Changing roles in the digital workflow

The dentist remains responsible for diagnosis, treatment planning and clinical decisions, including those supported by digital tools. However, integrated digital protocols can enable the dentist and other trained members of the practice team to carry out selected tasks that previously required laboratory support. DTS standardises certain technical steps, and the dentist retains responsibility for clinical decisions and supervision.

The dental technician continues to play a key role in areas requiring specialised knowledge, manual expertise and creativity. This expertise remains particularly important in complex or highly individualised cases, including:

• designing and producing complex removable appliances;
• work requiring precise modelling and fit;
• atypical clinical cases requiring interpretation of the treatment design; and
• prosthetic work involving multistage processing and high aesthetic precision.

Dentist–technician collaboration

DTS is not intended to remove the dental technician from the treatment process but to support a different model of collaboration. The dentist establishes the treatment concept and therapeutic goals and may prepare an initial digital design or set-up. When laboratory input is required, the dental technician can refine design details, complete the final product and focus on the most complex and time-consuming stages of production.

Shared digital files can simplify communication and make the exchange of information more precise. Standardised workflows may also help reduce communication and production errors and support more predictable treatment processes.

In-practice procedures supported by the digital ecosystem

Used alongside other software within Polorto’s digital ecosystem, including DDP AI and DDP-Ortho, DTS can support a range of procedures within the dental practice. According to Polorto, these workflows can reduce reliance on external laboratory turnaround times and allow selected tasks to be completed during a single appointment. Supported procedures include:

• converting intra-oral scan files into diagnostic models and preparing ready-to-print working models;
• designing transfer jigs for indirect bracket bonding;
• generating series of models for the production of thermoformed orthodontic aligners;
• designing individual thermoformed retainers;
• planning short finishing series of aligners where clinically indicated; and
• creating virtual set-ups as a basis for further treatment planning.

The role of the digital assistant

Such workflows can also create a role for a digital assistant, who may be a trained member of the practice team rather than a dental technician. According to Polorto, delegating appropriate tasks may shorten the practice’s operational cycle, reduce outsourcing costs, free the dentist to focus on clinical and supervisory responsibilities and improve process consistency. Under the dentist’s supervision, the digital assistant can:

• follow standardised digital protocols across Polorto’s software ecosystem, including DDP-Ortho, DDP AI, DDS-Pro and Ortonet;
• prepare files for 3D printing, indirect-bonding transfer jigs and retainers; and
• support the dentist in planning and production workflows.

Potential benefits in clinical practice

DTS is intended to bring selected digital production tasks into the dental practice while retaining the involvement of dental technicians in complex work. According to Polorto, the potential advantages of DTS include:

• automation of time-consuming production steps;
• simplified in-house procedures supported by defined quality-control protocols;
• greater flexibility in adapting workflows to individual cases;
• reduced reliance on external laboratories for selected tasks;
• greater oversight of materials and treatment progress;
• shorter turnaround times for aligners and retainers; and
• timely revisions to treatment plans by the dentist based on updated patient data.

More information can be found at www.ddp.systems.