In this issue:
Producing 250 Crowns In-Office per Month: A glidewell.io™ Practice Report
Dr. Jeffrey Sprout graduated from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 1997 and has been serving Evergreen, Colorado, and the surrounding mountain communities ever since. The Evergreen Dental Group was one of the first clinics to purchase the glidewell.io™ In-Office Solution. Their experience has been so positive that, within the past few months, they have purchased a second fastmill.io™ in-office milling unit and two more iTero Element® intraoral scanners to keep up with growing demand. Chairside® magazine recently sat down with Dr. Sprout to discuss what it was like learning to use the glidewell.io In-Office Solution, and how the system has become a major part of his practice.
CHAIRSIDE MAGAZINE: What was the learning curve like for you and your staff when you first started using the glidewell.io In-Office Solution?
DR. JEFFREY SPROUT: We previously owned a different type of mill and scanner, which we used, although not to the level that we currently utilize the glidewell.io system. But since we’d used a milling system before, we were somewhat familiar with the process itself. The design software included with the glidewell.io system is much more intuitive than the other software we had worked with, which made it very easy to learn.
When we first got the glidewell.io system, we had one full day of training where experts from Glidewell Dental came out to our office and showed us everything. After that, my assistant Teri watched a few training videos on her own. Since then, it’s been a matter of calling Glidewell and having them walk her through any questions she has had.
Adopting the glidewell.io™ In-Office Solution has allowed Dr. Jeffrey Sprout and his team to create, characterize, deliver and adjust in-office crowns and restorations for their patients within one visit, increasing patient satisfaction and ensuring predictable results.
FROM DENTAL ASSISTANT TO IN-OFFICE LAB TECHNICIAN
Teri Accashian has been a certified dental assistant for Dr. Sprout at the Evergreen Dental Group for the past 20 years. Since purchasing the glidewell.io In-Office Solution in early 2018, Evergreen’s capacity and demand for in-office restorations has increased so rapidly that the practice decided to appoint Teri to full-time glidewell.io responsibilities. We asked her what it was like to go from dental assistant to lab technician at Evergreen in just a matter of months.
CM: Your job duties are now based on operating the glidewell.io In-Office Solution full-time. Can you tell us a bit about how that developed?
TERI ACCASHIAN: It happened quickly — probably within two months. At first, we were a little slow with reviewing the crown design proposals and making any necessary alterations, but once you do a certain number of single-appointment restorations, it gets easier and you just keep going. And the demand picks up from there. It’s gotten to the point where I often have both of our mills running at once, plus a crown or two sitting on the counter waiting to be milled, and another one in design. It certainly isn’t necessary to have someone working with the system full-time, but that was definitely what worked best for our team.
Teri Accashian’s role at Evergreen Dental Group has evolved from dental assistant to lab technician in order to keep up with the surging patient demand for single-appointment crowns.
CM: Can you describe what the learning process was like for you with the glidewell.io In-Office Solution? How was it to go from new user to technician so quickly?
TA: When the system was first installed, we had about a day of training with the experts from Glidewell Dental, and that was very helpful. But the remote technical support after installation was the part that was really fantastic. You learn quickly because you’re the one doing the tasks, but you’re always able to connect to someone at Glidewell who will talk you through it. I spoke to Glidewell technical support about five times a day at first. Now I just call them up to say hi and tell them I’m doing well.
CM: Do you have any tips for new users about how to improve their knowledge of the technology, or how to get great results?
TA: It helps to get feedback on the restorations you produce. In the beginning, I would run downstairs to the clinic so that I could personally see the crowns I’d milled being seated, and observe what I could have done better. I also had the assistants and doctors write down their feedback whenever they seated one of our same-appointment restorations. I would read those notes and learn what I could do better. Then I got past that point, and now my crowns require minimal adjustments by the doctors and assistants. They just go right in.
CM: Have you enjoyed learning how to use the glidewell.io system and the transition of your job role?
TA: Oh my gosh, I was in on it. I was ready to do this years ago. I’ve been a certified dental assistant for about 37 years, and it was great, but now I have the best job here. It’s weird for me, when people ask me what I do, and I get to answer, “I’m a lab tech.”
CM: How has your experience been working with Glidewell customer support for the glidewell.io system?
JS: The training from Glidewell Dental has been amazing. If Teri has any issues at all, she’ll call them and they’ll log in to the system to see what she’s seeing. If they can help her complete the task herself, they will, and if not, we simply send it over to Glidewell Laboratories for them to complete instead. The experience is seamless.
CM: It sounds like you’ve made great progress with the system in a short amount of time.
JS: Absolutely. We started using the glidewell.io In-Office Solution in March. In that brief amount of time, we’ve come this far.
When we first started, we didn’t necessarily deliver the crown on the same day. We would scan the patient and then design and mill the crown over a period of days. After just a couple of weeks, though, we said, “Hey, we can start doing these on the same day.” And now we do 80 to 90 percent of the milling during a single visit.
At this point, Teri can usually design a crown in five or 10 minutes, so it’s about an hour turnaround per unit. As long as we, the doctors, create a good scan for Teri in the first place, life is good. This morning I believe she milled 13 crowns. We probably do 250 units a month. You can see why we needed more than one mill to keep up.
CM: What would you say are the main ways that the glidewell.io system has benefited your patients?
JS: The same-appointment turnaround has been amazing. In this Amazon age where everybody gets stuff shipped to their house in two days or less, that’s been a huge benefit for the patient.
Doing things on the same day has also eliminated the issues that come with using temporaries. Temporaries can come off; the patient doesn’t like them, they can’t chew with them, or they’re not very esthetic. But we can prescribe and deliver a final crown in one visit. And that’s huge because there’s nothing more frustrating for the patient than having to come back.
CM: What about within your office and among your staff? What would you say have been the biggest benefits or changes for your business after adopting the glidewell.io system?
Dr. Sprout and Teri Accashian of the Evergreen Dental Group, shown here in the dedicated lab space that houses their glidewell.io™ In-Office Solution, which they adopted in March 2018. After three months, the practice was milling approximately 250 same-visit crowns per month.
JS: The main thing has been achieving consistency in time and product. We know that the crown is going to fit, and it’s going to fit the first time. That kind of predictability has been huge for us. Also, the fact that we aren’t limited to a particular material has been amazing. We really take advantage of being able to mill full-contour BruxZir® Solid Zirconia crowns in the office.
We’ve also loved the fact that if the shade is not perfect, or if it needs more characterization, we can send it right back upstairs so Teri can do custom staining on it, fire it, and it looks great. It’s been nice to do those kinds of adjustments in the office and not have to send it out somewhere and wait another five days.
CM: Do you have any final words of advice for dentists who may be considering the glidewell.io In-Office Solution but are unsure about pulling the trigger?
JS: I think the most unexpected thing, honestly, has been how much our patients appreciate it. When you compare what we can offer versus other offices that don’t use the glidewell.io system, it makes those other offices look like the Flintstones. “What do you mean, I have to go two weeks with a temporary? Dr. Sprout can do it all in one day and it’s perfect.” So that’s been huge for both our patients and us.
CM: Dr. Sprout, thank you so much for your time and speaking with us today. We wish you the best of luck and are gratified to hear how successful the glidewell.io system has been for your clinic.
JS: It’s been my pleasure.
