The use of innovative technologies like remote monitoring and artificial intelligence is no longer considered a luxury but a necessity, says Dr Sebastian Daroste.
The patients of today are looking for more convenience and a more interactive approach to their treatment that makes them feel empowered and connected.
As for the dentists, these innovative technologies can provide tremendous help to gain more control over the clinical outcomes of treatments, especially in the world of orthodontics, where the lack of visibility and patient communication in-between appointments can be a major challenge.
In this paper, Dr Sebastian Daroste shows a compelling case study where he used remote monitoring with clear aligner therapy to improve a patient’s anterior open bite functionally and aesthetically, which would have ideally been treated as a surgical case due to the high complexity.
Case presentation
The patient had visited several dentists and orthodontists over the last few years, primarily seeking a functional improvement for her anterior open bite.
She struggled to eat food such as pizza and tacos, which affected her social activities. The same answer was given from the various providers she visited: ‘The case is too complex, you must have surgery and the treatment will be long.’ She did not wish to proceed with surgery and put off treatment for a few years until another dentist recommended she consult me.
I was honest with her, agreeing with what previous doctors had said — that her case is ideally treated with surgery — but that we can make an attempt without surgery.
The patient accepted and was happy for any improvement that could possibly mean avoiding surgery or at the very least lead to an improvement of her current situation. This, coupled with an accelerator device, meant faster treatment with fewer visits than what she had heard was possible during previous consultations. As she lived far away, offering treatment with Dental Monitoring made the decision to go ahead even easier for the patient.
- Dental Class I, Skeletal Class II, Anterior Open Bite, Mild-Moderate Crowding, Thin biotype, Gingivitis
- Patient motives: Function first and wanting to be able to eat pizza and tacos with friends, aesthetics were not important. Lives ~2h away and wanted to minimise the number of visits. Dental Monitoring ensured she only made the long trip to the practice when clinically necessary.
Treatment summary:
- Treatment time – 5.5 months
- Total number of aligners – 40
- Aligner change rate – four days
- Refinements – 0
- Total number of in-office visits – three.
The role of remote monitoring
The patient is asked to scan their teeth at set intervals (same rate as the aligner change) using the Scanbox Pro from Dental Monitoring (Pic 4).
This allows keeping an eye on treatment progress at every aligner change instead of checking on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, which gave me one big advantage: control.
Every time something was going wrong with the treatment (it could be plaque build-up, loss of a critical attachment or an aligner unseat) I was instantly notified so I could take swift action. This snapshot of the dashboard (picture 5) shows the moment where a noticeable aligner unseat was detected on the upper left canine, along with hygiene issues.
The system automatically prompted the patient to keep wearing the same aligner for extra few days. The patient also received some very comprehensive explanations and guidance on how to use the chewies and maintain a better oral hygiene regime.
This kind of interactive approach to the treatment has numerous advantages for the patient. It better educates them throughout the treatment; it reassures them when they something is going wrong, and it keeps an open line of communication with their doctor.
For more information visit www.dental-monitoring.com/home-3/.
