Affordable, High-Quality Digital Dentistry

Shining 3D’s suite of products makes CAD/CAM more accessible than ever

Isaac Tawil, DDS, MS

Dentistry was just a job for Isaac Tawil, DDS, MS, when he first graduated from dental school. His father was a general practitioner, so taking over the practice made sense, but Tawil still questioned his career choice. "I was not in love with dentistry," he says. Fortunately, it became a passion once Tawil began taking continuing education courses and gravitating toward full-mouth rehabilitation and implants. "Full-mouth restorations were fun," he says. "I could give something to patients who had almost nothing by restoring their dentition."

In particular, Tawil embraced implants as the foundation for everything. "I became focused on placing implants in optimal positions and being prosthetically driven in order to transform the mouths of patients who had failing dentition in a matter of weeks," he says. Digital dentistry helped him take that concept to the next level and motivated him to become a better clinician.

Now, in addition to his private practice in Brooklyn, New York, Tawil is co-director of Advanced Implant Educators and an ambassador of the MegaGen International Network of Education & Clinical Research (MINEC), among numerous other affiliations with respected academies and associations. Although he insists that he does not consider himself a leader, he is one of the foremost voices in implant dentistry today. "I try to set trends in my own life," he says, "and those trends happen to fall in line with how other dentists are looking to improve their practices."

One of Tawil's goals has been to help make digital dentistry accessible even to dentists with relatively low budgets for capital investments. "Many practices do not accumulate enough revenue to pay for a $40,000 intraoral scanner and wait multiple years to achieve a return on investment," he says. However, prices have become more affordable in recent years, and Tawil has served as a key opinion leader for some of the manufacturers that drove this issue. He also was particularly impressed with one intraoral scanner that he saw at the International Dental Show (IDS) in 2019: Shining 3D's Aoralscan^®. "It produced very accurate scans and was reasonably priced," he says.

This year, Tawil returned to IDS with an eye on finding a new manufacturer to work with as a key opinion leader. "I was looking for a company that could provide a total solution beyond just intraoral scanning because face scanning and 3D printing are so important now as well," he says. The first product Tawil noticed from Shining 3D was the MetiSmile face scanner, which can construct 3D facial data with high-fidelity texture and 50-µm accuracy from just 10 seconds of scanning. "It is very accurate, and unlike other face scanners, it does not require the eyes to be closed or covered," Tawil says. "I took a scan of myself and could not believe how simple and accurate it was."

When Tawil learned that Shining 3D was working on integrating its Aoralscan 3 intraoral scanner with Apple^® and that the company also offered a printer, wash unit, curing unit, and desktop scanner, he was hooked. "They have a complete solution," he says. "So few companies can offer that, but it is such an important option for clinicians looking to invest in technology. Moreover, this entire suite of products costs less than the price of the leading intraoral scanner on the market. Now, I can tell colleagues that this is a very impressive scanner, and they can afford every piece of the system if they want."

The Aoralscan 3, now available with a wireless option, features a new ergonomic design, fast speed, high accuracy, powerful AI processing, and intuitive communication. "So far, it has proven to be just as accurate as the market leaders in our testing," Tawil says. "The speed is right on the level of the market leaders as well, and it has all the ancillary features that you need. It is extremely easy to use, and we also are working on a brand-new interface that will be even more robust."

Meanwhile, the AccuFab-L4D/L4K large-format 3D printer is lightweight with large build plates and user-friendly operation. Its cloud data platform enables data transmission, making it convenient for data transfer and communication between clinics and laboratories. "Whether you want to print a full arch or a single crown, you can do it in a very short time because it is an extremely fast printer with very good print quality," Tawil says. "It is compatible with various third-party materials, which is important because that provides options." Tawil notes that the printer's multiple build plates simplify his workflow. "Rather than draining it for each material, you can swap them out and store them with labels," he says." The FabWash and FabCure 2 units are efficient as well. "After printing, you simply slide out the build plate and place it directly into the wash," Tawil says. "It has a self-cutting feature that cuts the print off the plate and drops it into the wash. After that, you can peel off the struts easily with your fingers, put on a glaze if you want, and place it into the curing unit. It is the most seamless method I have seen on the market."

The quality of the entire system has been such that Tawil has not yet encountered a single problem that requires technical support, and he even loaned the Aoralscan 3 to a less tech-savvy friend, who also found it easy to use. "Some companies overreach and do not build their infrastructure properly," he says. "Shining 3D has spent time, effort, and energy hiring the right people to build a very stable infrastructure with a strong support network behind it. In the event that you need support, they have some of the top people in the industry, and they do not release updates haphazardly. They release them after they are proven and tested."

Now, Tawil is excited to help spread the word to as many dentists as possible that affordable, high-quality digital dentistry is more accessible than ever. "This whole suite of products really takes it to the next level," he says. "By bringing this solution to the clinician, we are making patient care better, which makes dentistry fun."

Key Points

•The Aoralscan 3 Wireless is fast and stable with long-lasting battery life and next-level software functions.

•The MetiSmile can quickly capture facial information to create a 3D model.

•The AccuFab-L4D/L4K's high fidelity of print facilitates an extraordinary workflow.

•The AutoScan-DS series desktop scanner provides ultra-high accuracy and outstanding scan speed.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Shining 3D Dental
shining3ddental.com
888-597-5655