Between Tradition and Modernity: The Integration of Contemporary Technology in Practice

Emerging technologies have played an important role in patient care. From the diagnostic data collection, file processing and registration, virtual treatment planning, outcome simulation, to the CAD-CAM prostheses, commercially available technologies are constantly evolving. When dental clinicians and technicians embrace these emerging technologies, the values of sound traditional treatment principles may be overlooked or shadowed by the hype of new technologies. A meaningful collaboration between dental clinicians and technicians should not subvert fundamental treatment principles over speed, profit, and efficiency. This presentation will focus on the review of available emerging technologies in dentistry and discuss how some traditional treatment principles remain unchanged in modern digital dentistry. The benefits of the emerging technologies such as improved team communication among clinicians, dental technicians, and patients, enhanced patient experience, and more predictable treatment outcomes will be discussed. Some commonly overlooked traditional treatment principles in digital dentistry, such as proper occlusal scheme selection and design, and artistic human approaches will be presented.

1. After the presentation, the audience would gain digital literacy in contemporary patient treatment using technology and understand technologies that could be used to collect digital diagnostic data.

2. To achieve a successful and predicable collaboration between dental clinicians and technicians mediated by the emerging technologies.

3. Properly utilizing emerging technologies and working together as a team, while embracing the art and beauty of traditional treatment principles to optimize the treatment planning process and achieve the predictable clinical outcome.