Scottish dental practices and patients to benefit from £250k investment in 3D scanning tech

A string of Scottish dental surgeries will benefit from a six-figure investment that is set to bring the latest 3D scanning technology to patients.

The state-of-the-art equipment – used to create braces, retainers, bridges, crowns and other dental gear – promises “significant” benefits, including a quicker and more comfortable experience when having appliances made, without the need for moulding material to be put into a patient’s mouth.

The new scanning technology, which represents a £250,000 investment, also carries with it a much lower carbon footprint, with devices able to be manufactured on site, rather than transported back and forth to external labs.

Two dental practices in Dundee, together with sister operations in Newburgh, Forfar and Kinross, are set to benefit from the new tech.

Two dental practices in Dundee, together with sister practices in Newburgh, Forfar and Kinross, are about to become the most digitised dental surgeries in Scotland.

Rami Sarraf, who has been a dentist since 2001, owns and runs First Alba Healthcare, which incorporates all five practices, with his wife, Ewa Plewa Sarraf, also a dentist, having qualified in 1998. Together they employ a team of 45 staff and associates.

The business, which began in 2009 with 1,600 registered patients, now has around 40,000 patients in total, a mix of NHS and private.

Sarraf is undertaking a staff training programme for key personnel so that they are ready to use the new equipment as soon as possible.

“This significant investment in new technology will revolutionise the service we are able to provide to patients needing specialist made-to-measure appliances,” said Sarraf, whose Dundonian practices are situated at Dudhope Terrace, and Strathmartine Road, Downfield.

“We had planned to introduce the technology at each of our five surgeries before Covid struck, purchasing one scanner at the end of 2019 - on which we received fantastic feedback from both patients and the dental staff using it - but are now able to continue with the full plan to make the business the most digitised dental surgeries in Scotland.

“These scanners give a much quicker and more effective service, which is also better for the environment. This technology has been introduced as a result of painstaking research by myself and my wife as to the best equipment to buy for our purposes.”

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