Improving the dental professional customer experience—by offering flexibility and choice—has led to the rollout of over 50 enhancements to its web-based treatment planning software, the 3M Oral Care Portal.

3M Oral Care’s commitment to evolving and continually improving the customer experience for dental professionals led to the rollout of over 50 enhancements to their web-based treatment planning software in 2019.

“We are constantly looking for new ways to better serve our customers,” says Amy Unklesbay, product manager for the Oral Care Portal. “By releasing quarterly updates, we’re able to listen to our customers in real time and deploy effective updates that give them greater treatment flexibility within our robust web-based software platform.”

A focus for updates in 2019 was improving features and tools to create an enhanced user experience that accommodate the demands of growing practices. 

“Each update we make to the Oral Care Portal is made with a specific goal in mind,” says Unklesbay. “We hear what is important for our customers and their patients and find ways to make it easier for them to do their job effectively and efficiently.” 

To support compliance during treatment, 3M created the 3M Treatment Tracking mobile app which allows patients to track their aligner wear time, see lifetime wear stats, and capture progress photos. In Q3 of this year, 3M announced the launch of a bi-directional communication feature which allows the pairing of the app with the Oral Care Portal. This allows patients to share progress photos with their orthodontist and, in turn, orthodontists can share treatment planning videos and updates with patients in real time.

The company also launched the Progress Scan Feature. With this feature, orthodontists have the power to compare current patient scans with the planned treatment created in the Oral Care Portal. This tool makes it easier for orthodontists to determine if there is a need for changes to the treatment plan. The ability to share these progress scans chairside with patients may also help to promote patient compliance.

Other highlights for 2019 include the introduction of a Dark Mode feature that provides greater viewing contrast when treatment planning in the Oral Care Portal; and the rollout of Bite Ramps, used to disocclude the posterior teeth, and Torque Points, used to help achieve lingual root torque.

The company plans to introduce additional tools aimed at the orthodontist’s workflow in 2020.