Alex Canfor-Dumas
• Alex Canfor-Dumas is Vice President Sales for Africa at Align Technology, responsible for company’s expansion plans to grow its presence in Africa.
• Prior to joining Align, he has held several leadership roles including director for West Africa of the BlackIvy Group, president and company director at LuccaHealth, and a 17-year tenure at General Electric (GE) in the United States and Africa, where he held a number of management positions, including managing director for sub-Saharan Africa. An American national, Alex holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the Arizona State University.
What is the next big trend that will bring us closer to the future?
Predictions concerning how cutting-edge technologies will make our lives easier seem to be in endless supply, but one field that is consistently growing is that of digital healthcare, namely the field of orthodontics.
Anyone who has grown accustomed to reclining chairs and drawers full of dental instruments in a dental practice may find it hard to imagine what the practice of the future could look like. But our perception of a typical dental practice is fast becoming a thing of the past, thanks in no small part to the pace at which orthodontic innovations are advancing. Valued at $3.9 billion in 2021, the global digital dentistry market is expected to reach $5.8 billion by 2028, representing an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%. The number of dental appointments conducted online has increased rapidly in recent years and continues to rise. For example, patients today can share images of their open mouths with their dentists, allowing them to monitor treatments, identify potential problems, and recommend treatment options remotely, all through the use of a smartphone.
A HUMAN-CENTRIC MODEL
Teeth are a critical part of our smiles and important for basic functions such as eating. There will always be a demand for dentistry, although it may evolve and fluctuate. And dental care should always be provided by an expert specialist.
As technology evolves, doctors today are tapping into tried and tested innovations that support their profession, providing them with the tools they need to deliver an enhanced patient experience. Align Technology, for example, is taking digital dentistry to the next level with a myriad of solutions to help make the orthodontist and patient experience more seamless, efficient, and modern.
By implementing digital innovations, orthodontists can care for more patients in a shorter amount of time. For example, with the Invisalign® Virtual Appointment tool, doctors can monitor the treatment progress of existing patients and enhance patient communication by checking their progress and answering their questions about their Invisalign® treatment. The tool allows the doctor to schedule consults, follow-ups, and stay close to existing patients.
Another growing trend that has already materialized in some practices is to scan a patient during every consultation with an intraoral scanner. This way, doctors gain important data regarding patient’s dentition and can use it to support preventive care. Align’s state-of-the-art iTero Element™ Plus intraoral scanner can conduct a full arch scan in as little as 60 seconds*, saving time and allowing practitioners to track incremental changes in patients’ teeth over extended periods.
Another growing trend is the use of clear aligners instead of traditional brackets and wires. The Align Technology Invisalign® System is a globally renowned clear aligner that is custom-fitted to a patient’s teeth to achieve a straighter smile. This system is effective in rectifying a broad range of problems, from purely cosmetic issues to more complex conditions that could have a detrimental impact on health. To date, the Invisalign System has brought smiles to more than 16.4 million faces worldwide [1], including four million [2] teens, giving Invisalign-trained practitioners the ability to deliver effective treatment to greater numbers of patients in ever-shorter timeframes.
“As technology evolves, doctors today are tapping into tried and tested innovations that support their profession, providing them with the tools they need to deliver an enhanced patient experience.“
DENTISTRY, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT
So, with today’s orthodontic technology advancing at such a rapid rate, how is a dental visit likely to feel 50 years from now? Here are my predictions.
Your routine dental treatment has been in your diary for several months. When you arrive, your virtual profile will be available to the dentist and dental team, including smart data analytics to help improve or maintain your healthy smile.
The appointments will be more time-efficient from both a doctor and patient’s perspective, saving them time in their busy agendas. No matter what stage you are in your treatment, your regular intraoral scans will be efficient and comfortable. You will have a more visual experience, as you’ll be able to see the progress of your treatment in real time, as well as 3D animated forecasts of the results you are expecting to achieve.
That covers the patient experience, but what about the role of the dental professional?
At Align Technology, we strongly believe that the very nature of dental care will always make person-to-person contact paramount. All treatments require the presence of a dentist or an orthodontist to be performed safely and effectively. The change that will take place with more widespread adoption of digital dentistry will be in the dynamics and quality of care, creating frictionless access for patients. Technology is by no means here to replace human practitioners, but innovations in digital dentistry will make it possible for the dental profession to evolve with more to offer to a broad range of patients.
While we don’t know for sure what the future holds, we can be optimistic it will be an exciting journey for both doctors and their patients.
NOTES
*Patient scans can be completed in as little as 60 seconds with the same accuracy
** and reliability that you have come to expect from iTero Element scanners. Actual scan times depend on individual experience. This is based on 40 iRecord scanning sessions with average scan time of 58 seconds by 2 experienced persons scanning. Data on file at Align Technology, as of February 10, 2017.
1) Data on file at Align Technology.
2) Data on file at Align Technology.