For years now I've been impressed with Dandy. They have really embraced the concept of digital restorative solutions and made it priority to bring a lot of digital tech to the forefront of what they do. I got word a couple of days ago about today's announcement and am really happy to be able to provide this here. I'm convinced that this is where the dental laboratory of the future is going and Dandy is doing a heck of a job making it happen.
This is a pretty cool announcement and it was just made public a few seconds ago (literally)... read on for some amazing information.
Live Design Review delivers predictable patient outcomes in just a few minutes
Dandy, the fully digital dental lab, today launched a new suite of real-time visual collaboration features for its pioneering Chairside and case management software for dental practices. Dentists and lab techs can now plan and review cases over interactive video calls, ensuring the highest level of accuracy in the fabrication of dental prosthetics.
With conventional communication, important case details are often lost between the office and the lab in a flurry of disconnected emails, phone calls, and paper documents. Dandy’s digital workspace brings dentists and lab techs together in real time, as if they were in the same room, so everyone can see — and agree — on the case before it’s sent to production.
Dandy’s first-f-its-kind Live Design Review brings cases to life onscreen using detailed 3D visualizations. Working with experienced Dandy lab technicians, dentists can collaborate on cases, request changes, ask clinical questions, confirm adjustments, and approve designs with complete confidence in the outcome.
Dentists can start a review with a Dandy technician within minutes or schedule a meeting for a convenient upcoming date. Dandy also provides specialized Case Planning sessions to map out complex restorations and Implant Planning sessions with surgical specialists.
By collaborating with the lab on a shared digital/ CAD model, dentists can refine designs before Dandy begins production, thereby creating predictable clinical outcomes and eliminating surprises during seating appointments. It all adds up to a better patient experience and more confidence for dentists.
"I recently experienced Live Design Review with Dandy, and it was phenomenal! I’ve never seen a lab with the capability to review a case in real time with a technician. It was incredible to witness—the technology was impressive, and the workflow to schedule it was seamless. Excellent customer service,” said Dr. Alexander Rabkin, Westwood Dental Partners.
Live Design Review is Dandy’s latest innovation in digitizing dental workflows. Dandy offers advanced 3D intraoral scanners at no additional charge and provides on-demand scan reviews while patients are still in the chair. Its 100% digital US-based dental labs use AI, 3D printing and other leading-edge technologies to create restorations with extraordinary speed and precision.
“Dandy has always been focused on delivering exceptional service and results for our customers. Real-time video collaboration is a natural extension of that promise, giving dentists direct access to expert support exactly when they need it,” said Daniel Hanover, co-founder of Dandy. “By making collaboration faster, easier, and more accurate, we’re helping practices deliver better care while growing their businesses.”
The new features are now available to existing customers in early access. To learn more about Dandy’s new offerings and how they are reshaping communication between dentists and the lab, visit meetdandy.com.
About Dandy
Dandy is building the modern operating system for dentistry, powering the world’s most advanced dental labs. Dandy partners with dental practices to transform their business with state-of-the-art intraoral scanners, always-on expert guidance, and precision manufacturing accelerated by AI, 3D printing, and other state-of-the-art technologies seamlessly orchestrated by Dandy's proprietary software. Dandy empowers dentists with technology, innovation, and world-class support to achieve more for their practice, their people, and their patients. With unparalleled quality, efficiency, and experience, Dandy makes the business of dentistry pain-free. To learn more, visit meetdandy.com or our LinkedIn page, www.linkedin.com/company/dandyofficial/.
Artificial intelligence continues to make deeper and deeper inroads into dentistry. More and more offices are embracing this change to help with diagnosis. As we do, the entire process of how the profession analyzes radiographs is changing.
I worked alone in a solo practice for about 18 years before bringing in another doctor. Looking back, I wish I would have made that decision much earlier. One of the immediate benefits was being able to look a an x-ray and ask another set of trained eyes the question "do you see any pathology on this image?" Having another set of eyes on target is a remarkable benefit.
I started working with some dental AI startups back in 2015 (I can't believe it was *ten* years ago) and I immediately saw the benefit. Even though the interface back then was clunky and required a lot of work on my end to get the images loaded into the AI platform, I was hooked. AI doesn't diagnose, it gives the doctor a gentle nudge to say "did you look really closely here?" Because of those gentle nudges, doctors are making better decisions.
Now the UCLA School of Dentistry is bringing Pearl into their clinic. That means that dental students are going to get exposure to how to practice as the profession evolves. I'm proud and excited by this decision. Young doctors are often flooded by new things as soon as the graduate. In my opinion, our dental schools turn out terrific clinicians, but those students only get limited time with 'state of the art' technologies simply because of the time involved to learn them and the costs to the schools to provide them. By incorporating AI into their training UCLA is giving these young doctors a great foundation to build on. Read on for all the details...
Pearl is an AI-driven company committed to enhancing patient care in dentistry. Founded in 2019 by a team with decades of experience developing successful, enterprise-grade computer vision solutions, Pearl introduced the first-ever FDA-cleared AI capable of reading and instantly identifying diseases in dental x-rays. With regulatory clearance in 120 countries, Pearl's AI assists dentists in making precise clinical decisions and effectively communicating with patients, thereby transforming the dental care experience worldwide. As dentistry’s global AI leader, Pearl is committed to the ongoing innovation of robust, accessible AI tools that improve patient health outcomes and build greater trust in dental medicine. To request a demo, please visit hellopearl.com/getdemo
Today's post is short, but that's because the majority of what you need to know will be in the link at the bottom.
Anyone who performs dentistry in the anterior knows that retraction is critically important. Over the years, there have been several products released that can help solve that problem, but the one that everyone knows is Ivoclar's OptraGate. It was the first thin and flexible lip retraction device that I ever worked with... and I loved it. Now the company has announced the new and improved OptraGate 2.
The Optragate 2 is a non-latex lip and cheek retractor that, as you can see in the image above, provides a clear view for treatment in the anterior segment of the mouth. There are flexible rings in the material that allow the device to be incredibly flexible. Basically it is folded almost in half, then the interior ring is placed under the lip and as the device unfolds, it expands and retracts the lips.
The biggest difference in the new design is the addition of a third flexible ring located midway between the inner and outer rings. Ivoclar says the addition of this third ring "reduces compressive strength on the jawbone".
From that description, I'm guessing that what they mean is that it helps keep the inner ring from pressing against the facial aspect of the alveolar ridge as it holds the lip back. I haven't had a chance to to try the product yet, so that is speculation. However, as a patient I did have the original OptraGate used on me by a friend and I did notice some tenderness along the labial plate due to the pressure of the internal ring. To be clear, it was not bad and certainly hasn't ever kept me from using one when needed. I applaud Ivoclar for continuing to innovate on a product that is a simple design. Everything can be improved and it shows how the company is always looking to make things better.
Ivoclar has set up a nice page with all of the product info and details, including videos. You can find that page here.
I just returned home from the California Dental Association meeting in Anaheim and let me assure you... in person meetings are back! We've seen a fairly slow rebound since the pandemic. As we all know, the one super cool thing that emerged out of Covid-19 was the incredible growth of video conferencing. Before that, I had heard of Zoom, but had never used it. During the shutdown, I felt like I *lived* on it.
Suddenly there was an abundance of CE courses available online. Doctors discovered that they didn't need to shut down their office and travel to get quality information. That seemed to sound the death knell of in person meetings. The key word in that sentence is 'seemed'.
I remember the early days of video conferencing. I started tinkering with it in the early 2000s. It was wonky and the images were jerky, but it worked. It got better as broadband connections became plentiful. Back then I remember reading several tech articles that said it would kill the airline industry. However, it never really caught on the way people thought it would. I saw a study done back then that discovered that when people connected via video, it created a desire to physically be with the person on the other end. Suddenly air travel spiked. It seemed that instead of killing the airlines, it created a boost.
Of course, then along came Covid. In my 'other' job in dentistry, I tend to go to a lot of meetings. Post Covid, attendance was incredibly low. The ADA in 2021 was in Las Vegas and the attendance was sparce. I talked to several companies who saw around 10 people stop by their booth every day. There were times in the exhibit hall where you could have played touch football in the aisles and not worried about bumping into anyone.
However, just like the first video conferencing systems boosted travel, that seems to be the case now. Dental tradeshows are bouncing back. The CDS MidWinter meeting was well attended and the CDA was incredibly busy. It was good to see the exhibit hall full.
I think as human beings, we crave interpersonal interaction. Sure you can learn from your computer, but you don't get the same social buzz that you get from standing in the same room with other humans. I spoke with several companies in Anaheim and they all reported good traffic and sales numbers. I spent quite a bit of time in the Medidenta booth and I can tell you that they had a lot of traffic.
Maybe the best thing I saw was people socializing. The sitting areas were always packed and the booths not only were full of people checking things out, they were also chatting away. It gave me a warm feeling to see it and be part of it. I was staying at the Hilton and every night the bar was full of people laughing and enjoying themselves.
As you all know, I'm full on when it comes to tech. However, I readily admit there are somethings that technology simply cannot do and never will. One of those is giving you the dopamine hit that you get when see an old friend or make a new one. We're social creatures and we crave that interaction. I'm really optimistic about the future of dental meetings. There may not be as many small ones eventually, but the large meetings are definitely back. Learning and meeting in person is something we humans want... and there really isn't a substitute for that.
Medidenta Digital is helping with the podcast and going all in on education for doctors *before* they invest in new technologies to help them see if they are a good fit for their offices.
Sean is an amazing story teller and I think you'll all really enjoy his story and his philosophies on the responsibilities of manufacturers to the profession.
The episode is in final editing and will be available shortly. We've also got several other guests lined up will start doing more interviews soon. Once it goes live, I'll make an announcement here. Enjoy!
One of those groups is Smile Source. Founded in 2006, Smile Source® is a private practice dental community empowering independent dentists by offering practice management, continuing education, marketing support, and unsurpassed buying power. Today comes word of Smile Source merging with practice consulting comany ACT Dental. Read on for the details.
Smile Source, the nation's leading private practice dental network, is proud to announce its merger with ACT Dental, a premier provider of dental practice coaching and education. This merger represents a powerful step forward in supporting the vitality of independent dentistry nationwide.
Together, Smile Source and ACT Dental are proud to share a unified mission: to preserve, protect, and elevate independent dentistry. By combining forces, the two organizations are creating an integrated community that empowers private practice dentists with expanded resources, deeper peer networks, and industry-leading education and coaching.
"By joining forces, we're combining expertise, resources, and communities to better serve our mission." said Dr. Jeff Osborne, Chief Dental Officer of Smile Source. "Together, Smile Source and ACT Dental form a powerful alliance, uniquely positioned to help our members not just survive, but thrive."
A defining aspect of this merger is a shared dedication to cultivating a values-driven culture. Both organizations are built on the belief that strong relationships, meaningful collaboration and continuous growth are the cornerstones of long-term success. This partnership brings renewed focus on fostering a supportive and empowering environment for dentists and their teams.
"As a private practice owner for nearly 20 years, it's a privilege to be named the next CEO of Smile Source. I'm passionate about private practice and allowing it to thrive for decades to come." said Dr. Barrett Straub, Smile Source's new Chief Executive Officer. "Together, Smile Source and ACT Dental are creating the kind of community that empowers dentists to lead smarter, healthier, more independent practices." Kirk Behrendt, Founder & Visionary of ACT Dental, added.
As Smile Source and ACT Dental begin this new chapter together, we remain deeply committed to the members we serve. This merger is just the beginning of what's to come! By bringing together our strengths, we are building something powerful. A future where independent dentists have more support, more tools, and more opportunity than ever before. We look forward to sharing more exciting updates in the coming months as we work together to elevate the business and the heart of private practice dentistry.
