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It’s a great
time to be in
dentistry. And
the best thing is,
the people who
benefit the most
are our patients.
I can load that immediately, and the
costs are a lot less, so it opens that
treatment solution up to more patients.
Sometimes I even use that as
a provisional technique, and then
graft and come back later in the other
areas. Again, you’ve got to look at
what is best for the patient and make
the diagnosis.
BB: Going back to single teeth and
immediately provisionalizing, in what
percentage of your cases do you think
you’re actually doing that?
DL: If I do that in that upper anterior
area, I plan on doing it every time I
can. Now, the truth is, that’s probably
only about 80 percent of the time because
there are some times when we
just don’t. We always have the lab fabricate
some type of provisional for me.
BB: Have that flipper ready.
DL: Always have that ready. Like an
Essix ® appliance (Raintree Essix Inc.;
Wilmington, Del.) or something that
I can put in there so that we have
something for the patient to wear
without any worry and without compromising
their care. And, obviously,
patients want it now. If you can do it
now, patient acceptance goes up. With
the technology we have today, we can
do that.
BB: Once you provisionalize at the time
of placement, how long are you waiting
until you do the final restoration?
DL: There are a lot of different opinions
on that, a lot of different research
out there. I’m still waiting three
months. Truthfully, if they’re in a good
provisional that looks great and you
have to wait longer, it’s not a problem.
They’re happy. So, it’s not as big an
issue from that standpoint.
BB: How about full-arch cases? If you
immediately provisionalize, how long
are you waiting?
DL: With those cases we’re actually
waiting a little bit longer — about four
months on most of those cases. It depends.
When wI put that in, I can tell
right then how long it’s going to be. If
I have any concerns, I’ll wait longer.
There’s no rush because you have a
good provisional for them to work with.
It goes back to working with the lab
and having everything in proper order.
It’s to the point now where we’ve become
so good at the provisionals that
we can use that as part of our diagnostics
for our final, and even eliminate
some appointments. The more planning
you do, the better your results
are going to be.
BB: Right. It gives you that ideal prototype
to work from. Are there any future
technologies you see coming to the fore
in dentistry?
DL: I think implants are going to
continue to grow. More dentists
are going to be able to get into that
technology, and more patients are
going to be able to afford it. In our
practice, it’s one of the most successful
things that we do, so there’s a bright
future for that. As I said before, a lot
of people who are edentulous are
dental cripples, and we can really help
with the use of implant overdentures.
Those treatment options are going to
become more and more popular.
Scanning technologies are also going
to change things, even if it’s just with
diagnostic impressions. We’re going to
be able to do more and more things
digitally, and anything we can do
digitally, I think, is going to help us
all the way through a given procedure
to final restoration. We’re looking at
doing dentures digitally now, which
is something else becoming more
prevalent in our field and that will
continue to evolve. It’s a great time to
be in dentistry. And the best thing is,
the people who benefit the most are
our patients. IM
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