6 super digital things we saw at the Kois Center this weekend

Digital dentistry is booming right now. With the number of technological advancements being announced each year, it can be hard to keep up. Every dentist I have talked to is either transforming their practice with the latest tech or just started and looking for tips and tricks on how to integrate it into their workflow. Remember that intraoral scanner you bought last year? How often do you use it? I hope it’s not collecting dust because I can assure you there is so much you can do with those STL files! Hint: cloud storage and product ordering through the Hub. Funny enough they don’t really teach you how to use a scanner in dental school!

This past weekend, the Evident team, myself included, drove down to the Kois Center in Seattle for their digital course, Optimized Digital Integration In The Dental Practice. Together with the Kois team, Dr. Dean Kois, Dr. John Kois and John Kois Jr., we onboarded 23 digital dentists onto the Hub!

Here are our favorite 6 super digital things that we saw at the Kois Center:

1. Photography techniques for clinical photos

Having a proper photography setup is critical for taking clinical photos. Not only can photography be used for analysis and design, it is now an effective method for you to communicate with your labs. By taking photos of various poses, you can order products like the dentofacial analysis and smile mockup.

2. Dentofacial Display Analysis and Smile Mockups

These two have become the most popular items on the Hub. Makes sense considering how simple, quick and cost effective it is. Why pay several hundreds of dollars to order a diagnostic wax up only to risk the patient saying no, when you can spend a fraction of the cost (and time) by ordering these sharable and printable tools! The dentofacial analysis is perfect for historical record keeping as well so we recommend including it as part of all your patient visits.

3. Hands-on intraoral scanning practice

Carestream, iTero, Trios… there are so many scanners out in the market. Regardless of which one you choose, the fundamentals of accurate scanning are the same. Most importantly, it’s remembering to use it often so you get the most out of your investment. Whether you’ve decided to get your feet wet with aligners or you’re looking to lower the costs of your restorations, integrating intraoral scanners into your workflow is vital when going digital.

4. Integrating the Hub into the dental workflow

This one is our baby! Big shout-out to the team for building such an intuitive and revolutionary product. The Hub WAS the missing piece of the puzzle in digital dentistry. Current technology relies on scans and images etc. but each piece has its own method for transferring files. It’s hard to use if you have multiple platforms that don’t connect with each other. Storing everything in one place and even ORDERING from the very same place makes life so much easier. The best thing about this platform? The speed. Designs are finished within hours… so the whole process no longer takes weeks like it used to.

5. Stoneless mounting

Not quite part of the course but we got our hands on the stoneless mounting model. Why is this cool?

• No need for plaster when mounting cases on a Panadent articulator

• Get started with facebow-less mounting

• Go from scanning to mounting quickly and efficiently

More to come later!

6. CAD-CAM digital dentistry

We met with Dr. Andrew Kim from Orange County, California who gave a talk about his journey and how he went fully digital with his practice. He literally does everything. From cosmetic and restorative dentistry to dental implants and oral surgery, Dr. Kim specializes in all sorts of cases. A big part of his practice’s transformation is thanks to the power of CAD-CAM designs for digital dentistry. It all comes full circle when going digital, and Dr. Kim is proof of the success that comes with integrating up-to-date technology into your practice.

If any of this excites you as much as it excites me, don’t hesitate to shoot me a message at ahartono@evidentlabs.com and let’s chat more about digital dentistry!