milling units, and two 3D printers. Further investment in this technology will enable the Faculty of Dentistry to continue to expand its digital capacity, improve teaching and clinical treatments, and create new opportunities for innovation.听