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A practical guide for associates
Digital first: getting started
How to make the scanner your first investigation at every check-up, and let better-planned care follow.
Scanning first changes what you see, and what patients choose
Most practices own an intraoral scanner, but most use it to make things: an aligner, a crown. Digital-first practices use it to find things, at every appropriate check-up, so change can be seen and compared over time.
Analogue firstEye, probe and notes. Treat when something breaks. Scan only to make the restoration.
Digital firstScan at the check-up. See change with the patient. Plan early. Make it chairside where indicated.
In a University of Manchester study of 97 UK dentists, accepted for publication in the British Dental Journal, a structured 12-month programme coincided with:
10% → 80%dentists scanning at routine check-ups
0.1 → 3.5routine scans per working day
2 → 4aligner cases a month (median)
These rose together; the study does not prove one caused the other. Dentists on 15-minute check-ups found it hardest, which is why this guide starts small.
Five principles that make the habit stick
- Scan first.The scan is part of the examination, not something reserved for aligner enquiries.
- Verify before you discuss.Scan findings prompt clinical checks. Only verified findings are shared with the patient.
- See it together.Turn the screen. Let the patient see their own teeth; the image explains what words cannot.
- Plan before failure.Monitoring is a valid outcome. Where treatment is indicated, plan it earlier and more conservatively, often by quadrant.
- Measure the habit.Count routine scans each day. What you measure grows.
Your first 30 days
Week 1
Set up
Agree the routine with your nurse and practice manager. Scan heavily restored patients at check-ups: aim for one or two a day.
Week 2
Show and say
Turn the screen for every scan. Use the traffic light: stable, to discuss, at risk.
Week 3
Compare
Rescan returning patients and compare. Book a longer discussion separately for anything amber or red.
Week 4
Plan by quadrant
Group findings into quadrant plans, with monitoring offered alongside treatment.
Start within your existing check-up
Begin with the appointment you already have. Allow extra time for clinical verification and discussion where needed; scan where it is clinically appropriate, not as a target for every patient.
- Your nurse takes the scan while you review the history, if the practice allows.
- You verify anything the scan shows with a clinical check.
- Turn the screen and walk the patient through it in under a minute.
- Give each finding a traffic-light rating and record it.
- For anything amber or red, book a separate, longer discussion rather than rushing it.
Words that keep it a conversation, not a sales pitch
"Can I show you what the scan picked up today?"
"This area is stable. We'll compare it at your next visit."
"This cusp has changed since last time. Here are your options, including keeping an eye on it."
One scan opens the whole digital workflow
Once the scan is routine, the rest of the digital workflow has a natural place:
Scan and seeRoutine scans, compared over time.
RestoreIndirect restorations designed and printed chairside where indicated, often in one visit.
AlignAligners to improve position before restoration, so less tooth is removed.
ReplaceLong-term planning that includes implants where clinically indicated.
Why patients say yes
Patients make better-informed choices when they can see their own teeth, need fewer visits and understand the fee.
They see it themselves
Their own teeth, on screen
A patient looking at their own cracked cusp, compared with last year, understands in seconds what no explanation achieves.
Fewer visits
Often done the same day
Restorations designed and printed chairside can be fitted in one visit. One practice moved to a single 90-minute visit per quadrant instead of two.
A fairer price
Indirect quality, close to filling prices
With material costs of about £6–10 a unit, practices have priced printed onlays at £199–299, against about £600 when lab-made.
Care before failure
Prevention they can follow
Change is tracked between visits, so monitoring is a real option and treatment comes before a tooth breaks.
What practices noticed
- Older patients who already paid for private health screening welcomed data-led, preventive dentistry from their own dentist.
- At a start-up offering same-day emergencies with a full digital examination, three-quarters or more went on to planned treatment.
- At an acquired practice, demand for comprehensive care now exceeds capacity.
Reported by the practices; anonymised.
The numbers: what it did for three practices
Three very different practices, the same system, 12 months each.
| Mature practice | Acquisition | Start-up |
|---|
| Routine scans | 0 → 3–4 a day | 0 → 10 a day | Every emergency scanned |
| Restorations | 15 → 80 a month | ~80 → 170+ a month | 120+ a month, same day |
| Fee per unit | £600 → £250–299 | ~£700 → ~£350 | £199 |
| Aligners | 1 → 4 a month | none → 150+ a year | 100+ in year one |
| Implants | — | ~4 → 30+ a month | 150+ in year one |
| Headline | ~3× kept a month | Revenue and team doubled | ~£135k a month |
Why the maths works
Printed restorations cost a fraction of a laboratory fee, so a lower price still leaves a healthy margin, and the lower price lets patients say yes to whole quadrants rather than single teeth. In the mature practice, what was kept each month before chair time and staff rose from about £7,100 to about £21,500.
And across 97 dentists
In the University of Manchester study, median aligner cases rose from 2 to 4 a month and median restorative lab activity from £2,414 to £8,700 a month, alongside routine scanning. These rose together; the study does not prove one caused the other.
Practice figures as reported by the practices. Your results will depend on your patients, diary and fees.
Clinical safeguards
- The scan is an adjunct to clinical examination, never a replacement.
- Discuss only findings you have verified clinically.
- Monitoring is always offered where it is a reasonable option.
- Follow each material's stated indications for printed restorations.
- Record the findings, options discussed and the patient's decision.
Track your first month
| Week | Routine scans | Shown to patient | Compared with a previous scan | Plans made |
|---|
| 1 | | | | |
| 2 | | | | |
| 3 | | | | |
| 4 | | | | |
Next steps
Take the 60-second self-check and read how three very different practices went digital first at digitalfirstdentistry.com.