Folktandvården Stockholm AB

Gisella Murguia Norlander

Gisella Murguia Norlander, a general dentist at Folktandvården Stockholm AB, trained in Peru and Sweden. She owned a dental office in Lima before moving to Stockholm in 2000. Passionate about dentistry, she enjoys nature, sailing, reading, and yoga.

In an exclusive interview with Healthcare Tech Outlook Europe, she sahred her perspective on the evolving healthcare landscape, including the challenges and advancements.

1. Could you share some key highlights from your professional journey and the experiences that led you to your current role at Folktandvården Stockholm AB?

The principal key in my career is passion, and I have to help people and constantly improve my knowledge. I worked in Peru as a dentist in urban and rural communities. In rural communities, tooth decay was a minimal problem, so we have worked with prevention in the first place. I have worked in some communities in need of health in the north of Peru, together with colleagues who love to provide help. We took our equipment and instruments to places that were almost forgotten and performed extractions, curing tooth decay and learning about the prevention of caries.

Helping people in need of care in Peru with simple treatments gave me a lot of experience. Understanding the great need that exists in humanity when it comes to dental care gave me meaning in my profession. I worked in a Military Hospital in Peru, and a simple tooth status could be very important in case of need for recognition of a body or the importance of dental health in case of war. And working in rural places with my own dental equipment and my colleagues was an important experience for us.

“It´s important to stay updated through the constant training, reading the latest developments in dentistry and exchange knowledge with colleagues.”

I have worked at Folktandvården Stockholm since 2005 with children, young adults and older adults, helping with their dental health. Every treatment we offer with quality has led me to execute more complicated treatments like dentoalveolar surgery and implant surgery.

2. As a general dentist in today´s evolving healthcare landscape, what are some of the biggest challenges you face, and how do you approach them?

The biggest challenges I face is the expectations of the patients. We will offer the best treatments to reach a good oral health to our patients. Oral health plays and important role in overall health. Establishing good dental habits, like brushing and flossing keeps excess bacteria under control and prevents infections in the mouth and other parts of the body.

Inform our patients about different treatment options to recover a tooth or oral rehabilitation. Oral rehabilitation is a comprehensive dental treatment approach aimed at restoring the function, comfort, and aesthetics of a patient´s oral cavity often involving procedures like implants, crowns and bridges.

General dentists at folktandvården Stockholm teach patients, parents and kids the importance of creating good habits to last a lifetime. We will have the proper screening and treatment to prevent future dental problems. We recommend taken your child to the dentist after they first tooth appears and get information for maintain lifelong oral health. Our best advice is drink water when they are thirsty and avoid soda as well as sweets. Some children eating candy once a week. And show parents to brush their children´s teeth.

3. With dentistry constantly advancing through new technologies and methodologies, how do you stay updated and what strategies do you use to integrate new knowledge into your practice?

New technologies and methodologies in dentistry is constantly advancing, therefore is important to stay updated. Digital x-rays show the image immediately on a computer, scanning teeth and gums converted into three-dimensional models on a computer, CBCT, and others several digital methods have been incorporated to dental practice to replace conventional methods and techniques in order to enhance treatment, planning and execution.

It´s important to stay updated through the constant training, reading the latest developments in dentistry and exchange knowledge with colleagues.

The introduction of digital dentistry makes possible to present the final result to our patient and adjust the plan based on their wishes regarding the esthetics and treatment timeline. We offer a dental treatment with digital precision and accuracy.

Digital solutions like scanning allow dentists to take impressions quicker and avoid all the difficulties that physical impression may cause like gag-reflex or teeth hypersensitivity to cold agents.

Digital dental technologies speed up processes for labs and dentists, which allows us to help more patients.

4. Have there been any recent technological innovations at Folktandvården Stockholm that have had a significant impact on patient care? If so, how have they improved treatments and outcomes?

Folktandvården Stockholm is one of the leading dental companies in Europe. We are a county company, and we provide high-quality professional dental care. We are constantly evolving. We update our dental equipment with the latest version in our scanner, journal program, panoramic x-ray, implant surgery, and x-ray program, which helps us identify any anatomical and surgical limitations. When we work with dental implants, it is important to scrutinize the exact volume and quality of the bone; this can be assessed early in the diagnostic phase through CBCT and CT.

5. What advice would you give to new dentists entering the field, particularly regarding the integration of technology into their practice?

Modern dentistry gives us the possibility to help our patients in an effective way and achieve better results. It´s important to invest in your dental office and your knowledge.

The placement of osseointegrated dental implants has become a common and routine procedure in clinical dental practice. Implant therapy must be oriented towards the prosthetic rehabilitation of the patient with the goal of functional and aesthetic restoration. But don´t forget that the best treatment is to save the patient´s own teeth.

Enjoy your career, enjoy every day at work and give the best of you in each case, in each patient. And constantly update your knowledge.