| Shaun Keating CDT + Dr. Donald Fowkes DDS |
Dr. Donald Fowkes DDS joins us this week after 10 years of dental partnership and collaboration crafting over 3,500 successful restorations together with virtually no remakes. Dr. Fowkes discusses his experience with using the CEREC CAD/CAM system for creating in-house restorations and why he ended up selling this system.
Digital Dentistry
Dr. Donal Fowkes has used the CEREC CAD/CAM system designed specifically for dental practices. This system consists of multiple computer technology components and machinery including a digital scanner, design station, milling machine, and sintering. Scanning is easy with Cerec Omnicam but is bulkier than the other leady scanner brands. Computer Assisted Design (CAD) portion is done on an all-in-one computer unit that has the scanner attached. The milling unit has numerous setback that includes time consumption and the number of crowns that can be milled at once.
In conclusion, digital scanning with Cerec Omnicam scanner is efficient and precise for capturing digital impressions of the mouth. The scanner handle is a bit larger than leading brands but still usable. After 2 years of using Cerec CADCAM system, Dr. Fowkes ended up selling his whole Cerec system due to the lack of efficiency and end result quality. Since creating realistic looking teeth is much more difficult than expected, Dr. Fowkes realized he could not hand these tasks off to his assistant and get the desired results. This made the process more hands-on for Dr. Fowkes as he became his own technician. “I was finding myself using the more expensive blocks with better shading and then custom stain and glazing. I just found that I was doing a much more lab tech work than I was dentistry.”- Dr. Fowkes
Offering Affordable Dentistry
Above is a before and after case worked on with Dr. Fowkes. As you can see tooth there is significant crowding around tooth #7. Although Dr. Fowkes explained the best treatment plan would be to go see an orthodontist, the patient was limited on funds to afford this type of treatment. In the end, Dr. Fowkes prepped #7 and used a Keating-crafted veneer to bring the tooth more facial.
You may also want to watch: Using CAD/CAM Technology For Dental Restorations
Organic Online Reviews
Dr. Fowkes does not have a website nor does he own a social media account like Facebook or Yelp. Due to their outstanding experience with their passionate and caring dentist, they have created Facebook and Yelp pages. Not only did they create social media accounts, but they review and check-in regularly on his pages. He is ranked one of the top dentists on Yelp in his area. This was all done without spending a single dollar on marketing.
Dr. Fowkes and His Family
