A dental prosthesis performed in 20 minutes

Dentists can now equip themselves to machine directly in their practice, crowns and other dental prostheses . This modernity, they owe it to companies that embark on 3D printing of our prostheses. An example: Lyra technology. With an oral impression scanning system directly connected to a small machine of just a meter high in which it is sufficient to insert a small block of ceramic to see out, twenty minutes later, a custom-made dental prosthesis . She is then ready to be made up, cooked and put down. This is called CAD / CAM , computer-aided design and manufacturing.

A technological revolution that sometimes apprehends a little. Yet this is not the first. "When Professor François Duret presented the first intra-oral cameras in the 1980s, no one believed," recalls Bertrand Busson, dental technician expert in CAD / CAM and founder of Shapelize , another company specialized in digital manufacturing. "And today, we fashion crowns and bridges in costume in front of his computer. This is the technology of the future, " continues the one who also teaches 3D printing at the Hospital de la Salpêtrière in Paris. Today nearly half of the 3850 dental prosthesis laboratories in France are equipped with this new technology. And every month, an average of ten liberal dentists move on. A good way therefore to lower the cost of dental prostheses which for many, still a luxury: in 2013 the FIFG reports that 35% or a third of French renounces to heal their teeth for financial reasons. But still it is necessary that the dentists play the game ...

Always expensive prices

"This system allows me to make dental prostheses at a lower cost ," says Dr. Philippe Tramba, dental surgeon member of the Association Dentaire Française . The lease agreement that binds me to Lyra requires me to manufacture at least 30 kronor per month, billed 99 € each against 120 € on average if I had to buy it at a laboratory. And of course, I pass this saving on the final amount billed to the patient. "Yet this benevolent measure is far from unanimous in the middle.

According to the Court of Auditors , practitioners apply on average a multiplying coefficient of 4.45 to 6.33 at the initial price of dental prostheses. A shocking margin when we know the very poor support by the Social Security dentures: 70 € on average on a ceramic crown sold between 500 € and 1000 € by the practitioner. "65% of dentists' turnover comes from the dental prosthesis market, which represents only 30% of their working time ," denounces Nicolas Rey, president of the Federal Union of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices. measured. According to him, " the state is guilty of letting practitioners decide for themselves the resale price of prostheses. "

Perhaps one of the keys to the problem is that there is no law regulating dentist fees for dental prostheses . A boon for these, since in 2014, the dental prosthesis market in France accounted for 1.2 billion euros in sales and 41 million euros in investments. Thus, import crowns, bought for just € 40 in Hungary, Moldova, Turkey, Madagascar or China are billed to us € 500 and more to us, patients.

"Dentists lack ethics and deontology on the issue," denounces Laurent Munerot, president of the National Union Patronale Dental Technicians (UNNPPD). He also has a very clear opinion on the use of new technologies, CAD / CAM and 3D printing in particular in the dental world: "I would like these machines to lower the cost of care. Now, they may be today a time saver but not a money saving for the patient. "What also confirms Sarah Vasseghi, a patient of 29 years who has used the technology to treat Lyra one of his patients teeth:" In two sessions carried out in the same week, my dentist was able to ask me ceramic inlay. But that did not necessarily cost me less. "

For their part, dental surgeons try to justify these margins by the fixed costs related to their practice: renting the building, bills and staff, among others. "Whether I use an independent laboratory or I plant crowns in my own office, my costs do not drop," says Dr. Patrick Bitoun, dentist in Toulouse. One argument advanced by Catherine also Mojaisky, president of the National Confederation of Dental Unions "Loads dentists are among the highest of the medical profession, they represent 60 to 70% of the turnover of a firm. Before lowering the price of dental prostheses, CAD / CAM makes it possible not to increase them. "

How to pay less for his dental crowns?

In the meantime, there are some solutions to take care of your teeth at a lower cost. So-called low-cost dental practices are beginning to flourish in the big cities. So is it with DentiFree in Avignon, Belfort, Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse, Versailles or Dentexia , in Paris, Lyon, Chalon sur Saone, Marseille and Lille. The laying of a ceramic crown is billed 390 € in this type of establishment, about 40% less than elsewhere.

Medical tourism is booming: French patients are more and more numerous to cross the border to be treated by our European neighbors. With the company Eurodentaire he founded eight years ago, Nicolas Pinneau helps every year between 300 and 400 French to get their teeth treated in Hungary. There, the cost of rent is about ten times lower and the cost of wages, four times lower than in France. Dental care and dentures are therefore more affordable, about a quarter of French prices. And most importantly, this care is reimbursable by the Social Security.