Dental Sleep Medicine Insider September 2017 | Page 26
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Dr. GREGORY ROSS
INTERVIEWED BY
Brandie Havell
Senior Account Manager
[email protected]
877.95.SNORE
Brandie Havell: As an orthodontist,
what prompted you to get involved
in Dental Sleep Medicine?
Dr. Gregory Ross: Just seeing how
much better patient’s breathing
seemed to improve after expand-
ing narrow Maxillary arches in cross
bite. In addition, venous pooling
under the eyes would go away. It
made me realize there must really
be something to the classic articles
on Adenoid faces.
BH: You rely heavily on a digital
workflow in the DSM portion of your
practice. What was the genesis for
this?
DGR: I got involved with Invisalign
right as it came out in the early
2000’s. I thought moving teeth dig-
itally was pretty cool. I thought the
iTero scanner was really cool, espe-
cially when I could also scan for oth-
er orthodontics appliances, such as
retainers and expanders.
BH: How has digital positively im-
pacted the DSM facet of your prac-
tice? What are the cons to it?
DGR: As digital scans have improved
the fit of aligners, it has been good
and bad for oral sleep appliances
since they may fit too well. However,
the benefit of being able to send the
scans of the maxillary and mandib-
ular arches along with the working
position, without pouring, packing
and postage outweighs any little
extra time that may be needed for
relief of the appliance to fit.
BH: There are capital expenditures
associated with introducing digital
workflow. How would you respond to
a dentist that cites this as a reason
for not proceeding with it?
DGR: These days, a dentist has the
benefit of lower prices and better
equipment. With the affordability of
3D printers now, dentist will be able
to fabricates more sleep applianc-
es for their own patients. At some
point, you have to jump on the train
before it passes you by.
BH: What digital equipment do you
use for your OAT cases?
DGR: I have three itero scanners, a
3d printer and Orchestrate and Net
fab software. A good lab that ac-
cepts digital bites is a must, such as
Dynaflex.
BH: How has digital improved your
results? Predictability? Efficiency?
Other benefits?
DGR: Appliances do adapt well to
the teeth. This makes the predict-
ability of the appliances much bet-
ter. No worries about air bubbles
and voids. The scanner actual warns
you if you miss an area on the tooth.
Efficiency is the greatest aspect
of it, no pouring up models, pack-
ing them up and mailing them, just
a few minutes to upload a few files.
Also, patients love not have gooey
stuff in their mouth.