Digital technologies are expanding the role of routine dental hygiene appointments while connecting clinical workflows across dental practices. Advances in intraoral scanning, cloud-based software, and artificial intelligence (AI) are creating opportunities for earlier identification of oral health concerns, more informed patients, and improved collaboration among dental professionals.
During Dentsply Sirona World 2026, leaders and experts from the company’s digital technology division discussed how these technologies are moving beyond individual diagnostic and treatment applications to become part of integrated systems that support patient care from preventive visits through restorative and specialty procedures.
Giorgio Cremaschi, Vice President, Essential Dental Solutions at Dentsply Sirona, said digital technologies are enhancing the traditional role of dental hygiene appointments by improving clinicians' ability to detect, monitor, and communicate oral health conditions.
"When the patients can really see what the dental hygienist sees in their mouth, that's when the conversations with the patient become easier," he noted.
Transforming Patient Communication
Advances in digital scanning have made intraoral images more realistic and recognizable to patients. When clinicians explain oral health conditions using representations of the patients' own dentition rather than generic models, the discussion becomes more engaging, while clinical assessments and treatment recommendations hold more weight, said Dentsply Sirona connected technology specialist Raina Martin, MS, RDH, OMT. She describes the resulting digital representation as a "digital twin" that patients can relate to and better understand their oral health.
"It really becomes a moment of aha, that's me," Martin said.
According to Martin, combining digital scans with photographs, educational videos, and other information allows hygienists to tailor conversations to individual patients. The technology also enables patients to review information after leaving the dental office, potentially improving their understanding of recommended treatment and preventive measures.
The ability to compare scans from successive appointments represents another opportunity for enhanced preventive care.
Cremaschi explained that longitudinal comparisons can help clinicians demonstrate changes that might otherwise appear insignificant to patients. By displaying images from visits 6 or 12 months earlier, hygienists can illustrate how a condition has progressed and discuss the potential need for intervention.
Martin emphasized that hygienists are particularly well positioned to introduce these technologies because they frequently establish the initial relationship with patients and can collect digital information during routine preventive appointments.
The resulting scans can subsequently support conversations with dentists and other team members, reducing the need to repeat data collection when patients proceed to additional treatment.
Connecting Clinical Workflows
Beyond the operatory, Dentsply Sirona is expanding its DS Core cloud-based platform to connect clinical information, imaging, restorative workflows, and communication among dental professionals.
Senior Director, Global Head of DS Core at Dentsply Sirona Dr. Wolf-Dieter Perlitz described ongoing efforts to improve the platform's usability and expand its capabilities, including developments intended to support an increasingly complete digital workflow for CEREC restorations.
Perlitz explained that cloud connectivity is a component of connected technology, but it is not what truly powers connected dentistry. Instead, the cloud helps by eliminating technical bottlenecks associated with local computing systems while providing greater flexibility in accessing clinical information. The connections between technologies are the key, but a cloud-based solution increases the efficiency and reach of a connected dental platform.
“The sooner you start working on the cloud, the sooner you are unlocking the possibility to use this very rich repository of media also for future use cases," he said.
The platform supports information exchange with dental laboratories, specialists, and other technology systems through an application programming interface (API). According to Johannes Krug, Vice President, Connected Technology Solutions at Dentsply Sirona, this approach allows partners to develop connections between their existing software and DS Core rather than requiring every participant in a workflow to use identical equipment.
The company is also working to integrate DS Core with practice management systems, allowing patient identification information to move between administrative and clinical applications. Krug emphasized that DS Core is not intended to replace existing practice management systems but to connect with them where appropriate.
Improving Team Coordination and Efficiency
Connected technology also has implications for communication among hygienists, dentists, dental assistants, and administrative personnel.
Martin explained that digital patient records can consolidate scans, images, educational materials, and treatment-related information, allowing other team members to access details documented during hygiene appointments.
"I can hand it off to the dentist. I can hand it off to the assistant, and I can even hand it off to the front desk," Martin said.
Such information sharing can reduce the need to repeat conversations and help team members coordinate appointments, treatment instructions, and follow-up care.
She emphasized that successful adoption requires more than purchasing equipment. Practices must establish when scanning should occur, determine how the technology fits within existing appointment structures, and provide staff with appropriate training.
Similarly, Krug identified staff training and ease of use as important considerations in expanding connected workflows. Dentsply Sirona is working toward greater consistency across its software applications so that clinicians and staff will not need to learn substantially different processes for restorative, orthodontic, and implant workflows.
The Growing Role of AI
AI-supported clinical decision-making represents another focus of Dentsply Sirona's digital technology development.
Perlitz described applications that automatically highlight potential findings on CBCT scans, including periapical radiolucencies, as examples of how software can help clinicians identify areas requiring additional evaluation.
The company envisions expanding these capabilities while automating other elements of clinical workflows, including data transfers and restorative design proposals.
However, Krug emphasized that AI should support rather than replace clinical judgment. Clinicians will continue to evaluate findings and make decisions about proposed treatments.
"AI should be a tool supporting the decision maker, not taking away the decision," he explained.
Looking ahead, Cremaschi predicted that routinely scanning patients and comparing longitudinal records could become established components of dental appointments within the next 5 years. He also suggested that continued software development could help clinicians identify potential problems earlier, creating additional opportunities for preventive intervention.
"It will be probably, in one word, pre-active rather than reactive dentistry," Cremaschi said.
Martin emphasized that practices considering digital technology should focus on collecting useful clinical information and establishing workflows that can accommodate future developments.
The overall vision of the connected practice of the future is one in which digital information collected during preventive appointments supports clinical decisions, facilitates communication, and remains accessible throughout the patient's care.
Figures and Images
Giorgio Cremaschi, Vice President, Essential Dental Solutions at Dentsply Sirona (Left) and Dentsply Sirona connected technology specialist Raina Martin, MS, RDH, OMT (Right)
Johannes Krug, Vice President, Connected Technology Solutions at Dentsply Sirona
Senior Director, Global Head of DS Core at Dentsply Sirona Dr. Wolf-Dieter Perlitz
