The Future is Now! Here is the digital future in your clinic…

Is your dental clinic prepared for the future? And what does the future of dentistry look like? Find out how you futureproof your clinic in this article about “the digital dental clinic”.

In an era marked by rapid technological advancements, the dental profession is undergoing a transformation driven by digital innovation. Though there are no signs of dentists being replaced by AI or robots, as it is the case in other industries, it is crucial that you prepare yourself and your clinic for the future.

Only by ensuring that your clinic is digitally futureproofed, you can adapt to the increasing patient expectations today as well as into the future while being able to attract the best employees in the difficult job market for dental professionals. So, let’s take a look at how you digitally enhance and futureproof your clinic.

The Dental Unit of the Future has a Built-In Computer

Your Tesla is already intelligent and tells you how to drive and arrive safely. When first invented, the Tesla cars revolutionized the car industry with their beautiful designs, technology, and stunning features that lifted the driver experience to new heights. Within the dental world, the first dental unit similar to the Tesla already exists.

The dental unit, which is manufactured by the Danish company XO CARE, comes with a built-in computer, and it is equipped with an intelligent, intuitive touchscreen instrument bridge and a likewise navigator. The technology of the dental unit gives you and your clinic completely new options for managing instrument workflows as well as direct access to digital software solutions easily managed directly on the navigator touchscreen. You can even connect patient management systems, intraoral scanners, cameras, and more through the navigator combining and managing your dental equipment in one place.

Update Patient Records Directly on the Dental Unit’s Touch Screen

So, how exactly does a digital dental unit help you digitalize and optimize your workflows in the future, you may ask. Let’s use the above-mentioned digital dental unit from XO CARE in our example to demonstrate this.

With this digital dental unit, you can immediately update the patient record in your patient management system directly from the unit’s touchscreen – even before the patient leaves the treatment room. It increases your productivity, saves precious time, and improves the opportunity to involve the patient more directly in decisions regarding the treatment. This is a good example of how you can optimize your workflow while actually improving the patient experience at the same time.

The Heart of the Digital Dental Clinic

Think of the dental unit as the heart of the digital dental clinic as it seamlessly connects with instruments and digital systems in the clinic.

Not only can you connect patient management systems, intraoral scanners, and other vital instruments, but you can also access streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube for patient entertainment directly on the unit’s navigator touchscreen. You even save space as carts for scanners will often be irrelevant when managing the scanner through the dental unit. As you have everything at hand ready to use, you save time and can keep your focus on the patient.

A Future-Proof Dental Unit

Due to the built-in computer, the digital dental unit is software-driven. It is therefore easy to continuously improve and update the dental unit’s features through simple software updates, the same way as we know it from smartphones, GPS, and similar technological products that are already an integral part of our everyday life.

By being software-driven, and enabling the option of these continuous updates, your clinic will always be ahead of the game and can adapt to the latest trends and dental equipment used in dental clinics worldwide today as well as in the future. As something unique, this particular dental unit actually comes with 20 years of service life, which is higher than other dental units on the market.

Flexibility and Ease of Use

So, let’s take a look at the usability of digital dental units. Does the fact that it is digital make it overly advanced to use for dentists who always preferred foot control? Not at all. And you can actually still use a foot control with a digital dental unit if you still prefer this. However, the very graphic and intuitive user interface of the digital dental unit in question makes it extremely easy to use, and if you are used to using a smartphone, you will be surprised how similar it is to managing a digital dental unit through its touch screens.

Starting new workflows, adjusting the current selection, or turning up and down for instrument settings during treatment can be done directly on the dashboard of the instrument bridge with the tip of a finger on the hand holding the instrument.

Conclusion

The world is changing fast, and AI, robots, and other technical aspects are inevitable to be part of our work lives just as they are already part of our everyday lives.

Many digital tools, such as patient management systems, cameras, and intraoral scanners, are already part of the everyday practice at a dental clinic making the workflow and the quality of the treatments easier, better, and safer for both the dental clinic, the operator, and the patient.

By using smart, digital, and future-proof dental units, dental clinics can not only optimize workflows, save space, and improve patient satisfaction, but dental professionals can also rest assured that their dental clinic is ready for today as well as for the next 20 years.

The digital dental unit that was used as an example in this article is the XO FLOW from XO CARE. You can learn more about the dental unit here