It is obvious that technology is taking over everywhere, in dentistry as well. Yes CadCam, 3D and Digital are all terms that should be part of every dental practice that want to provide patients with a “current” standard of Dental treatment. But let’s think ahead here! What is next? What is the next best thing? What could make a visit to the dentist less scary and less painful?
I recently attended a interesting congress hosted by the Digital Dentistry Association of South Africa in Melrose. A guy walking around in sneakers and a suit, presenting his lecture from his mobile phone, was the lecture that stuck in my head. He was not a dentist or even in the medical industry. He was a guy with a vision of how the future of dentistry could evolve and probably will change. He got into my head, and is now causing me to lose sleep because I am excited and scared at the same time of what is possible.
The people implementing these changes are not us, it is people creating technology, I like to call them “Technologists”. They are clever, one step ahead, thinking about things differently than we are medically trained to think. The big question. Do we work with them or against them?. The future could hold X-Ray machines that self diagnose, dental chairs that calm you down or sedate you just enough to get you through the procedure, machines that drill out cavities or do a crown procedure unassisted by a human, or what about a orthodontic device that electronically decide what tooth gets pushed in a specific direction at a specific pressure today.
These times are here followers!
Until next time…