Date of Publication
2017
Organization
Planmeca Planworld Annual Journal 2017
The brothers Manolakis have a strong background in digital dentistry. They have been utilising CBCT imaging as part of implant and prosthetic treatments, as well as using surgical guides already for years. Last year Kleanthis and Alexandros decided to take their practice – Manolakis Dental Clinic in Thessaloniki, Greece – to the next level by entering the CAD/CAM world. “Our vision was to develop a fully integrated CAD/CAM procedure at our dental office over the next couple of years”, Kleanthis illuminates.
After looking at available options, the Manolakis brothers decided that the Planmeca FIT® system for chairside CAD/CAM was the right choice for them. Comprised of the Planmeca PlanScan® intraoral scanner, the Planmeca PlanCAD® Easy design software and the Planmeca PlanMill® 40 milling unit, the Planmeca FIT system provides dental clinics with a completely integrated digital workflow – from start to finish.
A fast start
Kleanthis and Alexandros have been using the Planmeca FIT system at their clinic for over a year now. Kleanthis states that it has been a fast start for them. “Our experience has been that the whole system is very mature and it is quite easy to get very acceptable clinical results with a relatively small learning curve.” His brother agrees: “There is a learning curve, which is something we knew and anticipated – but because of the user-friendliness, it goes by quite quickly.” With their new system up and running smoothly, the brothers have taken on a leading role as CAD/CAM dentists in Greece. Their clinic is the first in the country to offer a Planmeca chairside CAD/CAM workflow. Kleanthis says that this has already sparked much curiosity.
“Everybody has been very interested in getting more information on this technology. They have been impressed because we can reduce the treatment time in a tremendous way and offer same-day restorations.” Indeed, patients of Manolakis Dental Clinic have responded to the new technology very well – so well that it has come as a bit of a surprise to the clinicians.
“Our patients have been very enthusiastic about it”, Alexandros illuminates. “I did not initially expect this effect, to be honest. Our patients really appreciate that they don’t need to have impression material in their mouths and that they can more or less be part of the designing process.”
“The restorations are produced in front of their eyes and they are very excited about it. This was an aspect that surprised me quite a lot”, Alexandros notes.
Better care with software
All steps of the Planmeca FIT workflow are easily controlled and accessed through the Planmeca Romexis® software platform. With all treatment data immediately available on all workstations, the software allows scanning, designing, and milling to take place simultaneously.
Alexandros values Planmeca’s all-in-one approach and considers it to be a huge benefit: “I don’t want to have different software for each procedure and software that often doesn’t communicate with each other. I like to have one platform to do all of my work with – this is very important for me.”
Kleanthis has also been very pleased with Planmeca Romexis and enjoys the software’s steady performance:“I’m a little bit afraid of software systems – I’m not a software specialist, so I feel very comfortable working with such a solid and professional software platform.”
Working with Planmeca FIT has made daily life at Manolakis Dental Clinic easier and more interesting. Specifically the brothers appreciate the fact that Planmeca FIT is an open CAD/CAM system, which allows seamless communication in all situations.
“A very strong advantage in my eyes is that this is an open system, which allows us to share our digital files with our lab and have part of the work done in our office, and part of it done at a lab in Greece – or in any other part of the world”, Kleanthis states.
Alexandros concurs: “It’s a system that gets regular updates also, and so as technology moves on the system advances as well continuously.”
Changing dentistry
In the beginning, Alexandros thought that acquiring a chairside CAD/CAM system would be a good way
for his clinic to be more cost-efficient. However, after using Planmeca FIT for some time he has come to the conclusion that this was an incomplete assessment – and that the system has had a bigger effect than he could have imagined.
“Planmeca FIT has changed the way I perform dentistry – in the restorative part as well as in the implantology part. It allows me to do restorations I couldn’t do before, or that would take a long time to do.”
“Now I can provide same-day service, which is beneficial for my patients and opens up new horizons and possibilities. The ability to manufacture implant-supported restorations in our office was a key point for me. By scanning the appropriate scan-bodies intraorally, the Planmeca FIT system allows me to design and fabricate full-ceramic crowns with a custom anatomic emergence profile. It’s a different kind of dentistry that I perform today”, Alexandros concludes.
The present looks bright, but the Manolakis brothers already have even bigger plans in mind. Kleanthis reveals that over time they are looking to expand their clinic even further. “In the future we would probably like to acquire our own 3D imaging device and be able to further expand our diagnostic and treatment possibilities.”
“We feel very comfortable with Planmeca as a company and definitely believe that it is an excellent partner in terms of new technologies and excellent quality”, Kleanthis sums up.
