I bought a TRIOS 3 intraoral scanner in January 2023. Before that, I tried plenty of digital impression solutions. In fact, I still have a few scattered around the practice collecting dust. TRIOS is different.
I was trained in the military. So, while my fellow endodontists, oral surgeons, and periodontists were all getting their master's and doing research, as a military prosthodontist, it was late nights, early mornings, no windows… the grind for me. I learned a lot during that hands-on training. It helped inspire me to get my CDT certification as well.As a prosthodontist in the military, you learn to do your own lab work. Because of that, you get good at, for example, preparations. If you mess it up, if your margins aren't clean, if your impressions are incomplete, it's on you. You learn quickly.
Understanding patients’ dental issues via a holistic approach
An interesting skill I developed during this period was how to document cases with photography. There's nothing like seeing your preps in high definition, blown up on a big screen. It's a humble pill to swallow.
But it also influenced how I view patients and how I prep for scanning. Their face, aesthetics, the phonetics; it is a more holistic approach. My training as a CDT has helped me to dial in my dentistry skills.
During that time, I worked at a community dental center, processing tons of dentures. I spent a year punishing myself. So now, when I work with labs, I am very hands-on. I understand what they need from me.
Bringing this holistic approach into the modern age
As a prosthodontist, while I have tried to get away from doing my own lab work, I sometimes still want to scan a conventional impression. Many of the technicians I work with are not based in my town. They are in Italy, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles; they're all over the place.
So, when I first started to look for an intraoral scanner, I wanted one that could scan silicone impressions. And one I could share files easily with. TRIOS does that.
One of the first things I learned when I bought TRIOS in January 2023, was that I could scan dentures.
So, now I really wish that I had gotten onboard with TRIOS five years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time and money.
A while back, I invested in a lab scanner. I do not need it anymore because of TRIOS.
TRIOS is so intuitive, I’ve skipped my onboarding
When I began using TRIOS a few months ago, I quickly noticed how easy it was to scan with. So easy that now I joke that even a prosthodontist can do it. It's dentist-proof 😊.
I still need to do my onboarding training with 3Shape, but because the scanner is so intuitive, you do not need to read the instructions.
After using it these past few months, I believe that TRIOS is the industry benchmark. There are no two ways about it. If Apple were to design an intraoral scanner, it would be TRIOS. It is just so easy. It makes sense.
When peers talk about TRIOS's ease of use, they always talk about the scanner. But I believe that the TRIOS User Interface (UI) is equally intuitive. I figured out how to scan because the UI was so simple to work with.
The scanner is so small, it's compact, it's portable. I can put it in my backpack, take it home on the weekend, and work on cases and practice scanning.
And if you were wondering about ROI…
My wife, who is also our office manager, reminded me that we have made only two alginate impressions in the first quarter since buying TRIOS. She tracks these things, and she said that this time last year, we had made close to 150 alginate impressions.
TRIOS has already paid for itself in the three months we have had it. Maybe one and a half times over.
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I can’t believe I used to say no to digital
It is funny because there are still dental professionals that are scared to get into the digital realm. I was one of them. For years and years, I said no to digital. It's not as good as handmade.
But you know what?
I was wrong. Digital saves me around 90% of the grunt work, and I still get to put my fingerprint on that last 10% of the case. Dial it in.
And because I am now digital, I no longer work late at night. I'm spending more time with my kids. I'm spending more time on the road doing things I like to do, like lecturing at the Seattle Study Club.
In the old days, when I returned from a lecture, I used to have to make a beeline to the office. I would go in on Sundays to pour models because the alginate impressions would only last so many days. It is ludicrous to think I lived like that.
It is not the same dental practice today
My wife, who follows 3Shape on Instagram and YouTube, lectures me that we are only taking advantage of 15 to 20% of what the scanner can do. I am only tipping the iceberg.
But even with that, TRIOS has turned our practice upside down and inside out. We are not the same practice today.
In fact, I recently bought a set of Lo Russo retractorsExample of Professor Dr. Lucio Lo Russo's retractors because of what we've seen on 3Shape social media channels and to help with my full and partials restorative work.
My wife told me to buy two.
I am very excited to begin creating digital dentures. As a prosthodontist in Maine, you get a lot of edentulous cases.
There are a lot of intraoral scanner makers in the market now, but TRIOS has it. The scanner looks clean and streamlined. And again, it's intuitive. TRIOS makes sense.
The TRIOS line of intraoral scanners have won an unprecedented 10 Cellerant Awards ten years in a row as the best intraoral scanner. Discover how it can help your practice now.