8 ways to Improve your Dental Practice with Virtual Reality
Patient education is paramount in establishing trust and confidence between dentists and their patients. Virtual reality in dentistry was created to enhance this relationship by providing more meaningful information.
Focusing on customer service matters, so practices need to provide superior dental customer service and the trust of patients.
Working hard to acquire new patients, but failing to implement existing retention programs is like trying to fill a pool with a hole.
For successful practices, patient retention matters as much as patient acquisition. So dental practices continuously strive at creating a culture of patient loyalty.
In order to build this culture, practices need to offer a positive patient experience with rich engagement, this ultimately increases production.
Augmented & Virtual Reality in the healthcare market is expected to be a staggering 37 million VR devices in use by the end of 2020 and the VR industry will reach a huge $ 30 billion sector by 2020 with an expectation of over 135 million VR headsets in regular use by 2025.
Traditionally, dentists have used 2D images to diagnose and plan your dental treatments, this can be time-consuming and sometimes difficult to understand. Now, with virtual reality in dentistry, you can visualize your oral scans in a 3D virtual environment providing a better understanding of your patient’s condition.
Viewing the scan in virtual reality offers dentists a more accurate representation and provides assistance in planning your treatment needs.
What is Virtual Reality?
Virtual Reality” target=”_blank” is a computer-generated environment that presents a 3D landscape for the user to explore and interact with. You are completely immersed in the environment and can perform actions as well as manipulate objects. Turn your head or move your eyes and your landscape shifts with you!
Imagine relaxing on the beach on a sunny day and enjoying the cool ocean breeze passing over you, while somewhere in the distance you can vaguely remember that you are also having a cavity filled. It is possible, with virtual reality in dentistry!
Here are 8 ways virtual reality in dentistry could improve your dental practice business!
1. Relaxation
In the old days, the dentists offer sedation medication for patients that feel anxious in the chair, now, many dentists offer a tech-savvy alternative to pharmaceuticals. The patient wears virtual reality headsets programmed to “transport” patients to a relaxing scene, helping them harness the power of the mind.
This builds tranquil 3D environments that can replicate the experience of sitting next to the ocean or lying beneath a starry sky. A sensor even detects your heart-rate, which is interpreted as a measure of your current state of relaxation.
2. Pain Management
Distraction from discomfort as well as a distraction from a group dentists hovering over your patients’ chair– is hugely effective in reducing any perception of discomfort or pain. Becoming completely immersed in a new, tranquil environment allows the patient to ‘escape’ his or her current reality by focusing on an environment that is more ideal. Research has proven virtual reality in dentistry to be quite effective in managing pain.
3. Simulate Your Ideal Office Design
Imagine being able to go for a walk through your dental office.
The latest virtual reality in dentistry technologies will immerse you in a virtual environment that represents real life and makes you feel as though you’re truly exploring your dream practice. Design choices, which can all be changed at the push of a button, include building dimensions and layouts, specific equipment and technologies, and even color finishes on floors, furniture, and wall coverings.
This experience offers the advantage of allowing patients to make the right decisions then and there at very low costs, compared to when space has already been built.
4. Demystify Dental Procedures for Patients
There are many VR technologies that can help improve your dental practice and demystify dental procedures for your patients. One of them is Patterson’s CAESY Cloud – it educates and informs your patients more effectively.
This type of program demystifies medical processes that would otherwise be abstract for the average patient, granting them a meaningful understanding of the way their bodily systems function. Patients could learn why they feel the way they feel when they have a toothache, what would happen during the treatment process, and how the suggested care would alleviate their symptoms.
5. Have Equipment Repairs Diagnosed Remotely
It would be nice to reduce service calls in the office, as well as the downtime that occurs when a machine is in ruins.
Augmented and virtual reality in dentistry was created with the use of the smart glasses that gives lab technicians visual instructions for performing maintenance tasks. If the user needs to press a particular button on a machine, or clean a specific area, the machine through the glasses, will provide instruction.
6. Increase Your Empathy for Patients
Author F. in his Motivational Interview in Dentistry book, quotes, “A good patient is one to whom the dentist can relate to; A bad one is one to whom he’s not able to relate to. It is up to the dentist to adapt his personality to the patient.”
The best dental care stems from good communication between patient and practitioner, and the best communication requires the underlying concept of empathy. Not only does finding empathy with patients help them feel understood and respected, establishing this connection will allow you to form a consensus on treatment options, and increase patient compliance with their treatment plan.
7. Perform Virtual Robotic Dentistry
Taking this one step further, virtual robotic surgery allows surgeons to operate on patients in a different location.
As continues to grow both in terms of scope and success, it is a clear possibility that in the coming years we could see the widespread adoption of virtual robotic dentistry. This type of treatment could prove particularly useful for patients in rural areas, patients in nursing homes, and others without access to more traditional care.
8. A natural Cure for Dental Anxiety
When you can choose your new surroundings, dental care becomes an adventure!
It was discovered through research that the benefits of VR in health care were proven in several ways to effectively treat anxiety during medical treatment.
One of the most challenging aspects of virtual reality in dentistry is the management of child behavior. Anxiety is often manifested by children during dental appointments and may represent a challenge in the dental surgeon’s clinical practice. Thanks to the virtual reality distraction system that can reduce anxiety in dental procedures.
Do you have confidence in this technology, and look to “virtually transform” your practice in virtual reality in dentistry? Let us know.
If you would like to know more about virtual reality in dentistry and how it can improve your dental practice we’re always happy to help. We are available 24/7.
Conclusion
Virtual Reality in Dentistry is here to stay. Dentists need to proactively adopt these innovations in technology to stay competitive in this market. Dental practices can slowly start adapting virtual reality to enhance their patient experience and ultimately increase production.