Our decision to invest in CEREC technology was not one undertaken lightly. As a busy mixed practice with a large NHS contract we support a principal, three associates, a VT and a hygienist, and are not in a position to be able to just invest in a piece of equipment and let it gather dust in the corner.
Before we made the final purchasing decision we calculated our break-even point, and concluded that we needed it to produce four private crowns per month to meet the financial obligation of the lease. However our thinking behind introducing the technology was that it would become an integral part of our treatment offering (for NHS and private patients). In actual fact we now estimate the CEREC is currently used at least four times a day.
Although it’s true to say that financial considerations motivated our purchase to a certain extent, the clinical considerations were also important. The accuracy of CEREC restorations was a factor that the principal was particularly keen to take advantage of. The marginal fit of CEREC is particularly impressive and when a patient is in the chair waiting to have a restoration fitted, our dentists are now completely confident that there will be no need for adjustments. This has resulted in more efficient fitting appointments that ensure increased patient satisfaction and a more relaxed and confident clinical team. Additionally, since we have started to use the technology our refits have been minimised.
We believe that this type of technology should not only be the preserve of private patients. Financially we had always found it very difficult to produce inlays and onlays for our NHS patients as lab costs make this treatment option untenable. CEREC has revolutionised this scenario. Thanks to the speed and accuracy of CEREC a dentist can now scan the tooth, create the restoration on screen, mill and fit, all in a fraction of the time and at a substantially reduced cost when compared with traditional methods.
So from a clinical and a financial point of view, CEREC works. Our associates love using it. They are from a new generation of GDPs who are very aware of this type of technology though at dental school they had relatively little opportunity to use it. We have not only encouraged the use of CEREC, but positively demanded it. We made it clear from the outset that it would give them the chance to offer good quality clinical solutions to their patients and makes financial sense for the practice and also for them personally.
Once they were given the opportunity to use the technology they readily embraced it.
Although CEREC is a high-tech piece of equipment the software is easy to use and will not stretch anyone’s IT skills. We received some in-house training and all our dentists quickly became familiar with how easy the software is to navigate and how efficient it can make them.
The CEREC is mobile between our two ground floor surgeries, one of which is a hygiene suite that now doubles as a ‘scanning and design’ room, enabling the dentists from first floor surgeries to bring patients downstairs to have impressions taken and designs produced.
We have no regrets in buying CEREC and although we now have a lease to pay this is more than offset by the reduction in our monthly lab bill. But its value is not only measured financially. The quality of the restorative work produced is outstanding and we believe is enabling us to provide better quality work for all our patients. Even the smallest, most delicate inlay is possible and we have had no issues with accuracy or fit.
There is no doubt that to make the CEREC viable you have to be committed to using it and so does the whole of your clinical team. CEREC is an asset to our practice and I don’t see any negative sides to it at all – if you make use of it every day, it will pay for itself and you, and your patients will benefit.