Arizona's only dental school, the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ASDOH), has announced a partnership with NextGen Dentistry to become the first dental practice in the United States to employ an operational system that will use technology to treat more effectively dental and oral health disease.
"Last weekend, we were making dentures for victims of Hurricane Katrina; now, we are announcing this groundbreaking partnership," said ASDOH Dean Jack Dillenberg, D.D.S. "These actions are in direct alignment with our mission to promote the delivery of optimal patient care to populations in need and transfer newly acquired knowledge, skills, and technology to dentists and to the community."
The dental profession and communities across the U.S. will have an eye on ASDOH and Canadian innovator NextGen, based in Calgary, Alberta, as they work together to provide patients with information, convenience, and quality care.
The NextGen operational system is designed to help dental professionals improve patient care by managing professional liability and time while maximizing efficiency.
Prior to a patient's appointment, forms may be completed at the home or office using web templates that are customized to hold required demographic and historical information. ASDOH's clinic will benefit from a feature that allows fast production of graphically oriented letters for patients and referring colleagues that may be uploaded quickly with digital images, radiographs, and 3D treatment plans.
Patients have access to a library of multimedia presentations that clearly present dental information related to their care. Patient activity is tracked to the second and placed in the database, which ensures up-to-date information.
"By providing the facts and concepts unique to each patient, it allows you to encourage them to proceed with optimum treatment," said NextGen CEO Mark Genuis, Ph.D.
Another groundbreaking feature is On Demand Collaboration, which allows the dental professional to easily convene with colleagues on cases using digital images, digital radiographs, 3D treatment plans, and a dictation function.
NextGen's Real Time Collaboration feature enables dental professionals to discuss and consult via web conference while viewing the same patient record simultaneously.
NextGen's technology package is guaranteed for access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
