4 ways cloud computing will change dentistry

Surgical-Restorative Resource co-editor Dr. Chris Salierno deciphers cloud computing and explains how it will make the dentist’s life a lot easier in the days to come.

The cloud. Cloud computing. Every tech journal is talking about "the cloud" like it’s the greatest invention since the Internet. The concept has already caught fire in dentistry, and it appears that it may change how we practice forever.

Movement to place more programs

Cloud computing is a movement to place more programs, data, and applications online instead of on your office computers. Along these lines all of these things can be accessed more easily from all kinds of devices, just as your phone or iPad, with ease.

The idea of storing information online isn’t a new one. Have you ever noticed that instead of storing a file on a flash drive, which can get lost or left at home, you can just email the file to someone? Now that the file is stored on your email account, you can access it from any device that has access to the Internet. That file lives in the cloud. Google has taken this a step furthermore with Google Documents, a specific web-based application that stores documents online via your Gmail account. Gmail is an early example of cloud computing.

The then decade or so

In the then decade or so, cloud computing may make the dentist’s life a lot easier. Here’s what you can to look forward to ...

You’re on vacation in Napa Valley enjoying a nice Cabernet Sauvignon. You get a call on your cell phone from Dr. Perio about Mrs. Jones. You had sent Mrs. Jones to Dr. Perio to evaluate edentulous site No. 29; the site might need ridge augmentation earlier an implant can be placed. She just got her scan in his office so the image pops up on your phone for you to check out. As you zoom in and rotate around the edentulous site, Dr. Perio tells you what you’ve just discovered: Mrs. Jones will not need ridge augmentation. An angled abutment is all that will be required to restore No. 29.

On the side of phone display is your Common Conference List with the names of people you and Dr. Perio typically speak with at the same time. Right below Dr. Ortho, Dr. Endo, and your office manager, you see Mr. Lab and touch his name. He answers, and the three of you discuss the case. Mr. Lab instantly has access to the scan and can begin work on the surgical guide. As the call ends, you touch the button for your office manager and tell her to write up a treatment plan for an angled abutment, crown, and surgical guide, at that time appoint her for a consultation visit. Only a five-minute phone call and the patient’s case was managed surgically, prosthetically, and financially. Now it’s time to get back to your vacation. That glass of Cabernet Sauvignon isn’t going to drink itself ...

If your network has ever crashed, you know how debilitating it can be for your practice. Cloud computing removes the need for your computers to communicate with each other on a hard-wired network. Instead, each device simply has to connect to the Internet to be able to seamlessly share information with one another.

One-time purchase of thousands of dollars

Rather than a one-time purchase of thousands of dollars, cloud computing software is available as a monthly subscription for a few hundred dollars. That price structure may be uncomfortable for some practices in the long term.