Becoming an advanced general practitioner – by Dr Alexandros Manolakis
2021 is Planmeca’s 50th anniversary. As part of the milestone year, we are publishing a series of articles written by our own specialists and by dental experts around the world. Dr Alexandros Manolakis is a second-generation dentist who has been working in the field for nearly 20 years. Together with his brother, he runs his own dental clinic in Thessaloniki, Greece. In this article, Dr Manolakis describes how he initially became interested in dentistry, why he went digital and what factors led him to use Planmeca equipment.
I was really sure I wanted to go to dental school, when I was 18. Growing up in a family where my father was a dentist, and my older brother is a dentist as well, I’m not really sure if it was entirely free will, but I certainly haven’t regretted my choice.
I like how dentistry combines medicine with hand skills and social interaction. It includes a lot of working on small details. This combination is unique to dentistry and I really enjoy it every single day. Dentistry has become my hobby and my profession! This can make a good work-life balance difficult sometimes.
I had the great opportunity to study dentistry in Germany. Attention to detail is an essential part of the German mentality and I really learned a lot from it. After graduating, I received postgraduate training in periodontology for two years.
I loved and still love dental surgery a lot. But after I returned to Greece, I started working with my brother Kleanthis and, although he had done postgraduate studies in prosthodontics, we decided that we don’t want to work as specialists. We both enjoyed covering the full spectrum of dentistry and being what could be described as advanced general practitioners.
Still today, I really appreciate being able to treat most patients from A to Z. I like the big picture that general dentistry offers, as well as the close relationship with patients. I have the responsibility to plan and carry out the whole treatment instead of just a part of it.
Going digital – together with patients
I have been a high-tech junkie for a long time! I think this has helped me a lot. I’ve gotten significant benefits from using digital technology over the last 10 years. It started out of curiosity about 12 years ago when I began using digital surgical guides. Six years ago, we acquired the Planmeca chairside CAD/CAM system.
Back then, I could design and fabricate a single crown at the clinic. I felt it was a great achievement. This way of working has evolved and today one intraoral scan of a patient can also be used to fabricate a bite-splint, a surgical guide and to do a digital wax up of the new teeth the patient is going to get. It also acts as documentation and allows me to show the patient their teeth on the monitor – the occlusion, which teeth are correctly positioned, which ones misplaced and what changes need to be made.
Many years ago, I thought that it was useless to involve patients in the planning process, because they were mainly interested in two things: getting a good result and paying little money for it. Over time, I have realised that this was a mistake on my part. Since then I have started to work closer together with the patient during treatment planning. It is impressive for them to see their situation. After all, it’s their mouth and their teeth! It’s important that they can realise there is more to their teeth than what they can see in the mirror at home. This helps them realise all the problems they are facing and understand better the potential treatment. Digital technology helps us clinicians to visualise diagnostic information as well as treatment options and to show what we want to do.
We can see if there is enough bone and what the problems are. What is the correct position for a planned implant? How many implants should be placed? Patients like to hear and see answers to these kinds of questions. This improves communication and ultimately increases case acceptance, because patients can really understand why they have to undergo treatments that might take a year and why they have to pay a certain amount of money. It all blends together – planning, surgery and prosthodontics. This is something that has truly changed the way I work.
I have now been using the Planmeca Romexis® software for six years and what I really enjoy about it is that everything happens in the same platform. Traditionally, dental software has been fragmented. There was one program for this, another program for that… And also different file formats. Now everything is in one environment.
I think the modular architecture of Romexis is very nice. Everybody can use precisely the modules that they need and in the end they all work together in synergy, which is really useful.
Finding the right equipment
I work together with my brother and our clinic is relatively small at the moment. We have two dental units. Our first collaboration with Planmeca was around six years ago when we acquired our chairside CAD/CAM system.
Planmeca has of course had a strong reputation for years. In the beginning, it was that reputation that attracted us to the company, but I was still hesitant. I know many companies that have a good reputation, mainly because of marketing. When you start working together with them, you see that their customer service is not always the way it should be, or that their products are not as solid as they are advertised to be.
My experience with Planmeca has been very positive so far and I think that the company lives up to its reputation. It is family-owned, which is very rare for a company of its size, and I think you can feel this as a customer. Planmeca is not a multinational company where people are numbers. People are people and you have direct access to customer support and to the developing team in order to ask questions or to have problems solved.
Regarding Planmeca’s CAD/CAM system, one aspect that really attracted me in the beginning was the open architecture of the software, reflecting the open mentality of the company – the fact that the acquired STL files were not locked. Right from the beginning, Planmeca said that you can scan with your scanner and just export the files in STL format, no questions asked, no fees paid, no unlocking. You can import any kind of file and mill it with the Planmeca PlanMill® 40 unit.
You have to be brave, you have to be honest and you have to believe in your products to offer this. I appreciated it back then and still appreciate it now. Even six years later, it is not something to be taken for granted. It has also led to other companies opening their systems, although still not in the same way as Planmeca.
The expanding and evolving dental clinic
Last summer, we changed our dental units to new Planmeca Compact™ i3 units, which we have really enjoyed using.
The Greek Planmeca distributor told us that he had not sold a single Planmeca Compact i3 unit. “What? A dental unit without a cuspidor? You can’t sell this, the patients need it!”, said all colleagues. We were the first ones to have the “courage” and our patients have embraced it from the start.
The unit’s lack of a cuspidor was initially a concern, because many patients are so used spitting in a cuspidor. However, the transition was really seamless and has made the treatment environment cleaner. It also makes our lives simpler. The unit is sleek and has a very minimalistic design, so I have a lot of space to move around.
I’m left-handed and my brother is right-handed. We don’t have specific units for him and for me, but rather share right-handed units. As a left-handed person, I can work in the same way as with a unit dedicated to left-handed use. The Planmeca Compact i3 has been a great improvement for our clinic.
Another thing that has impressed me is that the new unit’s backrest seems to be a lot more comfortable for the patient. It is wider and there is more room for the shoulders and arms. At the same time, I can get closer to the patient than I could with my previous dental unit. I don’t know how the Planmeca team has designed and achieved this, but it’s really outstanding! Congratulations!
I appreciate that Planmeca dental units are upgradeable. I don’t have to make all decisions regarding accessories when ordering a dental unit. It is very easy to add for example the ID system or cords for an extra micromotor later. Our needs change constantly, because our clinic changes. The treatments we offer expand. I value an open architecture that allows our equipment to kind of grow with us, and I’m looking forward to utilising even more features in the future.
Planmeca’s 50th anniversary
This year, Planmeca is celebrating its 50th anniversary. I would like to extend my greetings to the whole Planmeca family! They were the excuse for my first visit to Helsinki and many subsequent ones as well.
Planmeca is not just a name to me – there are people and faces behind it. It has been a very nice experience to meet so many people from Finland and to see that they share many values with us Greeks, such as openness and friendship.
Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were not able to meet in person for a while. I hope that we can meet each other again soon and enjoy excellent salmon soup in Helsinki!
Dr Alexandros Manolakis received his DMD from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 2003. He has authored various international publications and lectured at scientific congresses and courses in over 15 countries. He is a member of the European Academy of Esthetic Dentistry (EAED affiliate), the Computer Aided Implantology (CAI) Academy and the Greek Prosthodontic Society (ΕΛΛΠΕ). Since 2006, Dr Manolakis has run a private practice specialising in dental implants and aesthetic dentistry in Thessaloniki in Greece together with his brother, Kleanthis.
Planmeca Oy and Planmeca Group
Planmeca Oy is one of the world's leading dental equipment manufacturers with a product range covering digital dental units, CAD/CAM solutions, world-class 2D and 3D imaging devices and comprehensive software solutions. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Planmeca’s products are distributed in over 120 countries worldwide. With a strong commitment to pioneering innovations and design, it is the largest privately held company in its field. Planmeca Oy is part of the Finnish Planmeca Group, which operates in the field of healthcare technology. The Group's turnover in 2020 was MEUR 764, and it employs nearly 2,900 people worldwide.
www.planmeca.com
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