Editor’s note: This response was edited lightly for clarity and brevity.
Question: What are you doing to reduce operating costs?
Dr. Luke Morgan: Our practice first obtained intraoral scanners for crown and bridge in 2019. We now have three scanners (two iTero and one Medit), cutting out a large volume of impression material, material waste, shipping and logistics.
We have had such good success with this implementation that we are now fully operational with 3D printing (Sprint Ray), having two printers in the office for model fabrication, denture and night guard fabrication. We are leveraging the technology to help provide the most up-to-date care and methods to our patients. The decrease in materials cost and need for less office visits is having an impact overall in efficiency and slight reductions in certain areas of operational expenses. It might seem counterintuitive, but we can deliver care to more patients, more efficiently, thus increasing our productivity and collections, thereby lowering the operational costs. All the while feeling less stress over the production, logistics and lab work we are making in the office or outsourcing.
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