Touro Dental Health, the 115-chair clinical training facility of the Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM), has opened a Complex Care Clinic to meet the needs of patients requiring more advanced dental treatment than typically can be provided by dental students.
The clinic brings together TCDM faculty from multiple dental specialties, along with dental students, who use the latest tools and techniques in digital dentistry to efficiently educate and manage patients requiring complex implants and restore their oral health, TCDM said.
Complex dental care delivered in a private practice environment traditionally requires dozens of steps and multiple appointments over the course of several months to years with outside referrals and visits to a variety of specialists, TCDM said.
The Complex Care Clinic, however, provides these services under one room with a team of experienced oral health professionals working together using digital advances to save patients significant time and cost, TCDM said.
Rather than charging a separate treatment fee for each specialist involved in the process, TCDM added, Touro Dental Health often can offer affordable rates that only an educational institution can provide.
“Some dental cases are beyond the ability of the undergraduate dental student. The Complex Care Clinic allows us to provide the highest level of service to Touro Dental Health patients, while providing a significant observational opportunity for students to learn,” said Edward F. Farkas, DDS, MA, vice dean at TCDM.
“Our new Complex Care Clinic centralizes a mix of specialists and provides them with more resources to work collectively. Our students will receive more robust training and be introduced to complicated cases while also learning how to work more strategically with other medical and dental professionals,” Farkas said.
Barbara Jurim, DDS, director of the Complex Care Clinic and assistant director of digital dentistry, leads the clinic along with Alan Jurim, DDS, director of digital dentistry, as well as a team of expert faculty including oral surgeons, prosthodontists, periodontists, lab technicians, and others involved in the treatment of complex cases, TCDM said.
Over the past four years in their private practice, the Jurims, a brother and sister dental team, have conducted research and development on a revolutionary digital approach that eliminates several steps in the treatment process that they say are susceptible to error, TCDM said.
“We use two different types of scanners to digitize the patient and, by capturing all this digital information, we’re able to immediately produce a prototype bridge design,” said Alan. “This speeds up the process, but at the same time, allows us to achieve a level of precision that is not possible with traditional techniques. The end result is a simplified process, more predictable results, and better outcomes for patients.”
“Few dental practices are equipped to provide this technology and care in one location, and it’s extremely rare for dental schools,” said Barbara. “The Complex Care Clinic will provide an unparalleled educational opportunity for our students while also providing a much needed service to our community.”
TCDM is currently in the final stages of adding a digital laboratory to its 37,000-square-foot dental teaching practice that will consolidate the school’s digital technologies into one place including 3-D printers, intraoral scanners, CAD/CAM technology, and milling machines designed to cut crowns, bridges, and more at high speeds.
“Same day dentistry is not traditionally a concept embraced at dental schools, but as a new school with a vision for embracing the latest technologies, we’re now positioned to integrate same day dentistry techniques, prosthesis design, and the manufacturing of restorations on site,” said Farkas. “The results will be very beneficial for both our students and our patients.”
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