Benjamin D. Oppenheimer, DDS

Benjamin D. Oppenheimer, DDS, worked as an associate for 2 years before deciding to open his own practice in 2004 and focus on implant dentistry. Today, Concierge Dental Group has four locations in western New York, with five other dentists and 40 total employees. Oppenheimer recently added Merz Dental's Baltic Denture System (BDS) through Sterngold Dental to the practice's portfolio.

1. What were you looking for in a digital denture system?

Workflow is the key consideration. The traditional workflow that dental schools have taught is to make impressions and send them to the laboratory. With digital workflows, the magic lies in the precision, so excellent record taking is crucial. Additionally, because the teeth are set up in the software, it becomes necessary to decide what parts of the workflow should be handled by the dentists and what should be done in the laboratory. The Baltic Denture System has worked well for us and provides value at both the clinical and laboratory levels.

2. Why has the Baltic Denture System worked so well?

These decisions are so important because our patients are real people, so the stakes are high. What I like most about the BDS is the support I get from Sterngold to help me define what will work best in my practice. They have helped me to work with the laboratory in developing and designing a process that works well for me and helps me deliver more durable prosthetics than ever for my patients.

3. What surprised you about the Baltic Denture System?

I have worked for years to minimize fractures of bases and fractures of teeth from the base. With implants, masticatory forces can wear out implant-retained or implant-supported acrylic prostheses significantly faster and often create a patient management problem. The Baltic Denture System offers a very high-quality tooth premanufactured into the load, with everything bonded directly by the manufacturer so that no secondary bonding is necessary.

4. What has the impact been on patients?

After approximately a year of delivering their prosthetics, at recall appointments I am seeing very limited wear and high patient satisfaction. Patients have not seemed to notice a difference between analog and digital dentures. The fit of digital dentures has always been excellent, and patients have been satisfied with the esthetics. I also have the peace of mind of the teeth being bonded in and the acrylic being premanufactured with lower porosity and higher strength.