Go-Digital Dental is a new breed of UK dental lab set to transform the future of the industry. Dentistry speaks to Mark Brown, MD, and Joe Law, head of operations, to get their take on the set-up, the state of the industry and the adoption of digital.
Tell us about Go-Digital Dental.
Mark Brown (MB): We are a digital dental laboratory based in Nottingham focused on the private dental market. Our team’s collective ambition is to be the leading digital-only laboratory, providing the highest quality lab work and exceptional customer service using state-of-the-art technology.
Our digital lab services include implants, crown and bridge and digital dentures.
In essence, we want to use technology to make the stressful lives of our customers easier!
We could see that the market was at an inflection point; digital tech had moved onto a level where there was no financial or practical reason to do lab work in an analogue way.
So, we invested in the very latest scanners and 3D printing and hired a team of specialists. We now have customers all over the UK sending us scans.
As a digital lab, how are you are looking to digitise the process?
MB: Every part of the lab manufacturing process has been digitised.
Customer sign up and the receipt of intraoral scanning is digital. All CAD/CAM work is digitised. We have licensed the best workflow management software, and increasingly we find channels like Whatsapp the best to speak to our customers.
How do you support your dentists to adopt digital processes?
MB: We like to work with dentists who embrace this change/revolution in the industry!
We offer a partnership programme, which starts with providing a free 3shape Trios scanner. As a high-cost investment, it can be a blocker to the dentist, so we remove this barrier!
We then support the dentist and their team with training on the scanner and the digital workflow/case submission.
It’s been a revelation! Customers get a quicker turn around and better accuracy, as well as 24/7 comms with the technicians!
Digital dentures are the latest hot topic – how are you innovating in denture manufacturing?
Joe Law (JL): Go-Digital Dental is leading the way in the cutting-edge area of digital dentures with research and development focused on the very latest scanning techniques, and innovative designs and materials.
Dentistry has seen a renaissance in new material science and technology and we are now seeing a fantastic array of material options on the market, all the way from nanocomposites, biocompatible polymer resins, to complex selective laser melted (SLM) chrome alloys.
Being at the forefront of this new era, we aim to give our customers the latest the industry has to offer. We pride ourselves on being one of the few labs here in the UK to be using Dentsply Sirona’s Lucitone resin for our denture base and tooth material.
Of course, new materials often require different techniques and special design solutions to achieve the best results and we have found working with this new material to be no exception. Our design team has worked hard to create some features for our removable partial dentures hidden within the prosthetic design, creating an optimum bond between the denture base layers and the SLM chrome cobalt, ensuring structural integrity without affecting the final fit or aesthetic result.
How is the lab convincing dentists to adopt digital dentures?
MB: Denture treatment can be a stressful process for both dentist and patient. The digital denture workflow removes much of this stress as it is more predictable, more accurate and ultimately provides a much-improved patient experience by minimising patient visits and chair time.
This equates to a significant cost saving for our dentists!
Another major benefit is that the patient can wear a monolithic try-in of the final prosthetic for a short time to ‘road test’ it for design and function prior to final dentures. Also, if lost, it’s easily replaceable with a simple click of a button.
You’re hosting Mastering the Art of Digital Dentures on 22 June with Dr George Cheetham. What can viewers expect from this webinar?
MB: The webinar will present an exciting opportunity for clinicians to learn and discover the benefits of digital dentures. Hosted by Dr George Cheetham and Go-Digital Dental, this in-lab webinar will explain the process from scan to fit with case studies along the way.
The webinar will offer:
- An overview of the digital denture workflow
- Denture scanning protocols
- Benefits and problem-solving
- An interactive Q&A.
To register for the webinar – Digital dentures – from scan to fit – on 22 June, visit www.dentistry.co.uk/webinar/digital-dentures-from-scan-to-fit.
