Renowned for her expertise in implant dentistry, Edinburgh-based practitioner Leanne Branton features on the speaker line-up at this year’s Dentistry Show London. Having spent over a decade placing implants, Leanne has been recognised with the Diploma of Implant Dentistry from the Royal College of Surgeons of London. Passionate about obtaining beautiful results for her patients, Leanne’s lecture at Dentistry Show London will provide valuable insight on using digital technology to create superior aesthetics in single implants.

We were fortunate enough to speak to Leanne about her upcoming lecture, the merits of using digital workflows over analogue ones, and the future of AI in dentistry.

Can you give us an overview of what you’ll be speaking about at Dentistry Show London this year?

I can’t wait to talk about how I utilise digital technology to optimise the patient outcome when placing dental implants. I am passionate about obtaining beautiful results for my patients, especially in the aesthetic zone, and digital technology continues to provide excellent results. During my session, I’m going to share the specifics of our winning digital workflow and the benefits for all involved.

This talk is aimed at those ‘digitally curious’ dentists. They have maybe started to research introducing digital technology into their practice, but are not quite fully convinced that it is worth the investment. Although the talk is focused on implant dentistry, much of what I will discuss is transferable to all areas of restorative dentistry.

What would you like delegates to take away from your speaking session?

I really hope I inspire delegates to make the jump into the digital dental world. I wish I’d known what a significant change digital technology would make to both my practice as a whole, and my individual clinical practice. I am happier, my team is happier, and my patients are happier – let’s be honest, that’s a winning situation for everyone!

What benefits have new digital technologies and workflows added to your practice over traditional analogue ones?

There is no question that digital technology is quicker, more accurate, more predictable and more cost efficient than analogue. However, the biggest benefit I have seen as a practice owner is that it has given me a tool to enhance my employees’ job satisfaction. Thanks to the digital journey, all members of the team are able to take on new roles, and this gives them challenges and goals, makes them feel valued and ultimately allows them to progress their own career. It allows your staff to showcase a different set of skills or gifts that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

It is also important to emphasise how digital technology can help with your practice’s carbon footprint. Sustainability is a major challenge we all face, and an area which will require significant action by the entire dental profession. Patient travel accounts for a third of our carbon footprint, which is massive, so any technology that streamlines our processes and reduces the number of appointments can only contribute positively to this issue.

What key trends are you seeing in digital dentistry at the moment, and what impact are these having on dental treatment?

AI is making huge advances in the field of dentistry, and we should embrace it. There are so many areas it will impact. The AI technology is now available to help us diagnose dental conditions earlier and with more accuracy. It can assist us with analysing our radiographic images. We can simulate our treatment plans and accurately predict the outcomes, which in turn enhances our communication with our patients and their experience as a whole. Many practices are now using virtual assistants and chatbots to communicate with patients, giving patients 24/7 access to services with reduced staffing requirements. Patients can also be consulted and monitored remotely, which is helping tackle the huge access issue in dentistry. And finally, we can use AI to analyse our patient data which helps us create more efficient practices and make clinical decisions that are evidence based. And all of this is before we even start thinking about combining AI with robotics to provide dental procedures!

Apart from your own speaking session, what else are you looking forward to about attending Dentistry Show London 2023?

It’s always such a thrill for me to listen to the other talks around digital dentistry, especially from the IDDA giants Adam Nulty, Quintus van Tonder and Chris Lefkaditis. It reminds me of how much I still have to learn within this massive field, and I always leave feeling re-energised and ready to implement changes that will further grow and develop my practice.

You can hear Leanne Branton’s lecture on ‘Using digital technology to create superior aesthetics in single implants’ on Friday 6th October in the Aesthetic & Digital Dentistry Theatre at Dentistry Show London, taking place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th October at ExCeL London.