3D Imaging at Pioneer Greens Dentistry

Confident progress and optimal patient care with 3D imaging

Dr. Chris Haag made an early leap into 3D imaging and never looked back

Upon purchasing an older practice in 1992, Dr. Chris Haag of Pioneer Greens Dentistry in Lincoln, Nebraska, immediately began investing in equipment and technology innovations – from new chairs, to intraoral cameras, to digital X-rays, to a panoramic he upgraded to digital, to eventually investing in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) so he could offer his patients 3D imaging.

Looking for digital imaging technology?

Browse products

Dr. Chris Haag

Growing with technology

Back in 2009 the first cone beam he purchased, the Dentsply Sirona Galileos, was only the third CBCT in town. In a city with a prestigious dental college and many specialists, that makes him a bit of a pioneer. “I just saw the importance of it early on and decided to jump right in,” he says.
 
As 3D imaging technology gets more and more advanced, Haag continues to prioritize delivering his patients cutting-edge dental care. He offers the everyday life analogy of the progression of the digital camera to help illustrate the advancements of the Dentsply Sirona Axeos he now uses: “Remember when digital cameras first came out and they were like, 0.5 megapixel? And we were amazed. And now they’re 12 megapixels. It’s like that; the technology’s just gotten better and better.”
 
Haag is also impressed with the reduction in radiation exposure the Axeos affords, and the ability to choose your field of view and zone in on one specific area. “I’ve always been on a journey to have the best tools I can at my disposal in order to be the best dentist I can be.”

Better routine care and confident advancement

At Pioneer Greens, the Axeos’ day-to-day utility is in the hygiene program. In place of a panoramic, patients are getting a scan that’s much more medical grade and advanced. “If someone sends me a regular panoramic X-ray, I almost can’t look at it. There is just so little information in it compared to what I can see with my cone beam.”
 
For Haag, the high level of detail and information with 3D imaging has allowed him to expand his own services to include implants. The Axeos gives him the ability to preplan, create a surgical plan and execute an implant with a much higher degree of confidence. Haag says he was always interested in doing implants, but being “slightly cautious” when it comes to more advanced procedures, his courage came from the level of detail available with the Axeos.
 
“I wouldn’t have touched implants without the cone beam. I just never felt comfortable jumping in and doing that, but once I got cone beam and could see the anatomy, could see the bone volume, could see what I was doing, that’s when I felt the comfort level to do some implant training and start placing them.”
 
Believing every patient deserves the best care possible, the high quality of the scans also helps him decide when an implant would be better placed by a specialist. “It really helps me define my comfort zone.”

“I’ve always been on a journey to have the best tools I can at my disposal in order to be the best dentist I can be.”

Dr. Chris Haag, Pioneer Greens Dentistry

Partnering with Patterson for the long haul

Haag credits a steady habit of investing in advanced equipment and technology – and a disciplined approach to paying things off quickly – with the long-term survival of Pioneer Greens, and his Patterson representative has been right there with him all the way. “You get what you give. If you want loyalty, you gotta give loyalty … and Dan’s been my guy for many years. The truth is Patterson has given me a very, very high level of service.”
 
A long-running joke between Haag and his Patterson rep, Dan Byers, is that early in their relationship, Haag joked that Dan “had messed up by selling him everything,” leaving him nothing left to buy. Many years and many technology advancements later, their connection remains strong and Pioneer Greens Dentistry continues to trust Patterson to keep them on the cutting edge of dentistry and deliver second-to-none service.

Once you’ve seen it…

When it comes to making the leap into cone beam, Haag likens it to having heated seats in a cold climate. Once you’ve owned a car with them, you just can’t go back. He encourages colleagues who haven’t decided about investing in CBCT to connect with a peer who is using 3D imaging or to visit a dental school so they can see it with their own eyes. “Until you see it for yourself, and what it can do for you, you really have blinders on. It’s amazing. Amazing.”

Interested in Axeos 3D imaging?

Get financing for digital imaging technology