Changing how you perform dentistry can be intimidating, especially if you have been in the industry for a long time and built a successful practice and substantial patient base as a result of your care. After all, great practitioners are great regardless of the tools and technologies used. But what if you could take your practice, clinical capabilities, and patient care to the next level by making one simple switch?
It may seem daunting trying to decide if incorporating a new technology into your practice is worth the investment, specifically when you have used the same methods for a while, and they have worked well. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that change is necessary to stay current and ensure you are doing the most for your patients and practice.
With the Solea dental laser, you can easily integrate a technology that delivers extraordinary benefits that have never existed before. Solea not only removes the fear and intimidation from trying something new, it also makes change as easy as possible. Thanks to comprehensive support and services offered by Convergent Dental—including in-person and online training programs, follow-up education, and access to a client services team that can address any technical question or concern—the dental laser is simple to learn and easy to use, allowing anyone to become a Solea Dentist.
Traditional dentistry and standard ways of performing procedures, such as dental gingivectomies using scalpels and sutures, were the norm at one point. That said, as the years went by, we realized there were more effective ways of handling cases that didn’t have to involve a needle, drill, or scalpel. For instance, dental gingivectomies traditionally require a lot of time from start to finish. There’s also bleeding and the need for sutures, as well as post-operative pain, discomfort, and a lengthy healing time. Not to mention, before the procedure even begins, anesthesia needs to be administered. This means a stop in production time to wait for the analgesic effect to set in, and the risk of bleeding throughout the procedure.
After making the switch to Solea, you will notice you have an abundance of new advantages at your fingertips. With gingivectomies and the majority of other soft tissue procedures, you only need topical anesthetic, which means you will save time and your patients will no longer have to worry about the needle, discomfort, or waiting for lingering numbness to subside. The healing process will be a lot quicker with little to no post-operative pain, too. You can also perform same-day dentistry, leaving time to schedule additional appointments with other patients in the same business day. Plus, during each visit you will complete more as reliably anesthesia-free dentistry introduces the opportunity to work in all four quadrants of the mouth at once.
Another benefit not available prior is decreasing the number of procedures referred out to specialists, as Solea allows you to keep the majority of cases in house. For instance, you can open up your practice to soft tissue procedures, such as fibroma removals. Traditionally fibroma removals would require the use of a scalpel, injectable anesthetic, and sutures taking upwards of 25 minutes to accomplish. However, in a clinical case from Dr. Joshua Weintraub, he completed a complete fibroma removal in approximately six minutes with Solea because he was able to avoid injecting the patient with anesthetic and, with reliably blood-free treatment, didn’t need to control bleeding or suture the wound.
Practitioners who have already made the switch to Solea speak to how it has reignited their passion for dentistry and made them excited again. They also love how familiar procedures can be performed with greater efficiency and can’t believe how many new ones they are able to take on. In a testimonial video, Dr. John A. Herzog refers to Solea as "the standard of care" and predicts all patients are going to start requesting it at their dental visits. A further advantage is how stress-free the change is: after utilizing the support, such as peer-to-peer training, instruction from a certified Solea Dentist, and much more, you will wonder why you didn’t put aside the drill sooner.
The change from laser dentistry to greater laser dentistry with Solea
Erbium dental lasers can be used in hard and soft tissue procedures, but what separates them from Solea is the wavelength they emit. If you currently use an Erbium laser in your practice, you know it only absorbs water and slowly chips away at enamel, leaving a rough cut for cavity preps. Contrastingly, Solea’s 9.3 µm wavelength is absorbed in hydroxyapatite (hard tissue) and water (soft tissue) which vaporizes the enamel for smoother and faster cutting and a far better result when compared to Erbium.
Another characteristic that makes Solea’s wavelength truly unique is its ability to dispense a "light tapping" of light, thanks to high absorption in hard and soft tissue. In an interview with DentistryIQ, Convergent Dental CEO Mike Cataldo elaborates on the benefits of "light tapping," saying "[Solea delivers] thousands of pulses per second to either hard or soft tissue. That high repetition rate is important because at a thousand pulses per second, in hard tissue, you’re actually vibrating the tissues. We believe that this light tapping overwhelms the nerves, essentially closing the circuit breaker off to the brain that allows people to feel pain."
Native CO2 dental lasers, on the other hand, operate with a wavelength of 10.6 µm and while they are less invasive than traditional tools, they are only effective on soft tissue. Solea, with its 9.3 µm wavelength, is an isotopic CO2 dental laser that effortlessly handles soft tissue procedures, as well as hard tissue procedures, such as caries removal. Solea also provides greater control and precision over every other dental laser available on the market.
An additional feature that separates the Solea Dental Laser from the rest is its distinct cutting speed that can be managed with the variable-speed foot pedal. In an article for Dental Product Shopper, Lawrence A. Kotlow, DDS compares its simplicity to the ease of driving a car. He expresses how effortless adding or reducing pressure is and notes that focusing or defocusing is not required. The foot pedal, offering practitioners a similar experience to how they have controlled speed in the past, further facilitates the transition and shows just how easy the change to Solea is.
Even if you are a practitioner who is accustomed to performing laser dentistry, the experience with Solea will be completely unlike anything you have known before. Another key difference is the level of support received. After adopting Solea, you gain access to education, such as follow-up care, participation in clinical sharing calls, entry into the exclusive Solea Doctors digital community, and more. One practitioner impressed by not only Solea’s performance but also its adaptability is Andrew Spector, DMD. In January 2017, he told the Compendium, "What I recognized very quickly when integrating Solea was the ease-of-use and how intuitive it was in comparison to the others I had used in the past." He went on to say, "My practice has always been based on technology-driven approaches; after trying Solea and seeing its effectiveness, I knew it was going to permeate a lot of aspects of what we do."
The advantages of Solea will always outweigh the initial intimidation and fear that comes with change. That said, we believe making the switch will be the best decision of your career. Your patients will be happier, your staff will thank you, and you will find a new sense of purpose in dentistry. For more on the benefits of adding Solea to your practice, contact Convergent Dental today.