What the Future Holds for Guided Surgery
Episode #249 with Dr. Scott MacLean
Seattlestudyclub.com for general resources and check out the SSC Symposium, which is online this year from January 29-31, 2021
Dr. Scott MacLean YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRp7FHWTjpb7BeuFjmX2Azg
Dr. Scott MacLean Instagram: @drscottmaclean
Dr. Scott MacLean website: https://www.drscottmaclean.com/
SSC is designed for team members, specialists, general dentists and any extension of dentistry that want to be advanced and learn about a varied list of topics.
The symposium has some of the best speakers in the world and it will be very interactive. At the 2021 symposium, Dr. MacLean will be discussing the DTX Studio and how it can help treatment plan and map the procedure for implant placement.
· “There is no such thing as a successful hermit”
If you want to be challenged and see how great people think, refer to the SSC and see what they have to offer from the symposium to the local study clubs. The resources are endless and constantly improving. Mentorship can occur and provide a hands-on personal touch on how to succeed with a life associated within dentistry.
To a group of lab technicians: “How often do we have the implant in the right spot?” – of 350 people, the response was only 50-60%.
Each person is very individual with different structures in different locations, from the nerves, to the bone levels, to the type and style of tissue.
Guided surgery allows for a plan to be done outside the mouth and making it easier to execute that plan while inside the mouth. Whether it is “Dynamic Guided” or “Template Guided”.
Not every implant should be placed at bone level. There are times that the proper plan involves platform switching or other techniques to provide the proper treatment.
The two versions are: “Dynamic Guided” involves a scan that is then taken into a program called “X-Guide” which allows for the clinician to see on a screen what their hands are doing based off of the scans and images that had been taken.
The other is “Template Guided”, or having the patient take a CBCT x-ray and an intraoral scan that are then combined to help guide where the implant should be to provide a proper implant location. To do this same day, you can have a 3D printer produce a template in your office.
The software used by Dr. MacLean is DTX Studio. To see him in action, refer to his YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DErtuSGOSHM
Reduction of error and increasing predictability is the hope.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used for anything from diagnostics to charting. A simple process of taking a pano and/or CBCT combined with an intraoral scan then populate everything from existing conditions to bone levels, which can reduce the amount of time spent trying to gather information. It can also assist in determining potential pathologies or success rates of treatments. These treatments may even continue to being non-ionizing radiation patterns of gathering information (video mouth trays that can image the whole tooth), which has been a concern for many for a number of years.
This will never alleviate the need for dentists. You still need to have a great person to understand the information being obtained and to perform the treatments. There is an emotional portion of dentistry that will never be automated.
With so many potential treatments associated with a single diagnosis, it does help to have a very visual educational tool to discuss with the patient any concerns and to help them see the reason for the treatments. When it comes to the SSC local clubs, these moments can be aided by having specialists involved to get a varied set of opinions to further improve the potential outcome.
We are finding ourselves in a pattern where training of team members (both in the office and labs/specialists) needs to be different due to the advancements that are developing. Have the treatment options established with a system, it allows for team members to fully buy-in to the process and can make the office run much smoother. If there is a process of gathering information that is not working, changes need to be made to allow for a better system. Higher rewards come from performing treatments that require more skill or that are on a higher level of difficulty.
The iPhone is going to be even more involved in dentistry from an EKG to general health data to helping guide proper treatment based on the total health of the patients.
Those just starting in dentistry need to find a mentor. If you are experienced in dentistry, be a mentor to someone else. Find the best people in the world, and find out what they are doing. Dentistry is a life-long practice.
Get all of the information you can while sitting across from the patient to best understand and diagnose the situation. It doesn’t always come from clinical understanding… sometimes it is personal understanding. Always be learning.
