Last week’s Sunday Times picked up on a report by the Royal College of Surgeons about a potential gamechanger in the dental patient journey: piezo electric drills. They’re “less painful, more precise, more effective and much quieter” and are already being used by a few dentists in the UK.
The Future of Surgery report predicts this ultrasound technology will change the way tooth extractions are performed in the next five to 20 years.
It also predicts:
- the volume of extractions performed in the next five years is unlikely to fall
- more extractions will be completed on older patients
- more in primary care settings
- less under general anaesthetic
So the demand, thanks to the ageing population, is there and piezo electric drills look like a way to push ahead from your local competitors in the next five years, before the technology becomes mainstream.
This could easily form the centrepiece of your next marketing drive. The Sunday Times got it about right: “It is the thing that many people fear most about a trip to the dentist. The sight of the drill can make them feel desperate as they brace for the pain, the bleeding, the swelling and the long recovery period — and that moment when the high-pitched, penetrating screech begins.”
RCS dean of the faculty of dental surgery Michael Escudier told the paper: “[Piezo electric surgery] uses innovative ultrasound technology to achieve high frequency micro-vibrations which allow incredibly precise cutting of bone and teeth. It results in less risk of damage to tissues surrounding teeth than the traditional drill, which should result in less pain, inflammations, bleeding and swelling, as well as allowing a quicker recovery.”
If you’d like to enhance your patient journey and want to explore your clinical options, or need help communicating the benefits to your clientele, get in touch for a chat.
00 447860 672727
