British dentists can now have a state-of-the-art CAT scanner in their driveway.
Oxfordshire-based dentist Julian Perry is offering a mobile, three-dimensional scanner for use in implant work and other areas that require three-dimensional internal imaging.
Custom-fitted into a Volkswagen van, the equipment will be available to carry out scans literally on the doorstep of the dentist or it will visit the patient at their home or place of work.
"It's going to be faster, safer and more efficient than anything else currently available to UK practices," said Dr. Perry.
"Clinicians will book an appointment for their patients online. The radiography technician will arrive, carry out the scan and be able to hand over the results then and there. We're talking about minutes for a process which, with booking hospital appointments and waiting for results, has previously taken weeks."
The mobile service is also being offered at a price that is less than half the cost of a traditional hospital scan.
The equipment is the model unveiled by manufacturer Ewoo at the International Dental show in Cologne in March 2009. The Pan Duo 3D is one of the most technologically advanced compact CBCT scanners.
It uses a cone beam system with a flat panel detector, which has been proven to produce images from hard tissue using considerably lower doses of x-radiation than comparable technology. A complete upper and lower jaw examination takes just 20 seconds and provides full, three-dimensional views.
"I've always been concerned about the X-ray dosages we give patients and have been looking for some time for a really top class machine to do a good job at lower levels of exposure," Julian said.
"It can be so frustrating telling patients they might have to wait weeks for an appointment at a hospital with a scanner, knowing that when they get the appointment they will have to find their way there, wait in a queue for who knows how long. We can arrange a mobile visit anywhere in the UK within the week, and that includes weekends and evenings; it's not dependent on surgery times. What's even more exciting is that the results are available then and there and for a significantly lower cost."
The scanner will be carried and operated in a high-roof, long-body version of the Volkswagen Crafter 2.5 TDi. The vehicle will park in a central location, usually at practices with car parks within easy reach of the dentists' clients (or at individual clinics if there is sufficient parking space).
"I really think this service will make a great contribution to British implant dentistry," Julian said.
"We now have more than a hundred thousand implants placed in the UK each year and that number is going up by 10% a year. At the same time, litigation against practitioners has gone up tenfold, making it quite plain that you can't take too much care in planning and preparing these procedures. We owe it to our patients to use the best technology available to make what can be an unnerving process as convenient, safe, and efficient as it can be."
Dr. Perry's mobile scanner has already received recognition for the concept and its value to dentists in the UK. He was awarded the title of "Most Innovative Dentist 2009" for the scheme at the Private Dentistry Awards.
For more information, go to Dental Scanning Services.
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