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Medit’s intraoral scanners and open software seamlessly integrate to revolutionize digital dentistry workflows

John Heimke, DMD

John Heimke, DMD, is often asked what he most enjoys about practicing dentistry, and he says that for him, it's all about building smiles that allow his patients to be better versions of themselves. Now an experienced clinician with 36 years of practice under his belt, Heimke transitioned his practice to concentrate on high-end, comprehensive restorative dentistry 25 years ago and has not looked back. "We offer concierge, fee-for-service dentistry where we're rehabilitating the full mouth from the beginning and getting it all done, so patients only have to come back for recall," he says. "The real thrill that makes me come to work every day is being able to have a patient come in for a consultation with some issue or complaint about his or her teeth and then being able to fully assess the patient's condition, develop a treatment plan utilizing digital technology and smile design, and fit that design work together with oral design concepts to harmonize everything from the teeth to the face and build the best smile for that specific patient. We're never trying to give a patient somebody else's smile; we want to stay true to each patient's own smile but make it the best version that we can."

Heimke's practice has not always been so digitally driven. He admits that, as an older dentist, transitioning to digital dentistry and intraoral scanning was a struggle at first. "When I first tried intraoral scanning a number of years ago, I experienced a lot of issues," he explains. "The scanner that I was using would stall all of the time, and even though I had read the instructions, I was always having to go back and forth with tech support to try to make it work properly. I became really unhappy with it, and it started to gather dust."

However, Heimke's outlook regarding scanning began to change when he started learning about the Medit intraoral scanners. He had been working as an instructor and lecturer for the FMRNYC program directed by Dean C. Vafiadis, DDS, as well as for DentalXP, contributing to education on full-arch rehabilitation concepts, when he was introduced to Medit and noticed that the company was unique in offering an open concept scanning technology with free software that could easily be integrated into a dental practice. "When I started using the Medit i700 scanner, I was able to learn very quickly when compared with my previous experience that had a much higher learning curve," he says. "With the Medit i700, I was able to confidently take very accurate scans in a matter of days. And with the support of that success early in the learning process, I was able to further increase my confidence and really get to a place where using the scanner became muscle memory, and I could just do it as a normal, routine part of my workflow. Now, I use it to its fullest extent."

According to Heimke, adopting a digital workflow has allowed him to realize benefits for both his practice and his patients due to the increased efficiency. "We are a small, boutique practice, so we already only see about 1 or 2 people in the time that a large general dentistry practice might see 10 to 14," he says. "But because we only do full-mouth rehabilitations, we are executing much larger, more-involved cases for each of those patients. Therefore, being able to save time in acquiring impressions and even just in communicating with the laboratory is huge."

Heimke notes that employing a digital workflow can reduce the amount of time that a full case requires in many ways, particularly considering the elimination of the cost and time to ship an analog impression or denture to the laboratory for conversion. "Now, with the Medit Link software, we can send the laboratory a layered dataset in which the 3D facial scanning data is integrated with the intraoral scanning data as a bundle rather than sending three or four different datasets from different companies' software applications," he says. "From there, the laboratory can import the data into whatever smile design software that they prefer to use. Once the implants are placed, we are able to easily do a few more scans and then print a screw-retained hybrid temporary prosthesis. And the great thing is that if it breaks, which rarely happens, a new one can  be immediately fabricated from the same digital file."

Medit recently released the latest generation of its intraoral scanners, the Medit i900, and Heimke believes that it is not merely an upgrade of minor improvements but a major next step in the industry to improve intraoral scanning. "When I first started using the i900, the first thing that I noticed that I really liked was that it was much smaller than previous scanners," he says. "There are also different tips of various sizes that you can put on it. One tip is a standard head that is good for smaller mouths, and another is wider and therefore able to capture a greater depth of field and more teeth."

With a seamless, lightweight unibody and touch pad controls, as well as 10-bit imaging technology and an expanded field of view, the Medit i900 offers fast, reliable scanning from any angle with easy navigation control. According to Heimke, this means greater resolution and overall better scans with the same, if not better, ergonomics. "We're able to achieve great accuracy, and that allows us to basically create a 3D avatar of the patient that is so accurate that it is as if the patient had walked into the laboratory. It essentially creates a virtual patient for the laboratory to try their designs on, which leads to more predictable outcomes and streamlined treatment workflows as well as time savings for the patient and all of the providers involved."

When considering the future of Medit's digital offerings, Heimke is optimistic that they will continue innovating and evolving in the industry. "A lot of people don't realize that they have open software or that they have a whole variety of software," he says. "I'm just now starting to utilize more of it and am looking forward to whatever future advancements they make. Whether you are looking to update your intraoral scanner or looking to get into intraoral scanning for the first time, Medit is a great place to look."

Light and compact. Optimized to minimize fatigue, the Medit i900 is 33% lighter than its predecessor and slimmer than a ping-pong ball.

Unmatched clarity. Medit i900's advanced optical engine leverages 10-bit imaging technology to ensure clear, accurate images for reliable diagnosis.

Expanded field of view. Scan larger areas faster and in less time without compromising on detail or accuracy.

Tips for every task. Medit i900 offers tip sizes in large, medium, and small.

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