Editor’s intro: Implementing digital workflows for oral appliance therapy helps clinicians to grow their practices, enjoy their work more, and has made niches, such as dental sleep medicine, more accessible to the dental consumer.
by Tarun Agarwal, DDS, PA
You may have heard that the ‘golden age’ of dentistry has passed us by. With the strengthening economic clout of dental benefit companies, competitive pressures of well-funded ‘corporate’ dental practices, and the financial handcuffs of student and practice debt – it is easy to fall into the trap of believing this thought. I’m here to say that dentistry has never held more promise. Technology has transformed our personal lives for the better and actually gives the solo dental practice more than a fighting chance. Never before have general dentists been able to expand their scope of care than what our profession has witnessed in the past decade. Today, we enjoy the convenience of digital impressions and single visit chairside restorative dentistry, digital 3D radiology and its diagnostic capabilities, digitizing implant dentistry leading to fewer visits and better outcomes, and the virtual planning and execution of orthodontic treatment with clear aligners.
