Wyndham House Dental opens the door to its new CBCT room

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  Posted by: Dental Design      5th January 2023

Simon Hill is Principal Dentist at Wyndham House Dental in Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan and has over 16 years’ experience placing implants and implant retained restorations, ranging from simple tooth replacement to complex full mouth rehabilitation

The practice caters for Private and NHS patients also offering cosmetic and specialist Periodontics, along with all other aspects of general dentistry. He recently purchased the building next door in order to expand the practice and incorporate a dedicated implant clinic.

“I wanted a new surgery specifically for my surgical implant dentistry so when the Bank became available, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to make it happen. Refurb was done in the new part of the building so we were able to keep the other side of the building operating. Building work was carried out by a local contractor and Woodlane supplied the plans and service drawings, along with helping with the design and layout of the new side of the building. We incorporated a new surgery, a specific de-con room and a dedicated CBCT room.”

The original 5 surgery practice was operating very successfully when the Bank next door came up for sale providing the perfect opening to expand, as Simon explains “We bought it and turned it into a specialist implant clinic to make it 6 surgeries. The CBCT currently lives in the old vault so lead lining wasn’t an issue and this is where our relationship with Tom Cross and Woodlane Dental Equipment began.”

“We used Woodlane as we knew Tom from his previous roles; he actually used to repair some of our equipment when he was an engineer a few years back. We had been told by another engineer that Tom was now working at Woodlane and after the first meeting we decided not to look elsewhere!”

For anyone considering equipping a new surgery, a visit to a manufacturer showroom is a great place to start your research. “We went to the Woodlane Showroom and then they recommended going to the show at the NEC. We had a look at multiple CBCT software’s and units, and it was this experience of trying them all out that helped me make my final decision as being Planmeca.”

The footprint of the Planmeca ProMax CBCT unit suited the size of the room and Simon was also impressed by the Ultra-Low Dose protocol that reduces effective patient dose without a statistical reduction in 3D image quality. “The Ultra-Low Dose mode gets rid of any patients fears if they are scared. Some patients do ask, and I am able to say this is the lowest dose machine on the market”.

For a clinician considering investing in a CBCT unit, Simon has this advice. “You need to have a good look at what is out there and what you actually want to achieve with your digital workflow. For anyone considering digital dentistry in relation to implant dentistry then a CBCT is an essential bit of kit.”

Having their own CBCT unit onsite has made a significant difference to the practice, as well as to the patients. The unit is used alongside the user-friendly Planmeca Romexis dental software for implant planning and placement, as well as for patient education.

Post-installation training was an essential part of ensuring the practice could utilise the 3D unit to the maximum. Planmeca Territory Manager Steve Reed supported Wyndham House with clinical applications training which included guidance on image acquisition, x-ray dose parameters and resolutions, as well as software training for diagnosis, so that they had confidence in operating the equipment and planning treatment plans for patients.

“People come in for consultation and we can give them a more definitive answer straight away at the same visit, tell the patients much more specifically what their treatment is going to involve. It helps keep referrals in house, especially for extraction, as we can do an accurate assessment for extraction. It’s got a great 2D image on it which the Periodontist likes. Ease of export of any data is really easy to any referring practitioners. We have had increased patient acceptance as they feel confident that we are using the right/new technologies and not sending them off to other practices for this. It also makes so much economic sense, the amount we use it means it more than pays for itself.”

When asked if he’d do anything differently if he was to do it all again Simon replied “No, it was just easy from start to finish, Woodlane made things flow nice and easily. It was a seamless project and I do think that going to the show to see and clarify the dental equipment I was about to purchase was very worthwhile.”

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