3M Digital Oral Care Provides Leading Digital Impression Systems to University of Michigan School of Dentistry

Technology
for digital dentistry becomes part of the curriculum to prepare students for
the future.

 

University of Michigan dental
students will soon be working with some of the most advanced technology in
the industry, thanks to a new agreement between the school and the 3M
Digital Oral Care Department. 3M and its dental division, 3M ESPE,
provided the school with a number of the company’s digital impression-taking
systems and related technologies to help 

prepare
dental students for the increasing digitization of patient care activities. The tools will
be deployed in the predoctoral curriculum of the School of Dentistry as it
continues its commitment to preparing students for a successful future
after graduation.

 

3M
ESPE’s digital impression-taking system, the Lava™ Chairside Oral Scanner
C.O.S., makes up the foundation of a new digital workflow in restorative
dentistry. 3M ESPE provided the School of Dentistry with 14 of these units.
The technology is so new that it is not yet used by many dentists in
practice,but it is projected to play an increasingly vital role in dental
offices and labs. Dentists who use the tools report increased efficiency,lower remake rates, and better patient satisfaction, all of which can make
a significant impact on the success of a dental practice. By gaining experience
operating the system prior to graduation, the University of Michigan dental students will be prepared to
implement digital technologies in practice and help their offices run more
efficiently. 

 

The
School of Dentistry’s 439 students will be trained to use the equipment as part
of their preclinical and patient care experiences. The Lava C.O.S. system
will be implemented in the preclinical program for second year students as
part of their all-ceramic dental restoration curriculum.
Students will use the digital impression-taking system during patient care as a
part of the third and fourth year clinical program.

 

“This
agreement helps us add yet another dimension to the exceptional
learning experiences we provide students at Michigan,” said Carol
Anne Murdoch-Kinch, DDS, PhD, clinical
associate professor and associate dean for Academic Affairs at the University
of Michigan School of Dentistry. “These technologies will
support students’ learning and clinical decision making, improve confidence in
capturing impressions, and prepare them for contemporary dental practice.
By exposing all of our pre-doctoral students to these tools we can ensure
that all students will graduate with valuable, hands-on experience using some of
the most advanced technologies available to the profession.”

 

The
revolutionary technology of the Lava C.O.S. captures dental impressions with
digital precision, and allows dentists to view continuous 3D video images
of the digital impression in real time on a touch-screen monitor. The
recent Lava C.O.S. 3.0 software upgrade gives the system
powerful new tools for easier scanning, a scan rewind option, and an occlusal reduction tool. The Lava C.O.S. makes the impression taking procedure more
comfortable for patients and provides a unique, interactive experience.

 

In
addition to the Lava C.O.S. units, 3M ESPE provided the School of Dentistry
with the Lava™
Scan ST, which can convert a traditional impression into a digital format,
allowing the lab
to use accurate digital tools to design simple or complex restorations. Ten
computers will be provided that are equipped with software to mark the
margins of a restoration and perform other design functions to help create
a precisely fitting restoration. 

 

We
are pleased to help the School of Dentistry prepare its students for the new
world of digital impression taking,” said Mark Farmer, general manager of the 3M Digital
Oral Care Department. “As digital tools continue to increase
efficiency and improve patient comfort in dental offices, these students
will play a role in revolutionizing the profession.”  

 

3M
ESPE has long been a pioneer in the field of digital dentistry, combining its
expertise in computer-aided design and manufacturing with digital
materials‚ digital impressions‚ and other related solutions. The agreement
with the University of Michigan School of Dentistry furthers the company’s
commitment to education as the dental industry continues to evolve.