Kid- & Eco-Friendly 3D Radiography
Myofocus is a unique practice that focuses mainly on paediatric patients, offering only two specialized services: Laser frenectomies and myofunctional orthodontics. Its holistic approach to healthcare is centered on a sound nutritional environment, working in harmony with bodily elements like healthy breathing habits, excellent oral function, and efficient movement.
For founders Dr. Donny Mandrawa and Dr. Dan Hanson, this philosophy of maintaining optimal care and balance within the physical and external environment isn’t restricted to clinical aspects. It also played a decisive role in the choice of the clinic’s first CBCT machine
Vatech Green CT.
Discussing his motivations for selecting the Korean innovation, Dr. Mandrawa shares:
First and foremost, for us, is patient safety. For a practice that works with young patients including primary schoolers and teenagers we needed a very low dosage radiography machine that is safe for them, as well as for our staff.
Equally important factors are patient comfort and convenience. By locating the unit in-house, we wanted to offer a much more convenient service to patients, as they do not need to go back and forth between our practice and a radiology practice. The unit must also allow quick scans and flexible patient positioning without compromising image quality or patient comfort.
The Green CT precisely met all these requirements with the added advantage of being an eco-friendly machine that is designed for paediatric use, which perfectly aligns with our practice philosophy and target audience.
Vatech’s Green CT is touted as the world’s first dental imaging system that has less impact on patients and the environment. The eco-friendly label owes much to Vatech’s Green CT manufacturing process, which reduces hazardous materials and runs on renewable energy.
If protecting your patient’s health, while maintaining superior diagnostics, is a priority, the unit’s unique Fast Scan Ceph feature does not disappoint. The Fast Scan Ceph allows for a short 3.9 second scan time and high-quality images with low-dose x-rays. It also reduces distortion caused by patient movement, which is great for clinics, like Myofocus, that predominantly work with children.
Dr. Mandrawa added that With the Green CT, I can easily take 2D panoramic and cephalometric images that are extremely low in radiation, especially for children under 16 years of age. The images can immediately be integrated and stored within our dental practice management software (D4W) and our orthodontic management software. They allow for easy access and analyses in regards to digital radiographic tracing, assessment, diagnosing, treatment planning, and keeping periodic records of the patient as treatment progresses.
Although Green CT is the first 3D radiography unit that Dr. Mandrawa has ever worked on, it hasn’t stopped him from getting excellent results from the get-go.
Even for a novice like me, the Green CT is extremely easy to pick up: Patient positioning is logical, and it’s quiet during exposure while all the steps and settings make perfect sense. I have been using its 2D features often, to gather orthodontic records for patients who are considering orthodontic treatment it only takes around 5 minutes to take full orthodontic 2D radiographic images. I have also been using its 3D features for older patients who are 16 years of age and over.
Featuring Vatech’s proprietary small pixel sensor, the Green CT offers powerful diagnostic value with 3D images and flexible imaging with 5 FOV selections ranging from 5×5 to 15×15. By selecting the appropriate FOV size, you can view the optimal image size for your diagnostic needs, reducing unnecessary X-ray radiation for patients.
Beyond the specs sheet, Dr. Mandrawa emphasizes that the Green CT makes an all-around viable investment:
Not only are treatment plans much easier to formulate, due to software integration, but also cephalometric tracings are a breeze. Compared to the other practices that I operate from, having the unit at Myofocus has made it much faster for diagnoses and treatment planning of our patients, resulting in faster turnaround times between gathering of records and case presentation visits.
Locating the unit in-house, Dr. Mandrawa says that it has also made it more convenient for parents, as they do not have to travel between different locations for their children’s radiographic needs. Parents with young children know how cumbersome it can be getting them organized to travel from one place to another.
In addition to the low paediatric radiation dose setting, he loves the fact that the software is able to automatically detect the appropriate setting, based on the patient’s age and gender. As for ease of patient positioning, he adds that The unit is also height adjustable, and so there has not been an issue with our paediatric patients in regards to reach.
The unit’s 3D image clarity is put to great use with a flexible host of applications. For Dr. Mandrawa, it has even provided accurate diagnostic details to help unravel sleeping disorders.
Myofocus considers our patients holistically. We do assess, as much as possible, all aspects of each patient’s functional oral health, including their possible upper airway issues that may be linked to breathing and sleep disorders, which consequently may be linked to orofacial myofunctional dysfunctions, and dentofacial orthopaedic and orthodontic growth and development.
Being able to volumetrically measure the upper airway using the Green CT, along with recording the patient’s respiration rate and end-tidal level using our capnometer, we can deliver a much more comprehensive assessment and evaluation of each patient in their treatment planning and treatment progression.
Since the unit was purchased in November, Dr. Mandrawa says it’s still too early to provide a proper ROI assessment. Nonetheless, almost 6 months (at the time of writing) of operating the machine is enough for him to give a credible rating and strong endorsement.
I believe the Vatech Green CT is a compact and sleek machine that is very user-friendly with a software interface that is very easy to navigate. Although this is my first CBCT and I have little basis for comparison with other makes, I can safely say that it’s been a great buy.
For more information on the unique Myofocus clinic, visit www.myofocus.com.au. For more information on Vatech x-ray systems, including the Green CT, contact Vatech Australia via email at info@vatechanz.com.au
This article was originally published on Australasian Dentist.
