Whats new in dentistry?

 In the last 10 years or so , it has never been easier to deliver both excellent and time efficent dentistry for my patients. New technologies and materials have made this true. At this point, for most crowns I utilize either Zirconium or lithium dislicate materials to fabricate monolithic crowns , that are easier to fit and more durable than the older pfms that I utilized. While I still schedule one hr for fitting my crowns, truth be told, they now rarely require the full hr and often are completed and my patient dismissed in about 35-45 mins.

Also digital radiographs, 3d scanning and AI , when used properly, are terrific tools that make a dentists easier. All of our technologies still require skill and judgment to provide optimal outcomes, but I am convinced that when properly utilized these tools make dentists better at achieving great results for our patients.

Our office doesn't do single visit permanent crowns since the labs I use probably provide a higher quality result then we would achieve in house , but my son has worked in other practices that have in house labs and he feels the results can be acceptable.

Currently we are thinking of incorporating AI software into our practice, since it seems to be a promising adjunct tool for diagnosis, but it will require an additional monthly outlay of about $350/month that would be added to our already monthly payment of over $1000 for management, booking and digital radiograph services. The costs of running our 3 day per week practice to my mind quite high, when combined with the costs of rent, dental supplies and salaries. While all of these technologies are really great, they have added to our overhead and it is common for dental practices to have operating overheads above 80% and forced dental practice owners to place an increasing emphasis on the business side of dentistry.




from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2026/04/whats-new-in-dentistry.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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