Align Technology’s iTero Element® intraoral scanner receives a software upgrade that enhances chairside treatment acceptance
 
By Danny Chan
 
If the attributes of a fuss-free, visually enhanced digital precision intraoral scanning device in a small footprint wasn’t enough to make you buy the iTero Element intraoral scanner, its powerful new software upgrade might. Align Technology, the global medical device company behind Invisalign® clear aligners, recently announced a software upgrade for the iTero Element intraoral scanner that lets you compare current and historical scans using the new TimeLapse technology. The version 1.5 upgrade further allows patient scans to be completed in as little as one minute.
 
The iTero Element intraoral scanning system, offers real-time visualisation of detailed digital scans on a high-definition 19” multi-touch screen display. Using the vibrant and realistic coloured images on the monitor, dentists can easily engage their patients on any subject – from their oral concerns to treatment options and diagnostic outcomes.
 
The exclusive TimeLapse technology available with the iTero Element intraoral scanner is a newly added feature that enhances chairside treatment acceptance and aids treatment conversion. Whether you are a general practitioner or orthodontist, the ability to compare a patient’s historic and current 3D scans is immensely beneficial. The TimeLapse upgrade allows you to do just that – not only as a feature of diagnostic interest but also a communicative tool that greatly reduces the distance between doctor and patient.
 
On one hand, it offers the practical means of identifying and measuring tooth movement, tooth wear and gingival recession. On the other, it’s the modern communication device that your gadget-savvy patients have come to expect. Indeed, nothing bridges the doctor-patient communication divide more effectively, or impressively, than showing 3D scans morphing from past to present bite records.
 
With the software upgrade, dentists can capture full mouth and bite scans in as little as one minute, which facilitates the integration of iTero Element intraoral scanner tools into each patient consultation. To review a specific area of interest, all the practitioner needs to do is drag the magnifier from the upper right portion of the screen over the area to enable an animation of the change. You can also zoom in on the animation by pinching the touchscreen. 
 
The benefits of using the patient’s own 3D bite records in pre-treatment diagnostics and patient communication also apply to other treatments like implants, sleep apnoea appliances as well as crown & bridge restorations.
 
The iTero Element intraoral scanner with TimeLapse technology offers more than just a nifty way of increasing patient conversion to recommended treatments. Practices offering Invisalign treatments get more features with Invisalign Progress Assessment Tool and Invisalign Outcome Simulator. While the Progress Assessment feature helps you to check whether your patient’s Invisalign treatments are tracking to plan, the latter allows you to show your patient the simulated outcome of the teeth straightening process in 360˚ views– even making adjustments on the fly during the chairside consultation.
 
As a practice building feature, the increased scanning speed of iTero Element intraoral scanner is a huge time saver. Besides dentists, any team member – including dental hygienists, dental assistants and treatment coordinators – can use the intraoral scanner, which helps to free up doctor time.
 
Its small footprint and intuitive functions make it easy to incorporate the system into the practice quickly. The high-resolution scans and display clearly show 3D visualisations with colour mapping and real-time feedback, all of which help to engender trust and confidence in your patients. Of course, for Invisalign treatments, it also helps you to nudge patients back in line when their compliance falls off the mark. Finally, the iTero Element intraoral scanner eliminates the need for messy bite registrations and placing squishy impression material in the patient’s mouth. This significantly enhances the patient experience and makes the assistant’s job easier.  
 
With the upgrades, general practitioner dentists and orthodontists can leverage a host of applications and tools for a wide range of restorative or orthodontic solutions. The new TimeLapse technology, coupled with faster scanning time, simply makes the iTero Element intraoral scanner an even more desirable option towards modern diagnostics and digital preventative care. 

Fortune smiles twice on Dr Rayappu Packianathan by way of free autoclave units

By Danny Chan
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As part of a promotional exercise for SciCan’s latest Statim autoclave range, Henry Shein Halas organised a nation-wide search for the oldest SciCan Statim Autoclave. According to results of the contest, Australia’s oldest Statim autoclave unit is a 25-year-old SciCan Classic Statim 5000.

The trusty sterilisation unit belongs to Dr Rayappu Packianathan, a General Dentist based in Canberra. As it turned out, Dr Packianathan has a serendipitous relationship with the marquee brand of autoclaves. The old SciCan Classic Statim 5000 autoclave that helped him to win the competition was a gift from a dental technician. When his own autoclave unit expired about a year ago, the dentist was initially loaned the SciCan Statim 5000 as a replacement unit from his technician who later decided to give it to him instead.

“Although I wasn’t the original owner of the older SciCan Statim unit, it has been serving my practice very well for the whole time that I’ve had it. It has never broken down or required repairs and is tremendously easy to use – my dental assistant learned how to use it very quickly. We could run the clinic with minimum number of handpieces,” says the proud owner.

 “Despite its age, it has proven to be safe, sturdy and reliable.”

Dr Packianathan said winning the contest was very timely and it also represents enormous cost savings. Prior to the announcement of the contest results, he was about to shell out more than $10,000 for a new autoclave unit, to be used in his 17-month-old practice in Harrison, located in the suburban district of Gungahlin in Canberra.

Now that Statim’s Australian distributor Henry Schein Halas has presented him with a brand new Statim 2000 autoclave unit for winning the nation-wide search, Dr Packianathan no longer needs to make the new equipment purchase.   

“The news (that I had won the contest) came to me as a huge surprise. It was almost perfect timing to win a new autoclave unit, just when I was thinking of buying one.”

For more reasons than one, the lucky dentist has the HSH organising team to thank for the excellent timing of the contest. Having recently invested heavily in the setting up of his new clinic in Harrison, Dr Packianathan wasn’t very keen to splurge again. Construction for the newly built 183-sqm clinical facility with four operatories was completed in February 2016. Dr Packianathan owns another family practice in Weetangera, located about 25 minutes away.

To Dr Packianathan, the savings do no end with winning the Statim 2000, but are ongoing due to the new unit’s increased sterilization speeds.

“Due to the faster cycle times and speedier turnaround of sterile instruments, I can reduce the number of stock I hold for high speed handpieces – from 5 sets to perhaps 3 sets per chair. As I use high-end handheld devices that are rather expensive, this autoclave unit represents a lot of savings to me in the longer run.”

Used by healthcare practitioners in over 90 countries, the SciCan Statim brand name is synonymous with superior cycle times and processes for handpiece sterilization. The new SciCan Statim 2000/5000 G4 Cassette Autoclave range takes the world’s best-selling autoclave to a new level of speed, dependability and ease of use.

The unit’s ability to sterilize handpieces and instruments in as little as 8 minutes, effectively allows handheld instruments to be processed ‘just in time’ or between patients. Increased efficiency works in unison with its “gentle” sterilization that does not compromise instruments in any way – thanks to its state-of-the-art steam generator rapidly heating and converting water into steam in mere seconds. This outstanding feature is dovetailed by its equally fast drying technology.

Built for connectivity, the WIFI-enabled autoclave also boasts a high-resolution touchscreen panel offering all the customisable parameters at your fingertips as well as real-time operations – cycle history, printing, validation information, etc. – through your network portal.

Technology aside, Dr Packianathan was also impressed by the physical compactness of the SciCan Statim 2000.

“The unit does not require installation and is small enough to fit onto a portable cart – needing only a wall socket to operate. Compared to other autoclave units on the market, I believe it is one of the most spce-saving models around. Indeed, its small footprint frees up a lot of space on my bench tops in the Steri room.”

In the end, what stands out for Dr Packianathan is the peace of mind he gets from owning a high-end autoclave unit.
“Sterilisation is a most important aspect of Dentistry. I believe with the new Statim autoclave, my sterilisation section will enjoy perfectly smooth operations without any interruption to patient care.”

By Danny Chan

When undertaking a complex task, it is wiser to entrust it to the person who has performed the same task 100 times than give it to someone doing it for the first time. This straightforward principle can be applied to the buying and selling of a dental practice, says Simon Palmer, Managing Director of Practice Sale Search.
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Simon is espousing the merits of accumulating trade-specific knowledge that comes with consistent industry exposure and hands-on experience, the kind of insight you won’t find in textbooks or training courses. Perhaps, it’s also the kind of expertise you would like to have on your side of the negotiation table when you’re selling a dental practice.
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With more than 12 years of experience in dental recruitment and dental practice sales, Simon is a practice sales broker with intimate knowledge of the Australian dental industry. Coming from what he calls a “dental family” – his father, uncle and cousins are all dentists – Simon’s professional background is also intrinsically tied to the oral care profession.

Since graduating with an economics degree about 20 years ago, he has been involved in the business of dental recruitment and practice sales. Four years ago, Simon sold off the recruitment portion of the business to focus on the latter, hence renaming the company Practice Sale Search. The brokerage firm provides comprehensive, confidential practice sales/purchase services, exclusively for dental practices Australia-wide.

Business, Simon says, has been trending upwards: PSS sold 50 practices in 2015, followed by 65 in 2016. Simon’s recognition as an expert in Australian practice sales circles – where his views are regularly sought and heard via dental publications and seminars – might have something to do with it.

“Buying or selling a practice is more complex than it looks. What we do may appear similar to what a real estate agent does, but it actually involves a lot more moving parts.  For example, in addition to a real estate agreement for purchase or lease of the premises, practice sales also involve the business sale contract, and often a work contract for the vendor post-sale,” Simon explains.

“For any given project, we can be dealing with three lawyers: One for the business owner, one for the landlord and one for the buyer. We need to make sure all the moving parts work together – more than just the straight sale of an asset.”

The work contract governs the working period that the dentist-seller has agreed to carry out post-sale as a component of the purchase agreement – lasting anywhere from 6 months to several years, depending on the nature of the deal. Corporate acquisitions typically stipulate a longer work contract than private ones.
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“We are essentially providing a consulting service. Besides having to understand the business side of things, we need to analyse the commercial and lifestyle needs from the buyers’ standpoint – whether the location is viable, close to home, within manageable distance from a second clinic, or whether the buyer can replicate the clinical work and hours that the vendor is currently putting in.”

Negotiations typically take a few weeks, although documentation easily adds another month to the process. Just think of the amount of paperwork involved: Historical tax returns, financial statements, complete inventory of equipment and furniture, depreciation calculations and schedules, patient records, insurance arrangements, premises lease, etc.

Of course, employing the services of a brokerage firm is as much about dealing with the complexities as it is about securing the best possible deal.

“Besides helping our clients save time – from having to deal with accountants, lawyers and contracts – we also help them get a better result.

“From our ability to generate competitive tension, and based on our knowledge of the market and pricing benchmarks, we can easily beat the valuations of a private seller who is selling to his or her own buyers in isolation.
“Furthermore, the broker can also provide a level of objectivity absent from the buyer or seller’s decision-making, perhaps blindsided by emotional attachments.”  

Simon’s talk at the recent Dental Practice Owners Conference 2017 in Melbourne, titled “Exit Options: How To Make Your Practice More Saleable”, provided useful tips to an appreciative audience – comprising practice owners from all across Australia – eager to learn how they can capitalise on a buoyant marketplace. If recent trends in corporate aggregation, low banking interest rates and growth in the number of dentists buying are anything to go by, 2017 already looks like a boom year in practice sales.

Where exit options are concerned, Simon opines: “It’s horses for courses. I don’t think that there’s an exit option that suits everyone. It depends on where your practice is at and other influencing factors, ranging from commercial interests to the type of lifestyle you prefer.

“If the dentist wants to get a market appraisal for their practice, all I need from them is profit and loss documentation for the last couple of years. Based on their responses to a list of standard questions and my visual assessment of the practice, I am able to provide a verbal appraisal for free.

“Whatever the client chooses to do with the appraisal, we can ensure that the entire process remains discreet and confidential.”