CADapalooza 2010

Living up to Texas’ reputation for the oversized, D4D Technologies chose Cowboys Stadium—the world’s largest domed structure—as the site for CADapalooza 2010, a full day celebration of digital dentistry where a succession of speakers sung the praises of the company’s E4D CAD/CAM system and the attendees were treated to a preview of the forthcoming E4D Compass™ software that combines cone beam and intraoral scan data for enhanced implant case planning.

While the speakers were on a stage in the concourse lounge, many of the presentations were displayed on the stadium’s 160-foot-wide HD screen that hangs above the football field, as well as on the HD screens that seemed to be attached to every conceivable surface of the concourse area and around the stadium. And, attendees did have their chance to appear on that giant screen themselves during the hour-long lunch that served as the only real break in the jam-packed agenda.

D4D Vice President of Marketing and Clinical Affair Dr. Gary Severance served as MC, kicking off the event by playing a pair of video introductions from Drs. Gordon Christensen and Peter Dawson who both spoke of the way CAD/CAM technology has changed dentistry. Dr. Severance highlighted that theme speaking of the way the use of CAD/CAM at chairside has actually brought dentists and laboratories closer together.

“Dentistry is going to change, we’re all going to come to the center,” he said. “We’re going to use the same software.”

Up next on stage was D4D founder and chairman Basil Haymann who entertainingly told the story of how the company got started and explained his goal of making every dentist in America a believer in the industry’s digital future. Highlighting his company’s philosophy of listening to its customers, Haymann ended his time saying, “Please tell us what you think the future of dentistry will be. We really don’t want to know what we do right, we want to know what we can do better.”

Clinician’s Report CEO Dr. Paul Child, Jr., CDT, used his time at the podium to explain how his organization has done extensive testing on CAD/CAM technology, and he strongly believes it can be used to provide better outcomes for patients. In fact, citing lasers and cone beam, Dr. Child said CAD/CAM is just one of the many technologies now available that can make dentistry better. What has him even more excited is the ways these new technologies work together.

“One of the things I’m excited about with cone beam is the interaction with CAD/CAM,” Dr. Child said. “It gives you the control to plan where the implant goes and to plan where the restoration is. It’s not the other way around.”

Continuing on the same line of thinking Dr. Child offered, Dr. Santine Anderson, associate editor at THE DENTAL ADVISOR reviewed the currently available digital impression and CAD/CAM systems, highlighting the strengths and benefits they each offer. However, she joined in the growing chorus praising the sponsor company’s E4D dentist system and the way offering same day crowns via CAD/CAM is the best thing for both her practice and her patients.

“When you use a CAD/CAM system and can mill the restoration in the same day, it’s much healthier for the patient,” she said. “This technology gives me total flexibility. It’s flexibility for my office and flexibility for my patients.

“This technology does work, and it’s where we’re all going,” she added later in her presentation. “It’s really about providing a better path for dentistry and more excitement for us in what we do every day.”

Dr. Don Deems, The Dentist’s Coach, was charged with laying out the path to CAD/CAM adoption, which he did with a 10 point list of practical advice for successful technology integration which he peppered with more specific, practical details such as 20 crowns a month being a key number for profitability with the D4D system. While he touted the technology as, “not only the dentistry of today, it’s the dentistry of the future and it’s only going to get better,” he also stressed the importance of fundamentals and putting patients first.

“This technology does not substitute for authentically caring for our patients,” he said.

While a live demonstration of the E4D Dentist CAD/CAM system was taking place on stage, the images from the screen were broadcast on the 160-foot wide HD screen that hangs over the field.

Following lunch, Dr. Severance narrated a live demonstration of the E4D dentist system in action and the company debuted a genuinely hilarious video that lampooned the infamous ShamWow infomercials and promoted the system as ScanWow. Watch for that on YouTube soon.

Following that, the always fired up Lee Culp, CDT, talked about his enthusiasm for what he’s been able to do with CAD/CAM systems and how they are offering new ways for dentists and labs to work together. After recently leaving D4D for the position of Chief Technology Officer with dental lab network Dental Technologies, Inc., Culp said he plans to have his labs operating in a 60% digital environment by the end of the year. The biggest message Culp brought to the meeting was that chairside CAD/CAM will continue to grow, but lab technicians will always have a place handling the bigger cases and as experts in dental design.

“Laboratories, if you’re out there, don’t be scared of this. Dentists are going to do their own crowns,” he said. “We’re going to be blurring what a dentist and a laboratory is. This is why I use this system. I’m a dental technician. I do big cases. I don’t do single molars.”

Then, after it had been teased in the morning, Dr. Curtis Jansen had the opportunity to show off the capabilities of the new E4D Compass software. Aided by D4D software engineer Rakesh Lal, Dr. Jansen said the software has “changed the way I practice” by making implant cases more predictable and leading to better results.

“You’re going to know ahead of time what you’ll need for that particular surgical procedure,” he said.

Compass works by importing data from a cone beam scan into the E4D system. The data is correlated with the data from an intraoral scan so the crown design system can be accurately linked with the detailed three dimensional scan of the patient’s oral anatomy. The system then allows the crown to be designed with proper occlusion and then the implant surgery is planned to support that ideal crown. The software even assists with selection of the abutment and plans and mills a surgical guide to aide with the implant placement.

“The other thing this allows you to do is to modify these abutments ahead of time. You know what this is going to look like,” he said.

The meeting continued with presentations that worked more as sales pitches from Rick Willeford, CPA who explained tax benefits of major equipment purchases, and Dr. David Reznik who told the audience about his experience as a patient when he was fit with a crown fabricated on the E4D system. His enthusiasm for CAD/CAM was apparent, as was his appreciation for the way the technology lets dentistry fit in with what he called the “FedEx world of convenience, comfort and speed.”

The day closed with a reception and tours of the massive facility. It had been a day that was part sales pitch, part revival meeting preaching the merits of technological advances, part insightful explanation of the latest dental advancements and part preview of what’s to come.