Planmeca Compact™ i units ”perfect from the start” at dental clinics in Greece

In Greece, two experienced dental specialists have found the right fit in Planmeca Compact™ i dental units. Dentists Maria Terzidou and Faini Iordanoglou have especially appreciated the units’ wide movement range, ergonomic design, and easy patient access which adapt to many specialisations. The user-friendly features have also received praise from colleagues and patients.

Orthodontist Maria Terzidou’s relationship with Planmeca goes more than 20 years back. After completing her dental studies in Greece, Terzidou’s combined interest in orthodontics and the Nordics led her to apply for the postgraduate programme at the University of Helsinki in 1996. At the university, she was introduced to Planmeca’s dental equipment.

“I completed my postgraduate studies in Helsinki in 1999, after which I went back to Greece and eventually started my own private practice,” Terzidou says. “But already before I left Finland I had decided that I definitely wanted Planmeca dental units for my clinic.”

Terzidou runs her private practice MT Orthodontics in Katerini, a town of about 85,000 people not far from Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki. She currently has three Planmeca Compact™ i dental units at her clinic which she has worked with since 2003. She hasn’t looked back since.

“It’s now been approximately 13 years I’ve had my three Planmeca dental units and they have always been very reliable and easy to work with. Having worked all these years with my units, I’ve definitely never had to regret my choice,” Terzidou praises the equipment.

Dr. Terzidou often treats children at her clinic in Katerini, Greece.

A market-driven decision

In the capital city of Athens, periodontist and dental surgeon Faini Iordanoglou is newer to Planmeca dental units. Iordanoglou, who has worked at her family clinic for over 20 years, acquired her Planmeca Compact™ i Touch in 2016 and has been very impressed with its user-friendly features.

“It’s been very pleasant to work with and very comfortable for the patient,” says Iordanoglou of her unit. “I especially like the side delivery with which I can take all the unit instruments behind the patient. This way the patient doesn’t need to see them when he or she sits down in the chair. It’s a nice feature.”

Iordanoglou says her decision to opt for Planmeca dental units was strongly influenced by a visit to France, where she had previously completed her degree in dentistry. “I actually went last year to my friends in France, and I saw that they all had Planmeca,” she explains. “Planmeca is the market leader in France and my friends told me the equipment is great, so I said, okay – I will change, I will take Planmeca as well. I’ll do it the French way.”

Features for many specialisations

According to Terzidou and Iordanoglou, Planmeca dental units have responded well to both of their needs as dental specialists.

“For my part, I chose the Planmeca Compact™ i Classic units,” says Terzidou, “because as an orthodontist I didn’t want something heavy for my work. The Planmeca dental units enable me to work very smoothly around the patient, and of course the soft upholstery is very nice for the patient as well. Because of my specialisation, I have a lot of kids as patients, and it’s very, very often that they fall asleep during treatment. That’s how comfortable it is.”

The patient-friendly design of the chair has also played an important role in Iordanoglou’s work. “I do mostly surgery, which is not that pleasant for the patient, but with the Planmeca chair I can at least provide them with a seat that is nice and comfortable.”

“When I changed to Planmeca, all my patients started telling me how nice it was, asking ‘can we sleep here,’ ‘do you have a massage…’” Iordanoglou says, laughing. “The memory foam is better in this chair than in your own bed.”

Dr. Iordanoglou's patients appreciate the comfort of the dental unit's chair.

Easy to learn, easy to use

Despite having worked with another unit for more than 20 years, Iordanoglou had no trouble getting to grips with her new Planmeca Compact i. “All the instructions, everything was on a USB stick, which made the learning process very easy. I also work with an assistant, and she was very excited when we switched to Planmeca. It’s so very nice, and certainly different from the old one.”

Terzidou agrees: “There are no complex systems as with other dental units,” she explains. “Sometimes when you have an assistant or nurse who is unfamiliar with a device, it can be difficult to teach them how to use it, but with Planmeca dental units you just don’t have this problem. They are very easy to use.”

Perfect from the beginning

A dental unit is more than just patient comfort or easy instructions – for the dentist, it is one of the most of important tools of the trade. At the same time, the nature of their work necessitates that dentists sometimes remain in demanding working positions for extended periods of time. This demands a lot of the ergonomic solutions and movement range of the unit.

For both Iordanoglou and Terzidou, however, the Planmeca Compact i units have risen to the challenge. “It’s very ergonomic for the dental nurse as well as for my way of sitting and working,” Terzidou commends the unit. Meanwhile, Iordanoglou has been particularly pleased with the lighting: “I really like the operating light – it’s very focused and intense, which makes it easy to work with.”

Planmeca's dental units allow clinicians to work ergonomically by getting close to the patient.

Still, for Terzidou, perhaps the most valuable feature of the unit has been its user-friendly design which enables easy access to the patient. “It’s the cut of the chair,” notes Terzidou. “The whole shape of the dental unit allows the dentist to get very close to the patient’s mouth and to work easily around them. For me, this is the most important consideration, because as dentists we live in our practices half of our lives.”

As a result, in both Katerini and Athens it looks like the Planmeca Compact i units are there to stay. “I’ve had my unit for a while now and had no problem at all learning to use it,” says Iordanoglou. Terzidou, who has been using her units for over 14 years, is just as satisfied with her equipment. “I’ve never had a bad day at work because of my units. And that means that the technology has been perfect since 2003 – not only now.”

Planmeca Experience – Dr. Terzidou and Dr. Iordanoglou from Planmeca Group on Vimeo.