As founder and CEO of Cellerant Consulting Group, dentistry’s leading incubator and accelerator, I am exposed to new technologies and brilliant entrepreneurs on a routine basis. As founder of the annual Cellerant Best of Class Technology Awards – now in its 12th year – my team and I spend an entire year searching to find dentistry’s leading technologies.
With those two points of perspective, I can say with confidence that as you prepare to enter the dental community as a new provider, there is so much around both hardware and software to be excited about, innovations that will surely benefit your practice and patients. When Oral Health asked me to write this article, I jumped at the chance, eager to leave you awed and maybe even a little inspired. We’ll discuss the entry of artificial intelligence, machine learning, nanoparticle technology, and anti-microbials into daily practice. I will also discuss legacy technologies that are considered must-haves in establishing the ideal practice. Let’s begin.
MMG Fusion ChairFill | mmgfusion.com
Imagine a machine learning software solution that, when you push a button, searches all your electronic records, finding all the most profitable dentistry in those records that have not yet been performed. It communicates with those patients through text, email, and video, then sets up the appointments— all with no staff involvement!
MMG Fusion does so much more than Chairfill. It literally manages, markets, and grows your practice. Ava, your virtual assistant, provides your team assignments from the information it gains from MMG Fusion and then follows up until completed. This is artificial intelligence delivering tangible benefits for your practice.
Infinix by Nobio | infinix.com
One of the greatest challenges in clinical dentistry is placing posterior composite restorations. Though esthetically pleasing, the rate of secondary caries is significant. It can sometimes occur to a point where the patient considers it operator error instead of material failure. Enter Nobio, a company based in Israel, and its Infinix line of products launching later this year.
Infinix is an antimicrobial nanoparticle that received FDA 510k approval as an anti-caries agent. It is a true game-changer, clinical proven to prevent secondary caries. Unheard of, but true! It will be able to destroy all decay pathogens at the tooth composite surface and interface and it does not have a shelf life. It will maintain that anti-caries barrier indefinitely, and this is just the beginning! Imagine the possibilities: integrated into implants, cements, clear aligners and more. The possibilities are endless.
Greenmark Bio LumiCare | greenmarkbio.com
Imagine providing hygiene patients with a special nanoparticle solution they swish and then, with a curing light, luminesces the patient’s enamel decay!!! In the near future, that patient will be provided a take-home rinse that will remineralize the enamel decay back to its original state!
One of the challenges practitioners have with young patients in braces is poor hygiene and the impact white spots (ie decalcification) presents. Imagine that these brilliant scientists at Greenmark Bio are working on a similar remineralization solution that can help the white spots remineralize back to a virgin state! I encourage you to check out their website and learn more about the science behind the product.
Simplifeye Amplify | simplifeye.com
Potential patients arrive at your website. They are met by a live greeter who is available 24/7, which is critical, since you aren’t actively monitoring your website at all times. The live greeter, depending on your needs, can speak up to seven different languages. As the prospective patient is chatting with the greeter, an artificial intelligence engine is “listening” to the prospective patient and with its “memory”—that has digested hundreds of thousands of conversations, guides the chatter to provide the right responses to maximize the opportunity to convert the potential patient into your practice. The greeter also can make a direct appointment in your appointment book.
This service and technology is called Amplify and is one of many groundbreaking technologies by Simplifeye.
SmartMirror | Smartmirror.dental
Imagine a dental mirror illuminated with 36 LEDs, providing unprecedented intraoral visibility and so much more. The SmartMirror connects to your computer via WiFi and has a video camera that can be displayed live on-screen to allow patients to be educated about their needs! It also has an integrated microphone that allows dictation to be captured along with a video feed! SmartMirror looks to completely disrupt the dental mirror market and you can see why.
BienAir iOptima | dental.bienair.com
The handpiece is the most important club in your bag. There is a family company in Switzerland that has been making handpieces in the “Watch Valley” for generations. Their handpieces are unparalleled in quality and precision.
The company’s iOptima system has won the Cellerant Best of Class Technology Award for seven straight years – a near impossible achievement. iOptima enables you with one handpiece to perform all your dental operations-restorations, endodontics, implantology, and scaling. It is all controlled by an included iPod touch or an iPad mini. Nothing out there comes close.
Its electric handpieces are known to be quieter, cooler, and more efficient, while offering consistent torque. The handpiece is created with safety benefits that pre-dated COVID concerns, but make it indispensable now, such as less aerosol – in some cases, no aerosol – anti-retraction valves and more.
Tokuyama Dental OMNICHROMA | omnichroma.com
Tokuyama Dental’s OMNICHROMA is the first universal composite that matches every patient’s tooth shade – from A1 to D4 – with a single shade of composite! Its innovative technology utilizes structural color to match every tooth shade. Its 260 nanometer fillers are the precise shape and size necessary to generate red to yellow structural color with the reflected color of the patient’s surrounding dentition. This results in a perfect match with no added dyes or pigments.
Carestream Dental CS 9600 | carestreamdental.com
The time will come when you need to make the big purchase: a CBCT System. The panel that votes for the Best of Class Technology awards feels a special responsibility in choosing a true differentiator in this category, if there is one…and there is: The Carestream CS 9600.
The 9600CBCT system is a highly intelligent piece of technology. Intuitive features give the 5-in-1 system the capability to deliver exceptional image quality for more precise diagnoses while maintaining ease of use and patient comfort. It combines 2D panoramic technology, CBCT imaging, 3D model/impression scanning and 3D facial scanning, along with optional cephalometric imaging. This machine provides so many clinical needs that it will easily become a critical addition to a modern practice.
These eight technologies are redefining “state-of-the-art” for our profession. I hope I have piqued your curiosity about these products, each a true gamechanger. Technologies like these and others will ultimately bring great benefit to you, your professional future, and the patients who will look to you to improve the quality of their lives.
If you would like to continue to learn about new technologies in dentistry I have a monthly column in Oral Health called “The Last Word on Technology,” which literally is the last page of the issue every month.
Welcome to the family, be well, and be safe.
About the Author
Lou Shuman, DMD, CAGS, is the CEO of Cellerant Consulting Group, dentistry’s leading corporate incubator and accelerator. He is a venturer in-residence at Harvard’s i-Lab, chairman of the technology advisory board at WEO Media, a member of the Oral Healthadvisory board, and founder of the Cellerant Best of Class Technology Awards.