Why digital-first dentistry?
Digital-first dentistry is a concept that combines clinical and remote dentistry to create an easy and effective patient journey. In this blog post, we’ll explain how Nova is tackling some of the biggest issues patients face when it comes to dental treatment.
Access to dental care
Getting to speak to a dentist, for a lot of people can be a complete nightmare.
Even once you’ve managed to find a practice that is accepting new patients, you still need to call them, book an appointment and physically travel to the clinic before you can even start discussing your issues with a dentist. The whole process is inconvenient and with NHS practices becoming harder to get to due to COVID-19, it can also be quite costly.
The only other option people have to get help is to turn to Dr Google for advice. Searching the internet can be extremely helpful, but the vast amount of information can be overwhelming for people to understand. It’s also extremely generic and it can be hard to filter out what information is relevant to you.
A digital-first approach allows patients to access professional care instantly from their own homes. Using technology, a lot of dental issues can be seen, assessed and treated without the need to come into a clinic. Of course, this is not always going to be the case, you can’t fix a dying nerve remotely but speaking to a digital dentist will at least allow you to understand what is happening and how to manage the pain in the meantime. A digital dentist will be able to gather a detailed history and assessment so that when you do book in to see a dentist in person they will have a lot more information at hand and can prepare you for treatment straight away.
Digital dentists will also make it really easy to ask for help when it comes to the little things such as picking the right dental products and the little niggles here and there that you wouldn’t normally bother booking an appointment for.
Prevention and Maintenance
We all know that prevention is better than cure, but the way the dental industry is set up (NHS and private) means that dental professionals do not get incentivised to provide detailed, personalised preventative advice.
If you have had a filling in the past, did you receive a personalised diet analysis? Did your dentist watch you brush your teeth to make sure you were doing it properly? Are they check-in in with you to make sure you’re flossing regularly? Do you know exactly why you needed a filling and what you need to do to not need one again?
Of course not, dentists are extremely busy people and sadly preventative services are very time-consuming.
By blending clinical treatment and remote care, your clinical dentist can focus on providing you with the assessments and treatments that they are trained for whilst your digital dentist can take care of all the rest. Your digital dentist is free from the time pressures and can engage with you as much or as little as you need and spend time helping you develop the good habits you need to prevent dental issues from occurring in the first place. This can range from help with your diet, brushing techniques, stress management etc.
The future of dentistry
Digital-first dentistry is a no brainer. By delivering highly efficient personalised care, a digital dentist can help you reduce the amount of time you need to spend organising and attending dental appointments and needing preventable treatment.
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