Dental isolation has been around for many years but in the last decade there has been new, innovative technology allowing for a more effective and efficient way to isolate the oral environment. With a combination of isolation, suction and retraction, hands-free isolation opens the door to shorter procedure times, an enhanced patient experience and presents the opportunity for practice profitability.
1. Decreases procedure time
Hands-free isolation eliminates four-handed dentistry at chairside from anywhere between 25-35%. This allows for the doctor to work solo more often, the assistant to perform other revenue-generating tasks by getting away from chairside and the hygienist can work more efficiently, never having to use a saliva ejector again. With a consistent amount of “free time” being available every day, imagine what you could do with it. Hands-free isolation provides a way to make what you are doing right now better and faster, freeing time that you can utilize to its potential.
2. Patient comfort
Customer satisfaction is a challenge with today’s consumers. Two of the biggest factors that affect a dental patient’s experience are time and comfort. Chairside time can easily be decreased with the use of hands-free isolation but there are a few benefits to the patient that relate to comfort as well.
Several hands-free isolation devices on the market come equipped with a bite block allowing for the patient to rest their mouth. This allows jaw muscles to relax that would otherwise be active during an exam or procedure. The other major benefit for patient comfort is the suction. With the continuous suction from an SE or HVE unit, a patient no longer deals with pooling water in the throat. Scaling and root planing aerosols become containable and restorative procedures less water intrusive.
3. Opening the door for profitability
With an instant decrease in procedure time and the patient having a better chairside experience, one can see how generating more profit is achievable without investing much. You are decreasing procedure time while freeing staff time to potentially build profit, all while creating a great experience for your patients.
One factor that is commonly misunderstood when using new products or techniques like hands-free isolation is the cost-per-patient. Paying anywhere from $2-$3 more per procedure seems impractical, but if you look at the whole picture you will see that the few dollars extra per procedure develops into minutes and hours of accessible time that you can take advantage of. In a recent time and motion study presented by mr. thirsty® one-step via Dr. Andy Goldsmith and Twin Cities Dental, it concluded an average of a 29% decrease in chairside time for the doctor and 38% decrease for the assistant. With hands-free isolation, you can create a new standard in dentistry at your practice where your time is now exceptionally more manageable and feasible to do what you want with it.
