How KaVo handpieces allow this clinician to enjoy dentistry more

January 25, 2016

Terri Lively

Article

When Dr. Mark Hyman started using the KaVo MASTERmatic handpiece and short motor combination, he expected to enjoy all the innovative features of the equipment. What he didn’t expect was to enjoy dentistry more.

“There were so many different things that made it great - the smoothness of the cut and the preparation, as well as the predictability of the preparation. You also had a better experience with the patients because they weren’t jarred by an irregular cut. As a practitioner, you also had less hand fatigue,” Dr. Hyman explained. “So all that had a tremendous impact on enjoying what you’re doing and enjoying dentistry a whole lot more.”

Dr. Hyman started using electronic handpieces 10 years ago, and he described the difference to his practice as “stunning.” In a recent treatment, he needed to use an old handpiece to adjust something for a patient in one of his hygiene rooms and struggled with the cut and even the feel of the handpiece.

“I remember thinking, ‘How did I use this for so many years?’ So I have to admit, I’ve become spoiled,” he said.

Optimizing comfort and efficiency for your practice

The KaVo electric high speed handpieces were designed to maximize ergonomics and productivity for the clinician. Featuring KaVo’s unique Plasmatec coating and Triple Gear system, dentists enjoy all the power of other electric handpieces but with a quiet and low vibration function. Dr. Hyman appreciates these benefits, as well as KaVo’s commitment to innovation.

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“I thought the KaVo electric handpiece that I used several years ago was the best thing ever, and then they built an even better attachment - the MASTERmatic. I love the innovation, and I love to know that a company I’m working with is going to try continually to do something better,” he said.

In his family practice, he does a lot of cosmetic and reconstructive dentistry from kids to grandparents. The petite head on the MASTERmatic makes it easy to work on a patient with a smaller mouth (such as a child). The smaller head size and patented angle allow clinicians to work around different facial angles that are difficult or almost impossible to get to with a traditional handpiece.

Category cruncher: Handpieces

“The frustration for many dental practitioners occurs when you have to go so far back to get around a wisdom tooth or the distal of a 12-year molar and somebody has big cheeks,” Dr. Hyman said. “You work forever, bumping and cutting the cheek and then have trouble with your access and getting all the cavity out predictably.”

Dr. Hyman describes his handpiece as the workhorse generating the “bread-and-butter” dentistry of his practice. He appreciates how the design allows him to focus on his patients’ treatment instead of whether the handpiece performs. This benefit translates into increased efficiency for his practice, a metric that is critical for today’s clinician.

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“I’ve seen it estimated that you save 10 minutes per hour on the prep time. That’s 80 minutes per day,” he explained. “Look at what you’re doing per day and think about where else you’re going to get back an extra hour of time? I say this in my seminars to other professionals: All you have is time. If you invest in quality equipment, you get an hour more a day than some of our colleagues do.”

Delivering a better patient experience

Productivity and efficiency are not the only benefits of the handpiece for Dr. Hyman’s practice. His patients have a better experience, as well. More specifically, the handpiece reduces the jarring sensation and the whining sound other handpieces make. The patented angle means no more “open wide” and therefore better patient comfort.

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Using KaVo handpieces has helped Dr. Mark Hyman increase efficiency in his practice.

“In dentistry, we invade all five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste,” he said. “If you take each of those senses and enhance them, the patients have an extremely different experience.”

An investment that pays for itself starting Day One

Dr. Hyman recognizes clinicians today face a lot of tough purchasing decisions. From $100,000 CAD/CAM machines to $100,000 CBCT radiology advanced systems, it can seem an investment in a handpiece is just another way to spend more money on equipment. He argues the increases in practice efficiency and treatment outcomes result in the investment paying off starting Day One.

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“There’s a temptation to look at advancements in dentistry and say ‘Gosh, now I’ve got to pay for another thing.’ That’s not what the winners in dentistry do. They say, ‘Thank you very much for enhancing my career,’ ” he said. “I want folks to look at electric handpieces, in general, and KaVo, specifically, and say ‘Thank you for making it easier for me to knock it out of the park.’ ”

Dr. Hyman explained how the investment in the handpiece can pay for the more expensive equipment investments dentists may consider. Most dentists work around 200 days a year. If by gaining the extra hour each day with the efficiencies the handpiece provides translates to an extra $100 a day in treatment, the doctor gains $20,000 in revenue. That number can climb to hundreds of thousands of dollars if that additional hour yields an extra crown placement per day.

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Patient safety and comfort are just two of many benefits delivered when clinicians reach for KaVo handpieces in the operatory.

“Life is too short. I want people to love doing their dentistry. I want patients to have the highest quality dentistry and the highest quality experience,” Dr. Hyman explained. “If you can have an exquisite electric handpiece with a tinier head, less fatigue and more precise access to the tough angles, why wouldn’t you do it?”

Dr. Hyman believes investing in better equipment you use every day is an investment in your success.

“There are three magic words I learned from the Dale Carnegie organization, ‘Success leaves clues.’ Look at what the highly successful cosmetic restorative docs are doing throughout the United States. I can pretty much guarantee that 99.9 percent of them are using electric handpieces,” he said.

“And I bet most of them are using KaVo!” he added.