With the dental industry now in full swing, expectations for growth and improvement are at the forefront of dental practices across the country. With the increased focus on improving practice safety and efficiency, additional dental industry trends are being utilized now in 2022. To ensure that your dental practice has everything it needs, here are five-plus essential tools to incorporate.
1. Digital Patient Engagement Platforms
One of the dental industry’s most significant trends is the start of patient engagement via software and touchpoint applications. These technologies help patients develop more trust with their dental providers by giving them access to regular information about dental health and related topics.
As part of your dental practice, you need to form an engaging digital space. Your website should include online scheduling as a more interactive way to utilize patient portals. Your website can even feature spaces for patients to leave reviews.
You might want to get feedback on patient experience with vacuum forming plastic sheets, and perhaps there are better options available that may be more comfortable for patients instead. By giving your patients a means to engage fully, they can feel a sense of control over their dental health and security with your practice.
2. Convenient Teledentistry Options
With the pandemic influencing significant changes across healthcare, Teledentistry has emerged as a convenience for patients looking to get dental care online. Teledentistry includes options for enhancing the patient experience through educational resources, virtual appointments, and emergency dental care assistance.
By creating an interactive online space for dental care, dentists become closer with their patients, and communication between providers and patients flows more seamlessly. The ease of communication encourages patients to continue seeing their dentists, securing the working relationship further.
3. Use of AI Technologies
AI and machine learning can identify issues with tissue and bones that can be addressed through dental intervention. These tools support dentists with their diagnoses, but they also give patients a way to form a second opinion and security around accepting whatever treatment they may need related to dental care.
4. 3D Printing For Dentists
3D printing has many different applications across dental and healthcare. In addition to these advanced uses, they also save time for labs and printing. 3D technology also minimized the time associated with crown production. Plus, patients can spend less time in the chair with faster processes from the 3D printing techniques.
5. Augmented Reality Tools
AR gives patients a way to see their results before committing to treatment. These applications can be used for dental procedures and transformations and traditional and cosmetic dentistry, giving patients more ability to feel confident with their decisions to pursue treatment.
Dental care can be anxiety-provoking for those looking to repair significant dental damage. The use of AR tools reassures patients that they can trust the care of their dentist and continue with treatment.
Instead of avoiding the dentist’s office altogether, patients can move at their own pace and select suitable treatment options. The ability to see results before they arrive also improves the patient experience.
AR in dental care is considered a form of “emotional dentistry,” which benefits dentists whose patients were previously reluctant to come in. These tools safeguard the patient experience and the patient loyalty to the dentists they visit.
Start Using Advanced Dental Tools
Working with advanced dental technologies and tools is essential for today’s dental practices. Shaping the patient experience and improving the flow and pace of procedures are other critical goals to meet. By using the tools like those above, dentists can maximize their practices’ success and improve their patients’ experience all around.
