TRIOS 4: Going Beyond the Restorative Workflow
Easy-to-use intraoral scanner goes beyond the restorative workflow—offering applications for enhanced diagnostics, visual patient monitoring, and greater case acceptance
Every dentist can relate to that “aha” moment when he or she realizes that the old ways of doing dentistry just aren’t working anymore. For Dr. Naren Rajan, it was while doing a full-arch case on one of his patients with a severe phobia of impression material. No matter how many techniques the dental team tried, they could not keep the material in his mouth for more than 10 seconds. Eventually, an anesthesiologist needed to be called in so the patient could be sedated.
“It’s very difficult to do restorative procedures under IV sedation because the patient is not intubated,” said Dr. Rajan. “You have to be very careful, for example, that there is not any water going into the patient’s throat that might cause spasms of the vocal chords.”
Faced with the reality of needing to sedate this patient—and perhaps other patients with similar phobias or gag reflexes—every time treatment was needed, Dr. Rajan decided the only logical solution was to invest in a digital intraoral scanner. After looking at virtually every option on the market, he chose the 3Shape TRIOS, feeling it was head-and-shoulders above the other options in terms of its usability and image quality.
But what began as a vehicle to help Dr. Rajan drive restorative treatment has evolved into an essential tool for diagnosis and patient education. When he first implemented TRIOS in his practice in 2015, he was primarily using it to scan patients and send impressions to the lab for restorative cases. Now, intraoral scans are the starting point for every patient who enters his office.
Creating Transparency Around Treatment
Decades ago, it might have been the norm for patients to simply listen to their doctor and accept a treatment recommendation at face value. However, society has changed. Thanks to technology, many of today’s patients need to see things to believe them. “We use TRIOS to create transparency and co-diagnosis with our patients, and as a way to earn their trust,” said Dr. Rajan. “Once we are able to establish trust with patients, more often than not, we get better treatment acceptance and informed consent. It has really elevated the level of practice that we can offer.”
Using TRIOS Patient Monitoring, Dr. Rajan can display data from two or more intraoral scans on a monitor in the operatory to help show patients, for example, that their recession is related to grinding their teeth. “We’ve had a lot of ‘aha’ moments with patients using this visual monitoring feature as a diagnostic and discovery instrument,” he shared.
As time goes on, Dr. Rajan predicts there will be even more ways to interpret the data within these powerful intraoral scans. “The digital impression aspect of scanning with TRIOS is only one piece of the puzzle,” he said. “The real benefit comes from combining the scanner with these additional software features. That’s where the real functionality is, and how you can ensure you’re getting the most value out of your equipment.”
3 Reasons to Get Excited about TRIOS Scanning Software
1. Patient Monitoring—Scan every patient to accurately track their changes over time, then share this visual monitoring with patients for faster case acceptance
2. Smile Design—Take a photo of a patient, design their new smile, and then send them the photorealistic simulation via the my3Shape mobile app
3. Patient Specific Motion—Send video output of a patient’s mandibular movements to the lab for a better-fitting restoration with fewer postop chairside adjustments
