Intraoral ScannersTraditional impressions, when compared to digital scanning, takes longer and is not as pleasant of an experience for a patient. But even though digital scanners are faster, can provide better results, and give the patient a better experience some dentists have still haven’t transitioned to using one. There are many reasons that dentist don’t make this transition.

Some of those reasons are that they just feel more comfortable with the traditional way of creating impressions or they believed the prices for the scanning equipment was too much. Today a good number of dentists have transitioned from conventional impressions, but for some dentists, the transition was a little complicated.

When you are starting anything new there are challenges you’ll face before you get used to it and transitioning from conventional impressions to digital scanning for a dentist isn’t an exception. The best way to transition with minimal barriers is to understand the task at hand and here are some tips to help you get acquainted with your digital scanner.

Set Goals

Transitioning to another new system requires a dental clinician to set new goals that are workable with the new system. Setting new goals involves the corporation of the entire team. It is crucial for the workers to be aware of the change in place and how it will change the workflow.

You are the best person to inform the employees of the change, and excellent communication with your workers will help ease the transition.

Study

When you have made your team ready, and the digital scanner is present it is now time to learn where the buttons are, which buttons to press for a given task and how to maintain the equipment. Learning should be done by those employees who will be handling the digital scanner. It will be an added advantage if all your employees learn to operate the machine.

Learning about the equipment will help you understand more about it, and operating it becomes easier. Remember the new change can be hard for the employees since the digital scanner will be cutting down on some of the tasks. Some employees might feel scared of losing their jobs and may not be cooperative. You should be able to address this fact if you want a successful transition.

Practice

They say practice makes perfect. Whenever you start using any new gadget at first, it seems hard, but with continuous use, you’ll get everything right and operate it efficiently. The same goes for digital scanners, using it often will help in mastering how the equipment works.

Waiting until you have a patient for you to test the equipment isn’t a right decision. You can practice with your employees as they also learn how to use the scanner.

Research

Research is critical when you want to purchase your digital scanning equipment. Get information on the various models in the market and how compatible they are with your practice. There are varieties of digital scanning equipment’s out there, and some are better than the others, some are cheaper than the others, and it will all depend with how much you are willing to invest on the scanner. Cheap scanners might offer fewer functions while expensive scanners have various services.

Identify Barriers

Identifying what could hinder the transition process will help you combat it before it becomes an issue between you and the transition. An example of a roadblock is when your employees or you are not skilled in technology. It is crucial to learn the basics of how a technology works since the scanner is computerized and it will need someone who has a basic knowledge of computers.

Inform Your Lab Of The Transition

Transitioning means how you worked before changes to some extent. Talking over the development with your dental lab will help in testing the quality of digital data and scans sent to the lab. You can confirm the efficiency of the equipment in providing an accurate result with the data received by your dental lab.

The cost for the lab services might also change, and it is essential to know what the changes are and adjust accordingly.

Keep Updating

Digital technologies are changing by the day and moving at the same pace by keeping you updated on the new changes, or new dental digital equipment will make your transition a success.

Take Time

Some people are fast learners, and others are slow learners. Depending on the type of learner you are, it is vital you take as much time as needed to learn the ropes well enough to provide adequate services.

Each employee has a different personality, and they will master the operation of the digital equipment at different times and being patient will allow every member of the team to learn and master how the equipment functions.

Be Positive

Digital scanning equipment might be costly, but the cost is decreasing as time goes by and within no time every dental clinic and hospital will have digitized their procedures. While transitioning don’t look at how costly the equipment is but focus on how much it will bring you.

When compared with the traditional way of dentistry digitization has brought a lot more success than failure. The accuracy it provides will attract more patients to ask for your services which means the number of patients you have daily will increase.

Within no time you’ll realize you have recovered the amount you used in purchasing the equipment. The equipment saves you a lot of money in ways you may not have realized. One way is by creating accurate models and avoiding the need to create another impression due to damage to the original impression in transport to the dental lab.

Digitization is happening in every industry and embracing this change will bring you many benefits. If you have any questions on digital scanners or are looking for a dental lab that works with digital scanners give us a call here at Sky CAD!