You Don't Need All The Gadgets To Be Good: Alessandro Devigus On The Future Of Tech in Dentistry.

You don't need all the tools, all the gadgets to be good. You need the right tools for the treatment you are offering. Dr Alessandro De Viggo has been using CEREC for over 30 years. He was the second patient ever to receive CEREC inlays in 1986, opened his practice in 1990 with two CEREC 1 machines, and has placed more than 30,000 chairside restorations. In this conversation with Simon, he unpacks what that teaches you about materials, protocol, and why simplicity beats complexity every time. They go deep on why CEREC was controversial when it launched, how the island of ceramic in a sea of composite actually taught us how adhesion works, and why enamic is still the only truly minimally invasive CAD CAM material. Alessandro explains why he works alone 90% of the time without an assistant, why moving around the patient changes everything, and why he lifts both hands when he preps to protect his back. He covers the role of 3D printing versus milling, why long term temporaries are not the same as permanent restorations, and why opacity and post processing are still issues with printed crowns. They also talk about why prevention should be monetizable, why dentists are bad communicators, the psychology student versus dental student wellbeing study, why the profession is becoming female, dental tourism and Turkish teeth, DSOs pushing dentists to drill more, scientific misinformation flooding the internet to block AI development, and why his AI telephone assistant has more empathy than most receptionists. ### Chapters - **00:00:00** Introduction: 40 Years of CEREC & The Dentist-Patient-Machine Vision - **00:06:57** The Birth of Adhesive Dentistry & The Sea of Composite Philosophy - **00:11:55** Prevention Should Be Obsolete: The 1960s Vision That Failed - **00:15:02** The Patient Paradox: Why Doing Nothing Costs More Than Treatment - **00:18:46** I Am The Best Dentist: According To My Patients - **00:21:09** The Dental Student Mental Health Crisis: Focus vs. Well-Being - **00:24:09** Why Dentistry Is Becoming Female & The Salary Problem - **00:28:32** Positive Stress vs. Negative Stress: The Alessandro Work Model - **00:35:33** Controlled Failure: The Minimal Intervention Philosophy - **00:40:07** The Enamic Advantage: The Only True Minimal Invasive CAD-CAM Material - **00:43:52** The Dental Industry Problem: Creating Problems That Don't Exist - **00:48:02** Turkish Teeth & Dental Tourism: The Real Story Behind The Headlines - **01:25:57** DSOs & The Money Problem: When Healthcare Becomes Investment - **01:42:35** 3D Printing vs. Milling: The Honest Comparison After 30,000 CEREC Restorations - **01:48:47** Working Alone: The Ambidextrous Dentist & The Two-Hand Back Saver - **01:56:40** Staying Curious: The Secret to 40 Years of Passion in Dentistry - **02:03:02** AI in Dentistry: The Telephone Assistant & The Future of Call Centers ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Alessandro De Viggo is a dentist based in Switzerland and one of the earliest adopters of chairside CAD CAM dentistry. He was the second patient to receive CEREC restorations in 1986, opened his practice in 1990, and has been working predominantly with digital workflows for over three decades. He was formerly editor in chief of the International Journal of Aesthetic Dentistry and is a regular contributor to the dental literature on digital dentistry, photography, and minimally invasive techniques. ▬▬ ABOUT THE HOST ▬▬ Dr Simon Chard is Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, co founder of PÄRLA, and principal of Rothley Lodge Dental Practice. ▬▬ FOLLOW CONTACT POINT ▬▬ YouTube: @contactpointpodcast Instagram: @contactpointpodcast Listen on Apple, Spotify and all podcast apps.