Practicing dentistry is challenging. Not only are you focused on providing exceptional dental care, but you are also responsible for hiring and training staff, marketing the practice, and running the day-to-day business — among other things. Dealing with all these variables creates stress while also taking away time from doing what you actually want to do: help patients achieve their smile dreams.

Luckily, there are digital dental solutions that can help alleviate some of the financial and time burdens that come with day-to-day office management. Glidewell has remained committed to lowering the cost and raising the quality of dentistry in every aspect — and no matter where you stand when it comes to technology, you can benefit from the cutting-edge digital workflow that Glidewell has incorporated.

The cost of overhead alone can take up over half of your revenue. One study estimates that, for dental practices earning between $500,000 and $1 million annually, overhead averages around 60% — meaning that $300,000 to $600,000 is spent per year on overhead. This average increases to 63% for practices that earn between $1 million and $2 million, while practices that make $2 million or more have an overhead average of 64%.

The cost of restorative supplies should be considered when managing your business. An internal Glidewell study shows dentists prescribe an average of 4 restoration units per week, or 208 per year. Even at the low cost of $99 per unit for BruxZir^® Full-Strength, this adds up to $20,592 a year in restoration costs. But, due to Glidewell’s commitment to affordable solutions and advancement in digital technology, this price can go down even more by adopting a digital workflow.

Some clinicians limit the influence of digital technology to intraoral scanners, while others design and mill restorations right in their office. The good news is, with Glidewell, both workflows lead to year-round savings. But let’s start with clinicians who send digital impressions to Glidewell via intraoral scanner, who see financial and time-saving impacts immediately.

The $20,592 cost per year in restorations mentioned above can be cut drastically just by sending digital impressions. With Glidewell, there is an everyday discount of $20 on every all-ceramic restorative unit that is submitted with an intraoral scanner — leading to an average yearly savings of over $4,000, just for doing something that you would do anyway! Further, clinicians save $40 per unit on digitally submitted custom implant abutment and screw-retained crown cases. This is before taking into account the amount you can save by eliminating outbound shipping costs. And although this discount is the most immediate benefit you can enjoy when converting to a digital workflow, it’s not the only one.

Taking digital impressions can boost production and therein boost profits. And cutting down chair time and eliminating the outbound shipping phase can free up valuable time for you to bring in new patients — after all, time is money! But the true benefit of submitting digital impressions with Glidewell is the extensive support system that is included. Because of the company's considerable investment in digital and artificial intelligence technology, Glidewell engineers and technicians have collected over a decade’s worth of CAD restoration designs that inform future design proposals, making every case you submit the beneficiary of millions of previous crown designs. Glidewell also employs a Centralized Digital Order Processing (CDOP) department — a specially trained team that evaluates, verifies and prepares intraoral scanning data prior to restoration fabrication. This team corrects any scan deficiencies before the case enters the production workflow. The result: Crowns are more accurate, made faster and delivered quicker, allowing you to better serve your patients and increase profits.

One endorsement of digital scanners comes from Dr. Perry E. Jones, who said: “Even before I added in-office milling to my practice, the faster turnaround time and lower fee from the lab for digitally submitted cases had reduced the cost and increased the speed of restorative care at my practice.”

Adopting an intraoral scanner benefits your patients as well. By speeding up the impression-taking process and limiting the use of messy and uncomfortable impression “goop,” you may see your patients’ satisfaction increase, which could lead to more referrals and more business. Dr. Jones also noted the time savings that could benefit patients, saying, “After becoming proficient with the scanner, most clinicians can complete the intraoral scanning process for a full-mouth impression in two minutes or less, including both arches and the bite.” By taking digital scans and shaving time off appointments, clinicians can ensure their patients will be able to take less time off work and get back to their lives more quickly, truly making it a win-win situation.

In recent developments, Glidewell has also released their own intraoral scanner, fastscan.io^™ Intraoral Scanner. With a low barrier of investment (under $20,000), fastscan.io is set up to make sending cases to Glidewell easier than ever. Optimized with a unique Rx specifically made for Glidewell and supported by the lab with hands-on training and on-demand customer support, learning how to take accurate impressions will get your office up to speed as quickly as possible, so the savings and profit will also increase as quickly as possible.

Intraoral scanners may be the best way to see immediate savings and increase profits, but when the scanner is paired with an in-office mill, your practice can grow exponentially. The glidewell.io^™ In-Office Solution fully integrates all three components of a digital practice: the fastmill.io^™ In-Office Mill, the fastdesign.io^™ Software and Design Station, and the fastscan.io Intraoral Scanner. Together, this collection amplifies your productivity by seamlessly integrating one with the other, capturing clear impressions, proposing accurate margin and crown designs, and providing immediate feedback on your scans — turning your practice into a mini-lab capable of immediate, same-visit dentistry. And because glidewell.io is an open system, you also have the option of connecting your existing intraoral scanner with fastdesign.io and fastmill.io, affording maximum flexibility as you further digitize the restorative process at your practice.

Investing in your digital workflow, especially same-visit restorations, can make your practice stand out and be much more competitive compared to others. A patient survey found that 85% of patients would prefer same-visit dentistry and 50% would pay more to receive a restoration in one appointment.^¹

Employing the use of an in-office mill can increase the number of dental crowns your office produces. In fact, typical new glidewell.io users produce an average of 25 in-office crowns in the first 60 days of ownership. The average patient cost of one crown is $1,314, which means, in 60 days, your practice could mill $32,850 worth of crowns without having to send one case to the lab!

The hesitation of pursuing a completely digital workflow is certainly understandable — learning new techniques, investing in new equipment, and training your staff are all things that must be considered when taking the digital leap. But fear not: Glidewell’s extensive support system includes a personal white-glove service, made up of in-person installation and training on your new glidwell.io system for you and your staff.

Dr. Michael D. Buck was shocked by how easy it was for him and his staff to learn the fastdesign.io software, remarking: “Most of it was entirely new to the staff. But the Glidewell team did such a great job while they were here that the team was really surprised and happy with how user-friendly glidewell.io ended up being for them.” The excellent support and attractive financing plans make it attainable to profit off digital dentistry almost immediately.

Digital dentistry is only going to become more prominent. By taking advantage of the resources offered by Glidewell now, you still have time to be ahead of the curve and increase your practice’s profits. Taking the first step of acquiring an intraoral scanner can yield fantastic results. Lastly, no matter how you currently practice, you can dive into the digital age with complete confidence and support.