A Time for Reflection

With the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, the practice of dentistry has somewhat returned to established norms, in-person education and other opportunities are getting back up to speed, and it's hard to believe that the holiday season is already here and another year is coming to an end. For many, this is a time for family and reflection about our lives. For Inside Dentistry, this is a time for reflection about the past year of the profession with our annual trends in dentistry issue.

In 2022, technology adoption is back on the rise. The percentage of dentists responding to our annual readership survey who reported devoting 15% or more of their yearly practice budget to purchasing new technology dipped from 56% in 2019 to 53% in 2020 and 47% in 2021; however, it is back up to 55% in this year's survey. Notably, the percentage of respondents who indicated that they use digital impression systems jumped by almost 10% from 43% in 2021 to 52% in 2022. This is understandable given the many advantages of intraoral scanners. Although for certain procedures, such as marginating veneers in the esthetic zone, dentists may still prefer to use a double cord-packing technique with traditional impression materials, the use of intraoral scanners can improve the accuracy, predictability, and efficiency of placing many types of restorations. Moreover, many of the latest iterations of these devices include other useful features, such as the ability to capture intraoral color images and caries detection technologies.