You have a brand new same-day Cerec Machine in your practice, what benefits does it give to your patients?
The benefit for our patients is that they only need to come in for one visit for a crown here at Channon Lawrence Dental Centre.
The big advantage for anxious patients we only need to supply one local anesthetic and they don’t need to take multiple days off work and have less organizing around the appointment. Before the same-day Cerec we had to send models away for the crown to be made and the patient would need to come back to the clinic on another day for fitting.
This new same-day Cerec has an impression-less technique so that means it take less time and therefore we can do the procedure a lot more efficiently.
The machine has had some skeptics in the past about the quality that it turns out, but I believe from many years of experience it makes you a better clinician which means we are able to perform more accurate work.
I personally feel that the patient actually gets a better quality result of a restoration compared to the average run of the mill restoration or how we used to do things in the past.
How do your patients typically feel after they have a restoration procedure done?
We always get our patients to check the feel and the bite and show them the before and after effects of what we have done, so they understand the differences. So, we create something within a 1.5 to 2 hour appointment that turns a pretty average looking tooth into something that looks stunning.
I find they can then feel the difference and often I will see their confidence grow. With only the one anesthetic administered it wears of before they head home, often with very little discomfort.
It is cutting edge dental technology. We find a lot of patients like cutting edge stuff, in this day and age where everyone's internet savvy. They know that digital is the future of everything and this is digital dentistry at its best. The laser machine we have is the latest software for taking digital scans which means we can perform very high-quality work, efficiently and effectively.
What type of people come in for a restorative tooth service?
Our Cerec Machine works well for patients that have had either really old amalgam work done which are those old silver fillings you see. The typical case we see here is where the tooth is cracked and failing.
It also works well for patients that have had resin work, where the tooth is pushing the boundaries with its lack of strength. In these cases, the resin has actually failed so we have to upgrade the work so to speak, into something stronger.
The great thing is that by using our digital SLR cameras or intra oral cameras, we can show the patient the cracks within the tooth and the failing restoration, not just using x-rays. That means the patient really understands what needs to be fixed and the value of the procedure and they get to see the finished result.
Tell us a little about yourself and where we can generally find Dr Mark Cull when he’s not at Channon Lawrence Dental Centre?
Well a lot of people would say that I'm extremely driven. I like to be the forefront of the industry as I am constantly learning the latest techniques and technologies and applying them in my work, always on dental chat groups and going to study clubs.
I really love to push the boundaries in all aspects of my life, not just dentistry, I really like challenges, so I do a lot of mountain bike, road cycling and a little bit of triathlon training. I really love the fitness aspect of it all as well as the team work, we generally have a big group of people riding together and encouraging each other.