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REFERENCES and very patient. If he was an Aussie, or even
worse a Kiwi, he would have been up front,
Facial skeleton on a desktop and told me the truth about myself: that I
really didn’t know everything.

Suddenly Exploring the device

I was familiar with the 5x5 cm volume, using

patients, referrers, 100 μm unbinned voxels, useful for local
and other non- tooth-centric pathology, such as for fine
surgical doctors, hairline cracks in teeth, or for pre-endodontic
could understand canal assessment. Well, that’s useful for a
general dentist and provides spectacular

what I was talking imaging, but I experimented further.

about. Everyone On that next day, after
just “got it”. Planmeca had installed

my machine and Jouko

was on a 26-hour-journey

“In February 2010, Mr Jouko Nykänen and About me back home to Helsinki,
a whole new universe of
Mr Kare Hanttu from Planmeca Oy, came Maybe I should have started as first here. I

to my office in Newcastle, Australia. Though have been a little remiss in making personal understanding hit me
I didn’t know it at the time, their visit was introductions. Let me cut back a few steps. like a sledge hammer,
to become a personally momentous, life fairly and squarely, right
changing event. I work as a facial reconstruction surgeon in the middle of my well
in Newcastle. Along a journey of around 20
In October 2010, I had the pleasure of years of professional training, I’ve studied in

coming to Helsinki. It’s quite a long trip; even Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and developed forehead.
when you are flying business class. When last year I got an honorary fellowship from

30 Jouko and Kare had come to Newcastle, the Royal College of Surgeons of England: There were the slightly bigger volumes, 8 x

I had no idea that they had travelled so far. A small honour. I’m also a Surgeon Lieutenant 8 cm and then also 15 x 15 cm. They looked

Likewise, I really had no idea about what they Commander with the Royal Australian Navy good, with variations between 100 μm to

were installing for me, the amount of effort reserves. I have four kids, quite a few staff, all 600 μm voxels. There were spectacular ways

that came about in developing what they young women who make me look good, and of viewing things.

had installed, or the size of the background a large wholly-referrer based private practice. The biggest volume was a massive

team or the institution that was involved in I am 42 years old. 34 x 34 cm, at 400 μm resolution, and I took

developing their device. My day job consists of rebuilding faces, a picture of my own head with it. Interesting,

In fact, I really had no idea what I would and jaws, cutting things out, and putting most I thought, how such a huge brain was in such

need their machine for. There was not another things back in. Some people think of people a little head.

one for 15,000 km in any global direction. My like me as glorified over-qualified dentists. Sure But a little later in the day, I discovered the

colleagues had bought what I thought were I cut out teeth, but usually with other bits of 17 x 34 cm volume.

similar CBCT machines from Sirona, Morita, facial anatomy as well. You see I am a facial skeletal surgeon.

Imtec, Gendex, Vatec and Kodak. There was People try to sell me stuff, thinking that I love the facial skeleton, for it contains

no great enthusiasm from my colleagues as I could probably use it more than a dentist teeth, sinuses, eye sockets, cheek bones,

such. All of a bit of an oh-hum, and expensive down the road — and selling me a ConeBeam mandibles, maxillas, nostrils and turbinates,

kind of feel to the whole CBCT industry. I was like selling me a Cooper Mini, when really and the whole combination of this and that,

I like “the best”. I already I was used to Aston Martins; meaning high in whatever strange relationship or pathological
end radiology services like MRI’s, PET scanners, deformation. This is the stuff of true-blue

knew their other products and 64 slice spiral CT scanners. I had thought maxillofacial skeletal surgeons.
were “the best”. So I gave little of Planmeca’s ProMax 3D Max. Just And I had the whole bloody thing on
their machine a good old another CBCT, a poor cousin to what I already
Aussie go. had access to down the CT road. a desktop, infinitely detailed, in different
colours, different surface treatments,
In January 2010, I really thought I knew Hounsfield arbitrated, and with infinite

it all. In February, however, what I had in combinations of planar stacks. All of

was only buying this machine because the front of me was a machine about which a sudden I could see things, and rotate them,

local supplier here in Australia (Henry Schein I knew only how to press the “On” button and dissect them out, and the patient was in

Halas), and eventually also Jouko, had made and a promise from Jouko that it did amazing the next room. Or even better, if they were

such a good argument for it and they seemed things. sitting in the room with me, they could see it

such nice guys. And, of course, I had bought Jouko was too polite to tell me; he is all too, in an abstract and unreal, but still very

Planmeca hardware before. an overwhelmingly polite guy. He’s really nice, real, representation of themselves.