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The Cloud & Dentistry

In this article, we look into the benefits of utilizing cloud computing in dentistry. Today, you’re constantly hearing about cloud computing and the benefits of the technology. Since it’s starting to become more widely utilized, we must first understand the ways to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of moving to the cloud. The technology is a hot topic and it’s showing interest across all levels of organizations from big to small companies; more specifically, industries such as healthcare and medicine. There are several beneficial factors to using the cloud such as cost benefits.

The initial inquiry on cloud computing is usually the cost. A cloud-based software solution is typically low, thus making the experience a less costly venture. The service is commonly offered on a monthly subscription known as Software as a Service (SaaS). A key benefit to using SaaS is that you don’t have to worry about the software updates. All the software updates and technical support are included in the monthly subscription. This is a peace of mind for dental offices because they don’t have to employ technical staff and their focus will be on their patients.  So, while the overall cost is decreasing, patient focus and experience are ultimately increasing.

To get a better understanding of how the technology works, the cloud-based software relies on servers that are offsite. You will access the servers through the internet to get the patients information. This method is different than your typical process. The information was usually stored on a local server. This solution was meant to minimize the need for technical staff within the office and the reduction of a local server. The dental office will only need a local resource to store their large images and to be transferred to the cloud on a nightly basis…

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The Importance of HIPAA

Today, the general public has heard of HIPAA and understand the legislation that pertains to healthcare organizations. However, most don’t understand the importance of HIPAA for the patients. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into law in 1996. It was a law that applied to healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses that performed electronic transactions. Since 1996 through 2009 there have been significant updates to the HIPAA policy. Now HIPAA has expanded to cover patients privacy, uses and disclosures of patient health data, and data security.

The privacy of health data is a central focus when discussing HIPAA. Its purpose is to restrict individuals from being able to view healthcare data without obtaining a patients consent. In general, access to patient’s health care data is restricted to the healthcare employees who need to review health and personal information. This will help the employee provide healthcare services and perform any administrative duties. In addition, the privacy rule grants patients to designate an individual to obtain health data on behalf of the patient’s friends, family, or caregiver.

In reference to the security of health data, HIPAA requires healthcare organizations to safeguard any health data created, stored, maintained, or transmitted to be kept secure at all times.

The notification of data breaches is setup with healthcare organizations to prevent access to a patients data. HIPAA and the healthcare organizations are required by law to issue notifications to patients when it’s deemed their records were compromised. This gives the breach victim an opportunity to protect their identity and reduce the possibility of becoming a victim of fraud…

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Improving Patient Experience With Technology

Technology has changed the way many industries we’re familiar with work.  In previous blogs, we’ve had various focuses on technology within the dental field, and how it is assisting healthcare providers with tasks from regular patient visits to performing surgery and diagnosing various conditions.  However, while technology is consistently improving a healthcare providers job, it is also on the rise for improving patient experience during a visit to their provider. Here are a few major ways technology is improving patient experience:

Improving Patient Care

The dental industry has experienced so many technological developments over time, that have improved the way practitioners take care of their patients.  From improvements to simple dental tools, such as toothbrushes and dental handpieces, to more complex tools like radiology and imaging, dental tech is constantly changing.  Patients will find tech advancements that will ease their treatment process, and make their experience at the dentist, as well as other healthcare providers much more enjoyable.

Increase Office Efficiency

One of the greatest aspects of tech developments in healthcare has been an increase in office efficiency.  Patients no longer have to wait at the check-in desk for long periods of time while office professionals search through numerous files and paperwork.  Manual documentation can be very time consuming for both office professionals and patients that are coming in. Technology has provided dental offices and other healthcare providers with cloud-based technology that keeps most paperwork and records digital and secured.  This gives providers a seamless and easy process in going through patient files and previous records while being more organized. Additionally, with enhanced organization providers can be more focused on their patient’s specific issues and needs…

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Data Protection in Dentistry

As a dental practice, you’re dealing with an abundance of sensitive patient information.  Your practice is fully responsible for obtaining, processes, and retaining all of the information that your patients submit to you.  Dental practices are required to comply with data protection regulations and requirement, in order to continuously protect their patient’s health information and privacy.  As technology advances, companies such as SurfCT.com provide dental practices and specialists with the most advanced technological solutions to not only improve the efficiency of their practice but help manage and comply with data protection regulations.

Whether patient information is recorded and stored on paper or electronically, it is generally deemed as confidential information and needs to be stored properly.  Cloud technology has given dental practices an efficient way to electronically store patient information to remain in compliance with data protection regulations as well as HIPAA compliance.  

Within the last few years, data protection and HIPAA violations have become extremely regulated.  Practices that do not comply correctly with HIPAA compliance face penalties and other ramifications that could hinder further practice if not corrected.  A system as simple as e-mail needs to be properly secured because it can be used regularly for sending general patient information. SurfCT.com provides dental practices with the proper security measures to protect sensitive data from with and secure e-mail systems, cloud storage, secure mobile access, all with step by step set up and integrated migration to make the process efficient and simple…

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The Different Fields of Dentistry

For many people, the thought of dentistry consists of going to your local family dentist for a routine check-up and cleaning.  Depending on your needs, you may not have to visit another specialists office. However, aside from your general dentist, there are other areas of dentistry that require specialized training and practice many different methods of dental care.  We’ve covered a lot of information about general dentistry and past blogs. Here are major other fields of dentistry that you may not be familiar with:

Orthodontist

If you’ve gone through a period of having braces, you’re likely familiar with seeing an Orthodontist.  An Orthodontist is considered to be an alignment specialist; focusing on correcting teeth and jaws that may be out of line or crooked. There are many reasons why someone may see an orthodontist, from an overbite or underbite caused by a misaligned jaw to a full treatment plan for crooked teeth.  In addition to your general dentists, an orthodontist is probably one of the more common practices you’ve been to.

Periodontist

A Periodontist is a specialist that focuses on the health of your gums.  The health of your gums is extremely important to your wellbeing. A Periodontist focuses on preventing, diagnosing, and treating many different gums issues that an individual can develop.  From issues such as bleeding of the gums due to inflammation, or more severe issues like diagnosing and treating mild to moderate forms of gum disease. A Periodontist will also handle procedures such as dental implants or cosmetic skin grafting for gums that have seen serious infection and recession…

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Improvements in Dental Imaging with Machine Learning

It is predicted that artificial intelligence is only going to become more widespread in the medical field. Advances in both the medical field and in technology are paving the way for a brighter, smarter future in healthcare.

Dentistry is one particular field that is benefiting greatly from artificial intelligence and modern technology.

CAD systems are one of the new pieces of tech that medical professionals are making use of. This system will analyze a photo, identifying each object in the picture. It offers medical professionals a vital second opinion.

Conventional neural networks are also a technology to look out for. They are able to identify images almost as accurately as a human. They are even able to identify humans from photographs.

It is easy to imagine how useful these tools would be in dentistry. The artificial intelligence programming would theoretically be able to distinguish gums, teeth, and bones apart. The only thing holding back conventional neural networks in the dental world is that there is not enough training data available at the moment.

Upon successful implementation, a conventional neural network would be able to identify tumors in the mouth and so much more. Even if the technology isn’t perfect, it doesn’t hurt a dentists office to make use of this technology. It may be imperfect, but it could see something that the dentists missed, such as a dangerous tumor or osteomyelitis…

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Using Virtual Reality for Dental Training & Practice

Virtual reality is a new, amazing, fun technology; however, it doesn’t have to be all about having a good time. Industries are using virtual reality as a training method. It can provide the most realistic experience possible without doing the real thing. It is an excellent teaching resource. The dentistry world is just one field that is making incredible use of virtual reality. They are using it to train dentists in 3-D worlds, letting them get hands-on training without ever performing on a real patient. In fact, it is expected that the medical field market for virtual reality will reach over $5 billion by 2025. Dentists aren’t merely using virtual reality to train new doctors; they are also using virtual reality in some really unique ways.

Pain Medication Alternative

Dentists are now starting to use virtual reality to calm their patients. The patients put on the virtual reality headset and are transported to a peaceful location of their choice, such as a calm, tranquil beach. One patient told the LA Times that he completely forgot he was at the dentist once he put the headset on.

Explaining Procedures

It can be hard to explain medical procedures to lay people. Virtual reality takes some of the weight of dentists’ shoulders by doing the work for them. Patients are able to see exactly what will be performed by wearing a virtual reality headset. They will be able to witness in 3-D the surgery or procedure actually performed. This helps the patient understand and gives them a peace of mind…

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Traditional Braces v. Clear Aligners

Spending your adolescent years with crooked teeth is not an uncommon issue.  More than likely, you, or someone you know has gone through orthodontic treatment to help straighten permanent teeth after they’ve all grown in.  Similar to other dental technologies in the industry, braces have evolved from ancient methods to more traditional ones that we’re familiar with today.  However, in recent years, the “traditional” form of braces that we’re all generally used to, have also seen a major change. Enter: invisible aligners.

Invisible aligners are now used as a new alternative to traditional braces and a way to correct mild to moderate orthodontic issues without having a mouth full of metal brackets and wires.  While they’ve been around for a few years now, as of recently clear aligners are receiving a lot of attention due to the convenience of alignments kits that are shipped right to your door. Here are a few of the major benefits behind invisible aligners:

Convenience

One of the greatest reasons why individuals are transitioning from traditional braces to clear aligners is the ultimate form of orthodontic convenience.  Patients that opt for clear aligners have the ability to remove their aligners every time they eat and practice their dental hygiene routines.  With traditional braces, patients are often restricted from eating certain food items due to the risk of damaging brackets and having to make a trip back to the orthodontist for a fix.  However, clear aligners eliminate food restrictions as patients remove them before eating and no longer have to worry about damaging metal brackets and wires. Additionally, they’re extremely popular due to their seemingly “invisible” appearance; giving patients the opportunity to straighten their teeth, without having the appearance of metal brackets, wires, and bands in their mouth.

Improved Dental Hygiene

Traditional metal braces require extensive dental hygiene methods in order to keep teeth and gums healthy and clean.  Patients who have traditional braces often find it difficult to maintain proper oral health due to the obstruction of the metal applications across their teeth.  Poor dental hygiene while having traditional braces can result in the development of calcium deposits on the surface of their teeth, or swollen irritated gums that can lead to gingivitis and other serious health problems in the future.  Invisible aligners prove to be significantly more efficient when it comes to maintaining proper dental hygiene…

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What is Digital Smile Design?

Technology in the dental industry has experienced many different innovations that have improved dental practices for both dental professionals and their patients.  As technology continues to evolve and develop, dental professionals are finding new ways to perfect traditional processes using new innovative developments. Digital Smile Design (DSD) is an innovative and unique dental treatment planning tool that helps enhance the vision, diagnostics, and predictability of dental professionals and how they work with their patients.  “SurfCT.com  is the exclusive DSD Technology provider” says Mr. Paul Vigario “and can assist in making your dental practice DSD ready, more efficient and technologically advanced with the most innovative developments throughout the dental industry, specifically, DSD and DSD Technology.”  “We are honored to be working with Dr. Christian Coachman and making his vision a reality with DSD Technology readily available for any dental practice that is ready to take things to the next level.”

So, what does DSD do for dental professionals and their patients?

Essentially, DSD provides dental professionals with an easy and efficient way to develop a dental treatment plan for their patients customized to their patients dental and facial proportions.  With the use of videos, mock-ups, and digital photographs, DSD technology can provide dental professionals with an accurate sense of the relationships between a patient’s gums, lips, and teeth, and ultimately how they work together to create a patient’s unique smile.  Additionally, DSD technology can assist dental professionals in diagnosing patient issues more effectively and accurately. “More patients say YES to treatment with DSD Technology designed specifically for the way you practice” says SurfCT.com founder, Mr. Paul Vigario.

On the patient side of the technology, DSD gives you a personalized view into the end result of your specific procedure.  The idea is to keep patients and dental professionals on the same page throughout the process while making it easy for patients to communicate their wants and needs about their design of their smile; essentially putting patients in full control of their desired result. When the necessary patient data and information is collected using DSD technology, it will then be imported into the software to provide a glimpse into what the patient can expect from the treatment…

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