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Vatech America’s Annual 3D Symposium

2019.11.07

Vatech America’s Annual 3D Symposium

 

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https://youtu.be/JATNYP24FgY

 

 

Vatech America hosted its 6th annual 3D Symposium at the Engel Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. This was a two-day event from Thursday, September 19th, to Friday, September 20th. The purpose of this event was to educate doctors on how they can provide better patient care, to showcase live guided surgeries, and to provide software education. Presenters included Dr. Todd Engel, Dr. Vijay Parashar, and our Vatech America Team.

 

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▲ The Engel Institute

 

The Engel Institute is located in a strip mall and the first thing you notice is the vibrant orange of their sign and inside décor. The institute provides post-graduate dental continuing education, giving doctors the knowledge to successfully incorporate implant dentistry into their practice. Dr. Todd Engel is a graduate of the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry who has been practicing for over 22 years. The Engel Institute was formed from Dr. Engel’s life-long dream of creating a learning institution where he could share, teach, and motivate other dental professionals. To date, he has performed about 2,000 oral surgeries, placed about 27,000 implants, and was the first person to perform a full arch guided surgery, in California, 12 years ago. 

Day 1 presentations consisted of effective case presentation, patient specific care, case acceptance, reading scans, and treatment planning. Dr. Engel’s fundamental approach to success comes from his understanding that all patients have some dignity and pride, that there must be effective communication between doctors and patients, and that doctors must understand their limitations. Part of his presentation was a role-play, where a doctor and “patient” (assistant) sat at the front of the room and started a conversation about getting to know each other. The doctor would ask questions so he could figure out why the patient chose him for the procedure, what ailments the patient had, etc., and Dr. Engel would step in to show us effective communication between doctor and patient. He also brought out actual patients to talk to us about case acceptance and what led them to choose Dr. Engel to be their practitioner. Both patients said the biggest reason they chose Dr. Engel was because of how comfortable they felt with him, even though it had not been long since they met him.

 

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▲ Live patient presentation including live guided surgery by Dr. Engel and tips for optimal scan reading.

 

Dr. Vijay Parashar is an oral and maxillofacial radiologist and is also a professor at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. He has interpreted over 7,000 cone beam scans and planned over 4,000 dental implants. His presentation was about obtaining and displaying the best scans and showed us a lot of scans backed up with snippets of research articles. Assistants/hygienists who usually do not have much of a chance to get hands-on training were given the opportunity to get some tips from Mr. Lennart Elgaard, our Director of Education, Jim Mayer, our Education Manager, and Mr. Alex Federal, our District Sales Manager of North Carolina and South Carolina. 

Day 2 presentations consisted of obtaining optimal CBCT images, software sessions, and live guided surgeries. Dr. Todd Engel had a few patients who were getting teeth extracted and implants put in. Doctors were able to stand in the room as Dr. Engel treated patients and also set up a camera and mic so doctors were able to observe via screens in the conference room. When the patient was done with the procedure, they came into the conference room to go over their post-op scans and to talk to doctors about why they chose the Engel Institute, specifically Dr. Engel, to handle their case. Doctors were able to ask any questions they wanted and most questions were about whether the patient was nervous for their procedure. Dr. Engel emphasized how important it is to understand the patient, and using his many years of experience and the DISC model (stands for Dominant, Inspiring, Cautious, and Supportive gauges a person’s behavior/personality traits), he successfully does so. 

 

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▲ Lennart Elgaard (left) and Dr. Vijay Parashar (right)                                        ▲ Jim Mayer (top) and an attending doctor going over our software.

 

Many attending doctors were very engaged and constantly asked questions about implant placement, optimal software use, and showed us that they value the dentist/patient relationship. Something that Dr. Engel recommends to doctors is to create a short three-minute video to showcase who they are. He believes that showing people that you are heartfelt about your work as a doctor, without getting dressed up and fancy, will bring up one’s value. 

This event would not have been possible without the help of the Engel Institute, the doctors and staff members in attendance, and our Vatech team- Thank you for helping us with another successful event. Be on the lookout for our 2020 3D Symposium!

 

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