Providing low-cost and high-quality dental care services to the underserved populations of Alabama is no easy task. Yet the Foundry Dental Center has taken on the challenge with unyieldingly commitment.
The community clinic operates in partnership with the Foundry Rescue Mission and Recovery Center, running a tight schedule to see up to 60 patients on a daily basis. To ensure no patient is turned away, Executive Director Dr. Michael McCracken, DDS, recruits the help of local dental professionals and residency students.
When Dr. McCracken noticed patient dental exams were being bogged down by lengthy film processing times, he searched for a solution to increase the clinic’s efficiency. After discussing options with his peers in the dental community, the answer was clear: digital radiography.
Turning to Schick
With film-based X-rays, each clinic appointment was at the mercy of development time. If the team needed to retake a film to get a better angle, appointments were delayed. Adding to frustrations, the center’s outdated processors often broke down, which forced his volunteers and residents to dip each film by hand. Rather than continuing to readjust the appointment schedule, Dr. McCracken invested in Schick digital intraoral sensors.
With simple and easy sensor placement, dentists can capture high-resolution images in a matter of minutes. Schick’s unprecedented image management system and easy-to-use software enables dentists to adjust image clarity in order to provide a more accurate diagnosis.
“My peers recommended Schick sensors,” said Dr. McCracken. “Our dental volunteers shouldn’t have to spend so much time in the darkroom and our patients shouldn’t be left waiting. We needed to step up our capabilities as dentists and Schick’s digital sensors were the perfect solution.”
Saving Time and Achieving More
The Schick digital intraoral sensors enable Foundry Dental Center to expedite the entire appointment process and experience greater time savings.
Using two Schick sensors, a size 1 and a size 2, the clinic has shortened the time needed for basic dental exams and now fits even more appointments into the daily schedule. The immediacy of digital images also helps Dr. McCracken when performing surgeries. If he needs a last-minute X-ray during an implant procedure, he quickly captures the image without worrying about lengthening the surgery any further than needed.
With so many dentists and patients coming in and out of the busy clinic, having the X-rays saved digitally helps keep accurate patient records and dental history. Today, the dental team no longer needs to allocate extra time to fill out patient paperwork or locate earlier files, as the images are all centrally located on the computer.
“I’m surprised at how much more dentistry we can do with digital sensors,” said Dr. McCracken. “Our volunteers are always amazed that we have this kind of innovative technology at our community clinic. We’re ahead of the curve and our patients are benefiting greatly because we provide more accurate and timely treatment.”
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