Selecting Your Digital Technology

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From imaging to constantly evolving restorative materials, technology has always been an important part of dentistry. In the past 20 years, one of the greatest technological advances has come in the form of CAD/CAM. The workflows made possible because of CAD/CAM are nothing short of revolutionary. But knowing what type of system to buy for your practice can be overwhelming.

Patterson Dental has enjoyed a two-decades-long relationship with Dentsply Sirona and its CEREC chairside system. And now, while continuing that affiliation, Patterson is broadening their offerings by working with other manufacturers to help practices get into digital workflow.

“Here at Patterson, we’re very excited to offer an expanded portfolio of products that will meet the unique needs of today’s customers. Our expansive range of solutions will extend from standalone digital impression/scanner technologies all the way to fully integrated options that account for every touchpoint in the digital workflow,” says Nick Abruzzo, director of marketing, technology and equipment at Patterson Dental. “These expanded offerings will provide a range of price points, as well.”

CAD/CAM solutions

CAD/CAM is a fantastic technology, but there is not one system that is ideal for everybody. Some practitioners want to do everything in-house, while others may just want to send intraoral scans to their lab.

“The big differentiator for Patterson is the service, support and integration infrastructure that we’ve built over the past 20 years supporting the CEREC product, exclusively. Now, we’ll have solutions to support any workflow,” Abruzzo says. The Patterson Technology Center’s dedicated support teams engage in more than 1 million support calls with nearly 100,000 customers each year. 

“We feel like we are well positioned to be the best to take care of the customer with their future technology needs, and now we are going to have products that really are going to be flexible, based on different technologies out in the marketplace. We will have multiple price points from the entry level all the way up to the fully integrated system.”

CAD/CAM encompasses several technologies, from initial intraoral scans to design and then to manufacturing.   

“We still see same-day restorations as a growing segment of the market, and we’ll continue to support dentists who choose to mill a crown in-house,” Abruzzo says. “We’re going to have multiple milling options, which is different than what we’ve had in the past. We’ll have options that support fully integrated workflows, and then we’ll have milling options that will be flexible, based on different digital impressioning devices and design software. Our expanded portfolio is going to allow us to be more flexible, based on technologies already owned in the practice, long-standing lab relationships, or other technologies that customers may be looking at as well.”

Existing relationships

Patterson has enjoyed a long-term affiliation with Dentsply Sirona and its CEREC family of products.

“We’ve had a great, 20-year, exclusive relationship with Dentsply Sirona,” Abruzzo says. “In that time, we built a comprehensive infrastructure around supporting Dentsply Sirona products, which includes our best-in-class Patterson Technology Center and our technology advisers in the field-who come in after you decide to implement the technology, visit with the office, sit with the doctor, sit chairside and help you integrate the technology and get trained on the product, making it beneficial in the practice. We’re excited to continue addressing the various needs of dentistry together with Dentsply Sirona.”

Working with practices

An important part of Patterson’s new portfolio approach is helping practices find the right equipment while planning for future growth.

“We’ll be able to sit with the customer, talk about their vision for the practice, their technology goals, and will have a product that will meet every customer’s vision as they move into the future,” Abruzzo says.

“We have a great team of CAD/CAM specialists all across the country,” he continues. “Many of these specialists have helped deploy our fully integrated process for 20 years. Their job is to meet with the customer, talk about the practice, talk about the technology goals of the practice, talk about how they want technology to play a part in various procedures-whether it be restorative, implantology, orthodontics-and really match that customer with the technology that is going to best suit their current and future needs.”

Choosing the right technology to support the digital workflow doesn’t need to be an overwhelming prospect, and Patterson is helping practices find their best fit-no matter where they are today or where they want to be in the future.

For more information on how Patterson Dental can help your practice, visit pattersondental.com/dental/new-offerings.