Anesthesia- and Blood-Free is the Way to Be
More efficient procedures and an improved patient experience with Solea
In today’s economy, practitioners may combat stagnant earnings by adding new procedures and expertise to the practice. Focusing on practice efficiency and new patient referrals, however, has much higher odds of success.
The two most glaring efficiency killers in my practice were anesthesia and bleeding. With traditional tools, I lose valuable time injecting patients, waiting for numbness, and controlling bleeding. Anesthesia limits me to working in one quadrant per visit, and patients hate how it feels after they leave the office. Plus patients end up coming back for adjustments because they can’t feel their bite when they are numb. When it comes to soft tissue procedures, not only is it time-consuming to control bleeding, but traditional tools also cause a lot of iatrogenic damage, which means postoperative pain and slow healing.
As a past president of the Academy of Laser Dentistry, I was an early user of Erbium, Nd:YAG, and diode lasers, and while they were an improvement over the drill and scalpel, I still had to numb the vast majority of my patients and deal with bleeding and postoperative pain. A year ago, I saw something on the horizon that showed some real promise, Solea from Convergent Dental. Solea’s first-of-its-kind, CO2 9.3-micron laser and computer-optimized beam promised virtually anesthesia- and blood-free dentistry. Solea allows me to perform 95% of my hard and soft tissue procedures anesthesia- and blood-free, a new standard among dental lasers.
Solea’s unique wavelength is so highly and efficiently absorbed in both hydroxyapatite and water that I can use it for a wide variety of procedures, including cavity preps, removing old fillings including amalgams and composites, crown lengthenings, troughing, gingivectomies, and more. I work in multiple quadrants in a single visit and hardly ever spend time waiting for hemostasis. Solea enables me to perform an average of four additional procedures per day, which drives a significant increase in revenue. Furthermore, the unique patient experience created a groundswell of new referrals. Patients drive as many as 90 minutes to experience the Solea.
Adding Solea to my practice has made me virtually immune to the effects of the economic downturn. As the economy goes through its slow rebound, my practice is growing quickly.
key takeaways
First CO2 laser system cleared by the FDA for hard and soft tissue
Routinely performup to 6 or more additional procedures per day
Solea dentists report performing 95% of hard and soft tissue procedures anesthesia- and blood-free
Significantly faster and quieter than any other hard tissue laser on the market
About the Author
Tony Hewlett, DDS, is an active member of many professional organizations, including the Academy of General Dentistry, Academy of Computerized Dentistry, American Dental Association, Washington State Dental Association, and others. He is currently the vice president on the board of the Academy of Laser Dentistry. He practices in Stanwood, Washington.
For more information, contact:
Convergent Dental
800-880-8589
www.convergentdental.com
