Periodontal surgery can be essential in treating oral disease that goes below the gumline, but the very thought of going through such a procedure puts off patients who would greatly benefit from it. Luckily, Michelle and Lacy were able to chat with two hygienists who have firsthand experience with a tool that can make at least some of those surgeries unnecessary.

 

Nicole Fortune is a dental hygienist and marketer for Champlain Periodontal in South Burlington, VT who assists with many surgical and non-surgical oral procedures. Frances Tryon is a trainer at OraVu, which manufactures its own dental endoscope along with other tools that can be used to deeply clean the root of oral disease without necessitating surgery.

 

In this episode, Nicole and Frances lay out the benefits that dental endoscopes provide, take a VERY close look at periodontal surgery, and explain what it takes to train people on endoscope operation.

 

 

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

 

Interview starts: 8:12

 

- What exactly is a dental endoscope, what can it do that basic oral examination can’t, and how has it evolved over the years?

 

- Nicole and Frances relate their own experiencing using endoscopes and why they believe they’re beneficial.

 

- Getting into the nitty-gritty of traditional periodontal surgery and understand why professionals view endoscopic surgery as the preferred alternative.

 

- Exactly how portable is endoscopic technology, and Frances prefers to train people one-on-one in its usage.

 

- How long does it take to train somebody on a dental endoscope?

 

- The tricky task of navigating dental implants while using an endoscope.

 

 

QUOTES:

 

“It’s really not new technology—it’s just better technology now.”

 

“To me, fractures in the tooth is like the black hole of dentistry.”

 

“Patients want more options—minimally invasive and predictable.”

 

“Our job is to find the tool that will do the least amount of harm but gets us the maximum amount of benefit to the patient.”

LINKS:

 

OraVu homepage - https://oravu.us/

 

Frances’ email: [email protected] 

 

Nicole’s homepage - https://nicolefortunerdh.com/

 

Nicole’s email: [email protected]

 

 

Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episode!

 

Be sure to thank the sponsor for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences!

 

THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state.

Go here to take the test and get your CE credit!

 

A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/  

 

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AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca