Title: Let me share my digital orthodontic path

Biography:

Dr. Emanuela Pierotti graduated from the University of Perugia in 2002 with a degree in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics. She obtained her specialization in Orthodontics at the University of Ferrara where she is currently a Visiting Professor.

Abstract

What does digital orthodontics mean in my professional life? Today it means working in a very different way. It means treating my patients having the end in the mind and being able to see the end of the treatment in advance. Has it been immediately simple? Obviously not! It needed a long learning curve to change my approach. First of all, I needed to understand how to use an intraoral scanner in my daily practice and I understood that it improved my practice and my patients’ satisfaction. Then I needed to understand how to manage the digital setup. The digital setup for me means aligners (Invisalign) and fixed appliances (Insignia)

I have my protocol to send a case and to review the case, and this is what I’d like to share because I have understood that if we plan the case well, if we can review the case quickly,...it’s a done deal and the chairtime will be greatly reduced.

How to send an orthodontic case: When we send a case we need to remember that we will have to interface with the technicians, so our treatment plan has to be very clear, with precise information. We have to ask ourselves how we want to solve the case in the 3D dimensions: transversal plane, anteroposterior plane, vertical plane.

How to review the case: When we review the case we need to: check that the technicians have correctly done the things we asked for, check the movements’ staging, make the macrochanges, make the microchanges. If I plan a case with Invisalign, I usually change the attachments to improve the predictability. If I have to treat a complex case, I plan to also use miniscrews to manage the case.