New technology in preparation for 2024

As our practice continues to grow, we have developed the need for the ability to process multiple digital scans for fabricating our numerous oral prostheses, orthotics, splints and restorations. While our 3shape Trios 3 was upgraded with new hardware, we could not keep up with our patient demand. Therefore in 2023, we added the new award winning 3shape Trios 5, and wirelessly connected the intra-oral scanner to all the computers in our operatories. With both machines running simultaneously, we have been able to help treat our patients efficiently without compromising our quality of care.

Our office also decided to upgrade all our intra-oral cameras to the most advanced technology: the Iris X90, allowing us to take accurate intra-oral photos to help educate our patients and provide vivid records. In an effort to improve our photobiomodulation orofacial pain and soft tissue surgery departments we have upgraded our diode laser to the new Gemini Evo. With these new additions, we hope to continue to maintain our excellence in patient care.

CBCT Accreditation

We are proud to be the first dental office in the United Stated to complete the robust accreditation standards created by Radsite for Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) imaging and exams. This certification assures our patients that we have been thoroughly evaluated and approved on all metrics in regards to best practices and safe, high quality medical testing for CBCT. As one of the premiere medical/dental practices in Rancho Cucamonga we are committed to the safety of our patients and providing the highest quality in care.

COVID-19 Vaccination

I think many will agree that so far the greatest thing about 2021 is that it puts 2020 behind us. We have all endured and have been trying to overcome a multitude of hardships from 2020 – from protests, to wildfires, earthquakes to of course COVID-19. While we started off 2021 with a historic riot, I think with the advent of the COVID-19 vaccine, there is hope that we may reach the end of the tunnel of our pandemic through herd immunity. Many patients have asked if we plan on being some of the first to take one of the U.S. made vaccines … and if so which one?

I’m pleasantly optimistic to say that as of 1/14/21, I have been inoculated with my first dose of the Moderna vaccine. The process was relatively straight forward. I registered for a drive through location, arrived a few minutes early and waited in line in my car. Once I presented my credentials, they asked a few questions and I was given the jab. I was then instructed to park near some medical staff for observation for 15 minutes and released once I reported no side effects.

Day 1 of Moderna Vaccine 1/14/2021: Very mild soreness in my left arm near injection site.

Day 2 of Moderna Vaccine 1/15/2021: Increase to medium/mild soreness in my left arm near injection site.

Day 3 of Moderna Vaccine 1/16/2021: Down to very mild soreness in my left arm near injection site.

Day 4 of Moderna Vaccine 1/17/2021: I have grown a third arm! My left arm feels fine.

While I believe all the vaccines for COVID-19 will help us overcome this pandemic, many ask why did I choose Moderna vs Pfizier? Below were my reasons as of 1/17/2021:

Moderna’s efficacy rating after the 2nd dose was at 94.1%. While it’s lower than the 95% from Pfizier – one has to remember Pfizier originally published a rate of 90% and then after a few days of Moderna publishing their rate of 94.1%, Pfizier miraculously raised their efficacy of the 2nd dose to 95%…

Moderna’s efficacy after the first dose is between 80-90% efficacy; Pfizier is between 50-60%.

Moderna’s vaccine is stable for up to 30 days in a regular refrigerator or 12 hours room temperature and is ready to dose without dilution; Pfizier is stable for 5 days or 2 hours room temperature and needs to be diluted with sterile 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection.

Moderna’s side effects per FDA:

  • Injection site pain
  • Fatigue
  • Headache
  • Muscle pain
  • Joint pain
  • Chills
  • Swollen lymph nodes

Pfzier’s side effects per FDA:

  • Injection site pain
  • Tiredness
  • Headache
  • Muscle pain
  • Chills
  • Joint pain
  • Fever
  • Injection site swelling
  • Injection site redness
  • Nausea
  • Feeling unwell
  • Swollen lymph nodes

Some people ask why not wait for AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine? I have more trust in US made health care products and more importantly the efficacy of AstraZeneca-Oxford is at 70.4% – which is quite a drop to 94.1-95%. For my safety and the safety of my patients and family, I would prefer to go for a better efficacy. However please note that 70.4% is still far superior than our annual flu vaccine, which per the CDC is around 40-60%. Although there are no numbers out yet, Johnson & Johnson (another US based company) will soon be out with their own vaccine. The preliminary information reports that this will be a single dose vaccine (vs 2 dose system of Modena/Pfizier) – making it faster to inoculate the United States. Unfortunately, the data on their stage 3 trials are not out and so final efficacy is still in question. IMHO, please stay with a US made vaccine because all their testing data is open to the public and reviewed by an independent panel. In addition, they are better tested, safer and as of now, offer a higher efficacy:

UK:  AstraZeneca-Oxford (Reviewed by independent panel, data is open to public)- 70.4% Efficacy

China:  Sinovac (1st reviewed by unknown person(s). Second reviewed by Brazil. Data is closed to the public)– started at 78% and now down to 50.38% Efficacy

China: Sinopharm – (Reviewed by unknown person(s). Data is closed to the public) started at 86% and now down to 79.34% Efficacy

Russia: Sputnik V-9 (Self reviewed. Data is closed to the public) started at 95% then went 91.4%, as of January 2021 it’s now down to 73-85% Efficacy

i-CAT FLX 3D Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) system

Many of my colleagues were surprised to hear that I was considering upgrading to the newest state of the art CT scanner after only 5 years of having one of the most advanced 3D systems in the market- the Rayscan from Samsung. To this day none of them have a CBCT in their office. In fact many surveys show that only a fraction of dentists have these advanced machines in their office. Because of the many referrals we get from PCPs, ENT’s and Pulomonolgists, I needed to ensure that our practice had the latest technological advancement in CBCTs designed for flexibility in scanning, imaging and treatment planning. We also wanted to provide improved clarity at a lower radiation exposure to the patient.

Radiologists and CBCT manufacturers know that the award winning i-CAT FLX technology is regarded as the cone beam industry standard. In addition, the i-CAT would allow more detail with less radiation – a scan has a dose equivalent to the average radiation exposed to a person going about their “normal” life in the USA for a few days. However, being the best when it comes to CBCT technology comes with a high cost and we had just paid off our 5-year financing for the Rayscan… Yet I strongly believe that limiting the radiation exposure each patient receives, while giving us the best imaging quality would make this investment well worth it.

Hence in late February of 2020 we upgraded to the i-CAT FLX and the consensus from our staff and patients have been positively enthusiastic. One of our goals at our group practice is to have the most state-of-the-art, accurate technology to assist in diagnosis and treatment of our patients. We feel the i-CAT will allow us to continue our excellent standard of care in achieving success for our patients.

Zeiss Dental Microscope

As a leading dental group practice, we always strive for the best quality of care using the most innovative technology for our dental and medical care. In order to better accommodate many of our patients, we started to incorporate advanced endodontics (Complex Root Canal Treatment) in our office. We researched for various types of dental microscopes to improve our quality of care. One brand stood out above the rest: Zeiss, an internationally technology leader operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. Since it’s formation in 1846 in Germany, Zeiss has transformed into a large, research-oriented company that distributes a host of optical products across the world and is well known by almost every surgeon as the best of the best when it comes to optical accuracy. Early in 2019 we decided to add the Zeiss dental microscope to our office to join our growing list of advanced technology.

3Shape TRIOS

For over a century, we as dentists have used various different materials to take molds (impressions) of the hard and soft tissue in the oral cavity. Many patients had no choice but to put up with it, while others suffered through gagging or left with a snack – otherwise known as extra dental fluff in their mouth. Advances in dental technology came out with other ways of doing these impressions digitally- one of the first was Sirona CEREC. Some brave dentists immediately jumped on board thinking it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. These advanced machines were used to create dental restorations, such as crowns without the use of that dental “GOOP” abhorred by so many patients. I held back during that time, because I did not want to be the first to experiment with this technology without seeing a reliable track record. Not long after, a major flaw was soon discovered…These machines were not as accurate as the dental “GOOP” or standard PVS impression material, causing many patients to return to those dental offices with inadequate dental restorations, such as leaky margins or recurrent decay. Years passed by and the technology gradually improved to the point where certain companies were able to dramatically improve the accuracy. The American Dental Association recently published an unbiased study showing the following:

I realized why so many patient’s complained about having problems with other dental offices who do “Same Day Crowns” by Sirona CEREC in their own office. These Sirona CEREC machines used to take digital impressions and mill dental restorations such as crowns were faulty because their accuracy were the worst out of the six main intraoral scanners on the market. The accuracy of CEREC is even worse than than the best dental “GOOP” PVS impression, which has an accuracy of 10-20 µm (microns). After review of the ADA literature, obviously one digital scanner stood out: 3Shape TRIOS. Not one wanting to base my knowledge on just one study, I dived deeper and found that study after study the 3Shape always came out on top. A few months later, we purchased the 3Shape TRIOS Cart in August of 2017 and many patients were ecstatic. Having the most advanced/accurate digital scanner in the world, we try and use it for most of our dental and medical procedures today. However there are times when we have to go back to the standard dental “GOOP” material because of difficulty accessing the area and or distortions due to contaminants such as oral debris and bodily fluids.

 

Give Kids A Smile ADA Foundation

Sunday, February 26, 2017

On Friday 2/24/2017 I volunteered for the ADA Give Kids a Smile Program at a preschool in Monrovia. Unfortunately I was the only non-staff volunteer dentist to participate. I know for a fact that they were doing mass emails to find other dentists to volunteer – I just feel an indescribable sadness because I was the only person to respond …

We provided oral examinations, oral hygiene instructions, and gift bags for over 72 kids from the ages of 2-5 years old. What I found interesting was that although a few number of kids needed proper oral hygiene instructions, I found no children with existing carious lesions. It was a far cry from 1999-2000 when I was volunteering at the USC Mobile Clinic; back then with those kids over 75% were in need of immediate dental work. Monrovia was obviously a much more affluent area than the cities that we visited with the USC Mobile Clinic. It’s days like these that remind me the stark differences in oral health between the impoverished areas and the more economically developed cities. While some of the reasons are a result of access to care, I believe the majority are the results of financial constraints.

3D Cone Beam CT Technology

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Recent advances in technology has allowed many dentists to apply 3D Cone Beam CT imaging to patient care in private practice. I took the plunge late in 2014, investing in one of the top rated 3D Cone Beam CT scanners in order to improve the quality of dental care for my patients. While most hospitals will charge around $1000 for a single scan, we charge only a small fraction of that cost. Less than one percent of the dentists in the world have this technology – in fact none of my current fellow cosmetic and general dental colleagues in my known network have one of these machines (as of November 2015). I’m sure most dentists may think it highly impractical to allocate such a large monetary sum towards technology that will not give an immediate return on investment. However in my humble opinion, the peace of mind that I am providing the best dental care for all my patients outweighs any monetary reward.

I have been very impressed with the accuracy of our imaging technology thus far. Below is a sample case of one of the methods of how we utilize our 3D Cone Beam CT in our practice. In these images we are maximizing both the length and diameter of each implant, thereby improving the retention and therefore the longevity of the implant.  Please note the close proximity to the IA and mental nerve. Without  this technology, many dentists may run the risk of damaging a nerve when placing implants of this size.


In February 2015, Dental Products Reports, one of the nation’s leading dental magazines interviewed our office to discuss our thoughts on this technology. More information can be found at

A copy of the article published in Dental Products Reports can be found below:

Giving back to the Volunteers

On April 27th, 2014, I had the rare chance to volunteer at a free dental clinic serving the volunteers that help run some of the medical/dental free outreach clinics. It’s rare when we receive the opportunity to help those that help others…I think we as humans get so involved with the donation of funds and services to others in need that we forget about helping those people who make it possible for us to do so. This was the very first free clinic geared towards helping the actual volunteers. To no surprise the oral health conditions of our fellow volunteers were excellent. The only services that I preformed that day were exams and cleanings. Nonetheless it felt great being able to give back to those who give…

Donations & Free Clinic in Orange County

Monday, August 26, 2013

After finally moving into our new facility, I compiled an inventory of dental supplies and equipment that I no longer needed. Estimated net worth of these items based off of comparative sales equates to over $4500.00. Once we were settled into our new office, I contacted Loma Linda School of Dentistry and arranged for a pick-up for my donation. For those other dentists, who do not realize, Loma Linda has international outreach missions of free clinics that are in dire need of dental equipment and supplies. Loma Linda runs these missions through NASDAD (National Association of Seventh-day Adventist Dentists) Should anyone wish to send in a donation please contact them at:  909-558-8187

The following month I was contacted by the director of the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation  about their very first free medical and dental clinic in Orange County. This organization has been operating various mobile clinics throughout Southern California and Mexico for over a decade. I immediately made arrangements so that I would be able to volunteer and donate my services.

Upon arrival on 8/25/2013 in Santa Ana, I noticed that while there were a lot of patients in the waiting area, the numbers were not anywhere near what I am used to experiencing in the free clinics in San Bernardino and Mexico. Perhaps the population in Orange County were not as financially strapped and therefore did not need as many of these free services? I was immediately ushered into the mobile unit and assigned to perform surgical extractions and fillings.

What I felt was nice, was that they assigned 1-2 assistants to help me with my dental surgeries. Normally the doctors at free clinics receive 0 – 1 assistants – so this was a pleasant surprise. These assistants were also volunteers – the lady in the photo is a retired molecular biologist, while the gentleman was an engineer. Because this was Tzu Chi’s  very first free clinic in Orange County, it took the organization almost an hour before we were able to see patients. Therefore we started around 10 am and ended at 2:30 pm. Even though the duration of this free clinic was shortened, I was still able to see about 12 patients, all with procedures such as scaling and root planning, fillings and surgical extractions. In general, I did notice that the oral health of patients here in Santa Ana were definitely in better condition than that of the patients in the San Bernardino and LA counties. However regardless of the conditions of their teeth, all these patients were in need of dental work, and all of them were very grateful that we provided them with our services.

Posted by Dr. Brien Hsu at 1:04 PM

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