“With the new ZEISS Surgical Cloud and ZEISS Livestream apps, it is extremely easy to access and manage all my data”

Dental Tribune International

Fri. 10. March 2023

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Next week at IDS 2023, ZEISS Medical Technology will introduce new digital solutions which enhance the value of ZEISS EXTARO 300. Two new apps—ZEISS Surgical Cloud and ZEISS Livestream— will support dentists by facilitating their data management, enriching their patient communication and professionalizing their peer collaboration. Dr Christian del Rey Schnitzler from Madrid told Dental Tribune International about his initial experiences and use cases with these new solutions.

Dr Del Rey Schnitzler, you have more than 25 years of clinical experience as a dentist, would you share the day-to-day challenges for a dentist in dealing with large amounts of data and documentation?
Data is something dentists did not need to worry about in the past. Today, even if we leave aside the data coming from places like radiographs and intra-oral scans, we still have to deal with the large volume of data produced by microscopes every day. A modern dental practice needs smart solutions to handle it all.

Every week in my clinic, my ZEISS EXTARO 300 creates many hours of footage, so I need tools that classify and store all this data in an easy way. What’s more, this information should be easy to share with others and accessible online.

Thankfully, with the combination of ZEISS EXTARO 300, ZEISS Connect, and ZEISS Surgical Cloud, I have the perfect solution, which creates value and saves precious time that would otherwise be spent managing data.

What was your data management workflow like before you used ZEISS Surgical Cloud?
I have been through a number of different data management workflows. The two options I used before ZEISS Surgical Cloud were a USB pen drive and later a network attached storage (NAS) device. The USB stick was a simple solution for storing patient data; however, it came with many disadvantages, primarily limited storage and potential legal problems because it could get lost. Also, I had no access to it through my network.

The NAS option was definitely a better storage solution because it had almost no storage limitations and the data could be accessed through my dental practice network. However, I still only had limited online access to patient data because my practice’s server had to be switched off at night and on weekends for security reasons.

What is your data management workflow like now when using ZEISS Surgical Cloud?
Using ZEISS Surgical Cloud has definitely been a huge step forward for my data management. First of all, patient data is directly stored and saved in ZEISS Surgical Cloud. This has given me tremendous peace of mind because local servers are never 100% secure. Additionally, I do not need to worry about storage space.

Moreover, my data can always be reached online, and patient records are easily accessible through my desktop computer, laptop or iPad—and sharing data with peers is extremely simple and time-saving. Nowadays, I do not need to worry about my old USB pen drive, and accessibility will never again be an issue.

“ZEISS Surgical Cloud [...] has given me tremendous peace of mind because local servers are never 100% secure.”

Could you describe a specific situation in which you found ZEISS Surgical Cloud particularly helpful?
For dentists, there are many advantages associated with ZEISS Surgical Cloud. Accessibility, in particular, is a great advantage. Because ZEISS Surgical Cloud allows mobile access to patient data via devices like an iPad or a laptop anytime and anywhere, my life as a dentist is made easier.

One day in December 2022, a long-time patient visited my dental practice complaining about a toothache. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to my practice. Instead, I asked my team to record a video of the patient’s tooth condition and upload it to ZEISS Surgical Cloud. The concept behind this is that your eyes are where your ZEISS EXTARO 300 is, even if you are not physically in the same place. I was able to access ZEISS Surgical Cloud and view the patient records. Obviously, you can send patient records via email or WhatsApp, but this creates some legal issues, and patient records ideally should always be kept in the cloud.

I work in two dental practices. Half of the week, I am in Madrid, and the other half, I am in Castellón. For those unfamiliar with Spain, the two cities are 450 km apart, so as you can imagine, I spend a great deal of time travelling by train. This travel time is great for working on patient treatment plans, dental reports and future lectures. Every week, I spend my train journey connected to ZEISS Surgical Cloud, working during this downtime with full access to all the information I need.

Team collaboration has improved as well, thanks to ZEISS Surgical Cloud. Of course, collaboration is possible without a cloud solution, but it would not be as easy, or as effective. My dental practice is made up of specialists, and effective teamwork and communication between them are key to achieving the best possible results. Most patients require treatment and attention from multiple members of our expert team. For example, the restorative, implant and orthodontic teams often work together on patients, discussing whether to save or extract a tooth.

Because we are not always in the same clinic, it is sometimes not possible to meet in person. ZEISS Surgical Cloud gives us a clear advantage and enables us to easily access the microscope data for the patient saved online. We view and share images together—without the legal or privacy issues that come with sending patient data in emails or WhatsApp messages. Thanks to this web-based application, we can invite one another to access patient data and keep one another up to date.

As a dentist, I focus not only on the treatment outcomes of my patients but also on the efficiency of my dental practice. With the new ZEISS Surgical Cloud and ZEISS Livestream apps, it is extremely easy to access and manage all my data from my ZEISS EXTARO 300 anywhere and anytime and also easy to share cases with my peers.

“The concept behind this is that your eyes are where your ZEISS EXTARO 300 is, even if you are not physically in the same place.”

Did you stream your surgery or treatment before using ZEISS Livestream?
I have always wanted to livestream, but the market has not offered me anything that met my needs until now.

Could you please tell us about situations where ZEISS Livestream can be particularly supportive?
Being able to share visual information is one of the most important benefits of ZEISS Livestream. When I hold on-site courses and want to demonstrate a treatment, I can arrange for the students to sit in an auditorium or classroom to watch the treatment livestream. In the small clinic treatment room, there is not enough space, and patients may feel uncomfortable with students watching.

Furthermore, most of the participants in my courses do not live in Madrid; therefore, they must travel. Travelling to attend an on-site course involves money and time. ZEISS Livestream allows me to reach more people by offering the course in a hybrid or even in a purely online mode with livestream images from the microscope. By reaching more people, there is an overall economic benefit.

Being able to offer live surgical demonstrations at dental congresses is another valuable tool. These surgical demonstrations are a very attractive conference feature because, if a difficult situation arises during a live demonstration, we must solve it during the procedure, which makes the event stand out from others at a conference. We can also share the live surgical demonstration with participants from more countries during the conference. Virtually any activity that involves training, academic learning or microscope use can be taught with ZEISS Livestream.

Editorial note:

Visitors to IDS will have the opportunity to learn more about ZEISS products at Booth F030/G031 in Hall 10.1. Learn more about the digital solutions from ZEISS at www.zeiss.com. ZEISS Surgical Cloud and ZEISS Livestream are not available in all countries. They are intended for educational purposes only, not to diagnose or treat any diseases.