As you know, technology is changing how we live our lives. As costs come down and technology advances, entire industries are changing how they do business in order to meet customer demands. It's the same for the dental industry. This month I talk about one of the more exciting technologies -- 3D -- and how it's changing dental procedures and patients' lives.
What Does 3D Dental Technology
Mean for You?
By Dr. Helaine Smith
Dental technologies have changed considerably in the last decade. When taking X-rays, for example, dentists and patients can now view digital images chair side on a computer screen versus black and white films that have to be clipped to a lightbox. Digital images make it much easier to explain to patients what's going on in their mouths and any recommended procedures.
Other technologies, such as 3D imaging, allow oral surgeons and orthodontists to view the entire skull, musculature, nerves, and accessory canals and to perform delicate surgeries and other complex procedures without having to "approximate" as they did when using flat 2D pictures of a patient's skull and mouth.
In fact, technology is dramatically changing dental procedures themselves. For example, dentists, myself included, can now take digital impressions using advanced 3D technology. Gone are those goopy trays and having to wait weeks for the lab to develop crowns and onlays. Now it's all done in a fraction of the time with less patient discomfort.
In addition, dentists now have the option of fabricating high-quality, porcelain crowns in the office -- versus having to wait for a lab to do it -- with the new CERAC machine developed by Sirona Dental Systems.
CERAC restorations mean no more waiting
How does this technology work? The Sirona CERAC machine relies on 3D technology software -- a technology that's been in use by other industries for years but which is only now taking off within the dental industry.
Although they're made in the office in half the time, the quality of these "one-visit crowns" is just as high, if not higher, of crowns developed in the lab. And, like crowns made in the lab, you get superb color matching and high-end ceramic materials.
CEREC dental crowns provide a number of other patient benefits, as well. They eliminate the painful shock you normally experience with traditional crowns when eating or drinking hot or cold foods, and because the restoration and the tooth naturally expand and contract at almost equal rates, you'll no longer have to worry about your crown cracking.
Best of all, CERAC restorations save you considerable time. Since you no longer have to schedule multiple visits, you can literally have a new crown fitted over your lunch hour.
To date, the Sirona Dental Company has placed approximately 7,000 CERAC machines across North America -- including my Boston, Massachusetts office. To learn more, please view the Services section of our Website.
Contact Us
By phone: 617.327.1350
Through our Website: www.helainesmithdmd.com
Email: helainesmithdmd@aol.com
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