Cool Dental Technology we use everyday

GrandviewDental | August 25, 2008

The innovations in technology are everywhere in the world today… even dentistry!  In today’s post I am going to talk about a few; digital x rays, Diagnodent(laser cavity detector), and tooth colored fillings.

Digital X Rays

Digital X ray technology provides us with a clear picture of your teeth and allows us to better diagnose what is going on in your mouth.  We can “zoom in” on the digital x ray to clearly show the patient the decay.  It only requires a small amount of radiation to further limit a patient’s exposure.  And digital xray is FAST so you don’t have to wait in the chair for your films to be developed.

Diagnodent (the laser cavity detector)

 The earlier decay is found in a tooth, the less expensive it is to fix, a big bonus for you.  This device allows us to find decay at it’s earliest stages.  The Diagnodent is a portable laser device that detects decay in teeth by measuring the fluorescence of the enamel.

We use the diagnodent before we use sealants on your child’s teeth so we aren’t “sealing in” any decay.

Tooth Colored Fillings

Back in the day when you had a filling the material used was about a 50/50 mix of silver and mercury.  This material corrodes and gets darker and darker as it spends time in your mouth. 

It also doesn’t create a tight seal to your existing tooth which means more decay could form underneath the filling.  And you could see it!  Even if a old filling is in the back of your mouth people can see it when you talk, eat, or break into a huge laugh. 

Today’s materials are a composite resin that we bond to the tooth to provide an excellent seal and actually helps strengthen the tooth. And we can match the color of the surrounding teeth to the point that no one can see the filling except maybe your dentist.

And this is only a sampling of the technology in our office because I didn’t want to write a very long blog post I’m trying to keep it brief.  So, if you haven’t been to see your dentist in a while, come see us!  Dental Technology is always changing and we try hard to stay on the cutting edge to better serve our patients!  And we think it’s cool!