Podcast: What dental practices need to know about the digital workflow

During a recent episode of the DrBicuspid.com podcast, I sat down with Dr. Meredith Gantos to talk about digital workflow and what she believes dental practices need to know about the term and its actual meaning for their businesses in 2025 and beyond.

Dr. Meredith Gantos.

"One is it just really increases the precision and the efficiency of what we do," Dr. Gantos said. "And, as we know, dentistry and running a practice, it's difficult enough. We don't have to add more variables to it. So anything that we can do to help serve more patients with more predictable results and also increase the fun in the office while building opportunities for people to continue to advance is great."

"Because that's always a challenge -- how do we create a culture and a team of people that want to be there and can grow with that office? It has to be more than wrapping cassettes."

That motivation, Dr. Gantos said, is important in today's world where so many practices are trying to make sure their team members want to stay with their practice for the foreseeable future.

"So what can we do to keep motivating people and getting them engaged? With digital dentistry, the kind of analogy I always like to share with people, it's kind of like in dental school, you're taught color by numbers and you're coloring in the lines and it works, right? And you make your beautiful pictures and you hang them on the refrigerator. But with the digital workflow, for me, was really like someone handed me a blank canvas and oil paints and saying, 'Hey, have at it'," Dr. Gantos said.

As a part of our talk, Dr. Gantos (whom you can learn more about) discussed the importance of a digital workflow in dental practices and shared her passion for cosmetic dentistry, digital workflows, and sedation dentistry. She highlighted how digital dentistry increases precision, efficiency, and patient satisfaction.

Dr. Gantos emphasized the need to create a team culture that embraces digital technology and motivates team members to grow and learn. She also discussed the importance of investing time in training and calibration sessions to ensure a seamless workflow. Finally, Dr. Gantos recommended leaping digital workflows and advised dental professionals to start small and gradually incorporate digital technologies into their practice.

You can find our entire interview, sponsored by A-dec, below. You can learn more from A-dec by visiting the company's resource center.