Patient Benefits
When Dr. Kingston is asked to name some of reasons why patients put off their dental treatment for a crown, the same themes keep coming up: time, comfort, and convenience. E4D offers a great solution that features quick turnaround times, patient happiness and dependable results.
Patients appreciate the simplicity of E4D’s single office visit solution. Now they can have a crown fitted in hours instead of days, so they don’t have to take a second period of time away from work or find added childcare. Plus, they only have to get numb once.
The technology uses safe, comfortable digital scanning, so there are no messy impressions to make patients feel claustrophobic. Patients are also delighted they won’t have to cope with a finicky temporary crown that can come off at an inconvenient time.
The restorations look and feel completely natural, and E4D’s digital precision produces a strong, perfectly comfortable fit.
 

How Does E4D Technology Work?
Using digital dentistry and the CAD/CAM technology of the Planmeca PlanScan E4D, Dr. Kingston can complete most crowns in a single office visit of about two hours.
Planmeca E4D System
The Planmeca E4D System includes the PlanScan intraoral tool, CAD digital design software and the 3D PlanMill used to fabricate the crown
Once a tooth has been prepared for the crown, a digital scan of the tooth is made and a digital model of the patient’s mouth is created using PlanScan’s software. The crown is designed on the computer in a matter of minutes. Then, using a state-of-the-art on-site mill, the crown is formed from a solid block of porcelain. Any adjustments are made and the crown is ‘fired’ in the sintering oven and finished. The restoration is then bonded to the tooth and the patient is ready to leave.
Patients have about a 45-50 minute break after the scanning is complete while the crown is being designed and fabricated. During this time, they have the opportunity to watch TV, read a book, or just close their eyes and relax.
 

Patient Response
Since incorporating this technology into the office in the fall of 2014, Dr. Kingston has completed numerous restorations and the patient response has been enthusiastic. The technology offers more precise control for Dr. Kingston than an off-site lab, and the custom restorations are producing beautiful, natural smiles.
Dr. Kingston and the Healthy Smiles Dental team continue to strive to offer more efficient and convenient ways to improve patient experience. In today’s economy, people sometimes struggle to find time for two trips to the dentist. For those busy patients, as well as for those whose anxiety over making a trip to the dentist has led them to delay treatment, same-day restorations using E4D technology has been an excellent solution.