For patients that suffer from mild to moderate age- or disease-related tooth loss, partial dentures are the standard recommendation. A set of partial dentures can fill in the missing tooth gaps and prevent natural teeth from moving, giving patients a healthy smile that boosts their self-confidence, mental well-being, and oral health.
But for dental clinics seeking to reduce chair time and increase patient satisfaction, the conventional practice for partial dentures will no longer suffice. Not our new world of digital cosmetic dentistry, where innovative technologies and workflows are capable of enhancing the partial denture process from start to finish.
So, what does that process look like?
Today, we’ll compare the traditional partial denture process to Dandy’s digital new denture solution.
The traditional partial denture process
The conventional denture process has been a key component of providing oral health care for many years—providing improved quality of life for patients in areas like eating, speaking, and social interaction. And at the end of the lengthy project, the vast majority of patients walk out of their dentist’s office with a working denture model that solves their tooth loss issues.
But that traditional removable partial denture method has many areas that could be improved upon:
- For dentists – It tends to be a demanding, multi-appointment process that takes up valuable patient chair time. The repeated back-and-forth between the lab and dental clinic can potentially extend timelines and expose the process to further delays.
- For patients – Whether it’s taking initial impressions or trying on the new denture model, the patient denture experience tends to be invasive, uncomfortable, and time-consuming.
Although each patient case is unique, the standard partial denture process involves several appointments and waiting periods. This may include:
- Taking initial impressions
- Taking definitive impressions and selecting proper tooth shading
- Shipping the master impression to the lab
- Waiting for the lab to create the master impression
- Performing wax try-in and bite check
- Shipping the wax rim with denture teeth back to the lab for flasking
- Trimming and polishing the partial dentures
- Trying on and adjusting the final denture prosthodontic
All in all, this treatment could take more than 50 days if there were zero hiccups along the way.
The Dandy 2-Appointment digital partial denture process
With Dandy’s 2-Appointment model, the traditional partial denture workflow has been completely overhauled.
Thanks to emerging advancements in dentistry like intraoral scanners and CAD/CAM technology, the process is now faster, more affordable, and easier to perform than ever. In the past, going from impression to final product would take several appointments. But with Dandy digital solutions, it has been streamlined into a two-appointment workflow.
Appointment #1: The digital intraoral scan
With Dandy, there’s no longer a need for dentists to take physical mold impressions, which tend to be error-prone, time-consuming, and unpleasant for patients.
Instead, the dentist uses an intraoral scanner to rapidly scan the patient’s oral cavity.
This cutting-edge dental tool automatically registers each tooth’s shape and size. That data is converted into a 3D image of the patient’s mouth, which is then used as the basis for a digital model of the partial denture.
Afterward, the dentist sends the partial denture model to the digital dental lab. There, specialized lab technicians review the digital impression to see whether there are any issues. If there are problems, the lab will notify the dentist immediately, thus allowing them to repeat the scan right then and there while the patient is still in the chair.
If the impression is improved, the digital lab’s CAD design team will leverage CAD/CAM dentistry technology to make necessary adjustments to ensure proper spacing and alignment for the final removable partial denture prosthodontic.
Appointment #2: the fitting
In about 5 to 7 business days, the lab will complete and ship the final partial denture model.
For most patients, that model will arrive as a perfect fit. In some cases, the dentist may need to perform minor adjustments. However, the vast majority of people will leave this fitting with a flawless, comfortable, high-quality set of partial dentures.
Advantages of a digital partial denture process
Dandy’s digital partial denture process has reimagined the conventional model, neutralizing many of the common flaws inherent in the multi-appointment, traditional approach. This can benefit both parties:
- For dentists – Dentists can complete a patient’s entire partial denture process in significantly fewer appointments while consuming far less chair time with each one. Reducing patient chair time and improving lab communication empowers dentists to see more patients.
- For patients – Patients don’t have to wait nearly as long to receive a working partial denture. Thanks to new dental technology, what used to take 50 days can now be completed in less than 10 days—and without much of the discomfort associated with the conventional impression-taking model.
Digital technologies have streamlined the partial denture process and mitigated many of the common pain points associated with the conventional denture method. Put simply, it’s the ultimate solution for increased revenues and happier patients.
Dandy is the future of partial dentures
If you want to improve margins while driving patient satisfaction, going digital is the solution.
The old denture workflow has been replaced by Dandy’s partial denture process, which simplifies and streamlines the entire operation from start to finish.
With the assistance of intraoral scanners and CAD/CAM technology, forward-thinking dentists can now provide a better final product, see more patients than ever, reduce overhead costs, and enhance the patient experience—all of which are fundamental ingredients to long-term clinical success.
Are you ready to embrace the future of digital dentistry?
Contact Dandy today to modernize your partial and edentulous denture procedures.
Sources:
American Dental Association. Removable Partial Dentures. https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/d/dentures-partial
Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. A Typical Patient Experience. https://www.bu.edu/dental/patients/dentures/patient-experience/
Journal of the American Dental Association. Intraoral Scanners. https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(21)00312-3/fulltext
