The Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine has opened its Center for Implant and Digital Technology (CIDT), which will serve as a state-of-the-art space for digital dentistry-focused education, patient care, and research, according to the school.
“The center not only enhances patient care. It also invites invaluable training opportunities for the next generation of dental medicine leaders,” said Stony Brook University interim president Michael Bernstein, PhD, MPhil, MA, adding that the training will include high-tech, collaborative research.
In 2017, the American College of Prosthodontists selected the school as one of five academic institutions nationally to pilot a digital dentistry curriculum. Now that the curriculum is fully implemented, students will have full access to the center’s CAD/CAM technology as well as hands-on training in the most current care options, the school said.
As Long Island’s largest oral healthcare provider, the School of Dental Medicine services 15,000 patients in the community. These patients now will benefit from the efficiencies of CAD/CAM treatment instead of relying on impression trays and other analog techniques.
Crowns and bridges now can be completed onsite in less than 24 hours thanks to the use of noninvasive intraoral scanners. Dental practitioners take data from these scanners and then design and 3-D print or mill dental restorations for delivery to the patient.
“I believe that through digital dentistry, I can make a difference in treating patients with craniofacial anomalies,” said student Shradha Duggal, who is studying the use of 3-D printed prosthetic devices to correct defects of the lip and palate more efficiently and comfortably.
Other research projects at the school include the generation of data that will be used to improve the design and performance of dental implants and the review of data acquisition and processing. Each project is expected to impact patient care directly.
“This new center will allow for transformational research by clinicians and students, and it will improve patient care through the use of digital scans and 3-D printing,” said Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, senior vice president of health sciences and dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine.
The CIDT is one of many recent infrastructure developments recently completed or launched at the School of Dental Medicine, according to the school, including the expansion and update of an endodontic suite and a modernization of clinical bays.
“The School of Dental Medicine is constantly improving its educational, patient care, and research spaces to better support its mission,” said dean Mary R. Truhlar, DDS. “The addition of the Center for Implant and Digital Technology is an investment in our present and our future.”
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