Happy Patients, Happy Practice

Since opening its doors back in 1958, Dr. Todd Sarubin’s Baltimore-area practice, Sarubin Family Dental, has been laser-focused on maximizing the patient experience.

When his father and uncle founded the practice over 6 decades ago, they knew that incorporating technology would elevate their skills and allow them to provide better dentistry—ultimately leading to happier patients and plenty of referrals. Dr. Sarubin, who is now practice owner alongside his son and cousin, follows that same philosophy today. In 2017, after eyeing the technology for years, he decided it was time to invest in an intraoral scanner.

His research revealed that the 3Shape TRIOS 3 would easily meet all his needs by reducing costs, improving efficiencies, and eliminating the dreaded trays of “goo” required for traditional impressions. “The investment was a no-brainer,” Dr. Sarubin confirmed.

“The TRIOS 3 had so many uses, and the savings in impression trays and materials added up quickly. It was so successful that within 2 years, we purchased a second one.” Both scanners are busy 5 days a week, and having 2 devices in the practice means that no one ever needs to wait. Team members take scans 2 to 3 times a day for preop evaluations, patient education, treatment planning, and to compare scans from year to year.

Scans are lever-aged for crown and bridge, clear aligners, nightguards, temporaries, bleaching trays, retainers, surgical guides, provisional dentures...and the list goes on.

“The benefits are endless. Besides the multitude of procedures that can be accomplished with the TRIOS scanner, gag reflexes are kept to a minimum,” Dr. Sarubin said. “Cases come back quicker, and most importantly, patient education sells quality dentistry. We get referrals just because we have the scanner.”

One of Dr. Sarubin’s favorite cases involves a patient who presented in poor periodontal health with several large lesions.

“This was a very nervous patient with a severe gag reflex,” said Dr. Sarubin. The lab used scans of his hard and soft tissue to create a set of immediate upper and lower complete dentures. After careful relining, the dentures fit great, returning the patient to normal function. Six months later, additional scans were taken to create surgical guides for 4 maxillary and 4 mandibular implants.

“Once the implants were placed, the patient continued wearing his initial set of dentures until the implants integrated. Using our TRIOS scanner, we created a new set of implant-retained dentures,” Dr. Sarubin said. “There is no way this would have happened so seamlessly without the TRIOS. It would have taken multiple appointments, impressions, and try-ins. The patient has been completely satisfied and loves his new dentures!”