“Digital Dentistry” is part of the cutting edge of the profession–and an amazing one at that. The field of dentistry is rapidly advancing with the adoption of emerging digital imaging and manufacturing technologies. At Claremont Dental Arts, we aim to deliver top-notch care. This includes incorporating new technologies while ensuring our patients understand their role in our practice. Towards that end, we’re going to explore a few of these new tools in this blog and hopefully make them a little more familiar to you.
3D Imaging in Dentistry
3D imagining is a powerful development in dentistry, enabling a wide variety of diagnostic and treatment options that were previously inaccessible. Utilizing a series of processes with names like “cone-beam computed tomography”, 3D imaging allows dentists to create detailed three-dimensional images of the various features in the oral cavity: teeth, bones, joints, and more. This allows dentists to perform diagnostic procedures more efficiently; detecting and visualizing teeth, detecting and diagnosing un-emerged or malformed teeth, evaluating the jaws and face, assessing cleft palates, detecting and analyzing caries, evaluating endodontic conditions, and evaluating and diagnosing dental trauma.
These are huge steps forward in dental diagnosis, enabling dentists to understand patients’ needs and provide appropriate care. However, there’s more to it–3D imaging in dentistry also allows dentists and endodontists to use those images to create better dental prosthetics, including implants, bridges, dentures, and inlays/onlays. These procedures are not just cosmetic but enable dentists to fix gaps, misshapen teeth, and other issues, improving patients’ quality of life.
Digital X-Rays for Dental Care
X-rays are a foundational medical technology, the first effective tool that allowed medical professionals to view and diagnose issues within the body without resorting to exploratory surgery. However, x-rays too have advanced with advances in technology, dental care has improved significantly. Digital X-rays, with their enhanced sensitivity and refinement, have become a valuable tool in modern dentistry. They offer the benefits of using a lower radiation dose compared to traditional X-rays, making them a safer option. They’re more effective due to producing a more detailed image and doing so far more quickly, and transmissible–healthcare providers can now share X-ray images instantly thanks to digital X-ray technology.
Intra-Oral Cameras in Dental Exams
X-rays and 3D imaging aren’t the only dental tools that spring from digital technology adoption. Video cameras were relatively rare in dentists’ offices twenty years ago, as the imaging devices were large, cumbersome, and delivered relatively low-quality images. Now that digital cameras have become smaller, more effective, and far more cost-efficient, they have earned a place in dental care. Intra-oral cameras allow your dentist to take a real-time look inside your mouth in a far more detailed way than a simple visual exam allows. These cameras take the form of small hand-held wands, which are easy to use, unobtrusive, and capture detailed images showing the features inside the mouth, cracks, caries, or other damage to teeth, and other issues that your dentist will want to see. They make diagnosis more effective and more detailed, leading to a better outcome for the patient.
Advanced Dental Technology at Claremont Dental Arts
Your teeth are meant to last a lifetime, and at Claremont Dental Arts our team works together to ensure you get the best possible results with every visit. Our dental team utilizes advanced dental technologies–digital X-rays, intraoral cameras, 3D imaging, and more–to bring the best possible quality of care to our patients. If you’re due for an exam and cleaning or have another dental question, get in touch today and make an appointment.
