Dr Kenny Doig of The Private Dental Centre in Boston marvels at the ‘Ooh’ reaction of patients as they sit in his new Planmeca Compact i5 dental unit
The Private Dental Centre was established in Boston by Dr Kenny Doig in 2004. Over the subsequent two decades, the practice has grown with the addition of new team members, its introduction to Investors in People and the British Dental Association’s Good Practice Scheme, gold membership status attained in both, as The Private Dental Centre developed into one of Lincolnshire’s premier private practices.
Dr Doig is no stranger to self-improvement. Having graduated from Dundee Dental School, qualifying in 1988, he has undertaken further graduate training, holding a Diploma in Restorative Dentistry, and become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. In addition, Kenny has overseen undergraduate dentists, hygienists and therapists at Sheffield Dental School, and served as a lecturer for trainee dental nurses as well as delivering a series of seminars on infection control for the BDA.
As The Private Dental Centre reached its 20th birthday, it was in need of a little improvement of its own. “The previous chairs were getting a bit tired, and it was time for a bit of a refurbishment,” recalls Dr Doig. “We also wanted to introduce some additional specialities to the practice because we didn’t previously have an OPT facility.”
Following some good feedback from other clinicians, Kenny got in touch with Planmeca.
“We had very good feedback about Planmeca, not only about the quality of the scan and the Ultra Low Dose 3D imaging protocol, but also the fact that the software was intuitive and easy to use.”
Planmeca’s Ultra Low Dose enables CBCT images to be captured at even lower effective patient doses than standard 2D images.
“Within our area, there aren’t many practices with CBCT capabilities,” Kenny explains. “So, we take on plenty of referrals. A big plus point, therefore, of the Planmeca solution, is that it is simple to export the DICOM files. You even have the ability to include the reader for the referring clinician.”
To assist Dr Doig in making his decision, Planmeca brought their setup directly to his doorstep.
“Planmeca, along with our dental equipment dealer Promec Dental, made the fantastic offer of bringing their mobile demo facility to the practice,” says Kenny. “This allowed us to see how the Romexis dental software works in person.
“We were able to see a fully set-up surgery in the van, which gave us the opportunity to also look at the chairs. This subsequently led us to book in to see the full range at the Planmeca showroom.”
Browsing gave way to purchases. “We’ve invested in Planmeca Compact i5 chairs. We opted to include the integrated X-ray facility in two of them, and this has been absolutely fantastic.”
The Planmeca Compact i5 dental unit has been designed to offer a smooth workflow for the dental team alongside an enjoyable treatment experience for all patients.
“We were setting up a brand new surgery in the practice in a much smaller room,” Kenny notes. “So, one of the big selling points for the system was the knee break chair.
“Another great feature of the Compact i5 is the overhead light. It’s gesture controlled, which is fantastic, and it has the light safe mode that’s easily activated for composite placement. You can ramp up and down the intensity and the illumination over the patient has a great cut off point, so you can work safe in the knowledge that they are not getting blinded.”
As for how the patients themselves have found the Compact i5, Dr Doig hasn’t even needed to ask for their opinions. “Every patient, without exception, has come in, sat down on the chair, and said, ‘Ooh, this is a comfortable chair!’ That’s not an exaggeration and, on the top of that, they then notice that the whole setup is different. So, they can see that we’re investing in the practice and, therefore, delivering better patient care, for them.”
Kenny was equally impressed with features such as the flexibility that the Compact i5 offers to switch seamlessly between left- and right-handed clinicians, and the option to include the intra-oral camera as an integrated extra.
“Another great feature that I was previously unaware of was the flush-through system,” Kenny continues. “It’s integrated within the cuspidor system and, at the end of the day we can flush through all of the lines, all within the system, which means there are no buckets to trip over.”
While providing patients with a comfortable experience is of the utmost importance, the installation of Compact i5 dental units has provided several benefits for the practice.
“One of the main drivers in investing in good quality equipment was that it helps to attract any potential associates that want to come and work for me,” says Kenny. “The reason for having three identical chairs was we’ve got the ability to interchange surgeries across a busy multi surgery practice. One of the brilliant features of the Compact i5 is the touchscreen and its ability for different clinicians to log in with all of their settings configured.”
Kenny concludes that it gives him confidence to know that other dental practices are also installing Planmeca solutions. “In my mind, it’s a fantastic product and certainly something that you would want to be considering, as an option.”
Watch the full interview with Dr Kenny Doig at https://www.planmeca.com/testimonials/
