Dental Technology
At our dental office, we believe in finding ways to improve the overall dental experience. One of the ways our dentist and team do this is by implementing quality dental technology.
CEREC Same-Day Crowns
Imagine a chipped tooth, a cracked molar, a sudden dental drama casting a shadow over your day. Traditionally, the fix meant multiple appointments, temporary crowns, and weeks of waiting. But enter CEREC, a revolutionary technology reshaping the dental landscape, offering a shining solution: same-day crowns.
CEREC, standing for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics, is a marvel of modern dentistry. It transforms the crown-making process, ditching the waiting game for streamlined efficiency. Instead of sending impressions off to a lab, CEREC lets your dentist become a sculptor in minutes.
Digital Impressions
Getting digital impressions at the dentist is a modern, non-invasive alternative to traditional “goopy” putty molds. The process uses an intraoral scanner—a small, handheld wand about the size of an electric toothbrush—to capture thousands of high-resolution 3D images of your teeth and gums in real time.
How the Process Works
Preparation: Your dentist ensures the area is clean and dry. In some cases, a light, titanium-based powder might be applied to your teeth to help the scanner capture more detail.
Scanning: The dentist or assistant glides the wand over your dental arches. Most full-arch scans take between 30 seconds and two minutes to complete.
Real-Time Visualization: As the wand moves, a precise 3D model of your mouth appears instantly on a chairside monitor.
Review and Transfer: The dentist reviews the digital model for accuracy and can instantly transmit the files to a dental lab or an in-office milling machine for same-day restorations like crowns.
Key Benefits
Enhanced Comfort: It eliminates the bulky trays and sticky materials that often trigger the gag reflex.
Superior Accuracy: The 3D mapping provides highly precise details, leading to better-fitting crowns, bridges, and clear aligners with fewer manual errors.
Faster Turnaround: Digital files reach labs instantly, significantly shortening treatment timelines compared to shipping physical mold.
Digital X-Rays
Dental radiographs, commonly known as dental x-rays, are extremely useful for the diagnosis of different ailments that could endanger the health of your mouth, teeth, and gums. Of course, these services are not just exclusive to adults. It is an extremely common need to view the healthy development of teeth and gums for children, particularly those that have not yet crowned above the surface.
Children are at a much higher risk than adults of developing tooth decay, especially around the time they are losing their baby teeth and trading them in for their adult biters and molars.
Our dental team has the proper training and procedures to comply with the most stringent AAPD standards to offer the best possible care for your child or teenager.
What are Dental X-rays?
Radiographs, or x-rays, have been an important development in the field of medicine for many years. X-rays are a great and versatile tool that helps to diagnose and identify exactly the root cause of an issue.
X-Rays, in general, are great for:
- Identifying whether there is enough space, primarily when there are incoming teeth for the child.
- Estimating whether baby teeth are being shed in an appropriate amount of time to make room for the stronger, adult teeth.
- Monitoring tooth decay.
- Diagnosing cavities and tooth decay to stop the problem from developing further.
- Periodically used to examine more dangerous issues, such as tumors, injuries and to plan further treatment.
Intra Oral Scanner
The CEREC PrimeScan 1 and the newer, often wireless, PrimeScan 2 are advanced intraoral scanners used in dentistry to capture highly detailed, full-color 3D digital impressions of a patient’s mouth. This technology replaces uncomfortable traditional goop-filled impression trays, enhancing patient comfort and making the process faster and cleaner.
The resulting precise 3D models are immediately used with CAD/CAM software for efficient in-house design and fabrication of various dental restorations such as same-day crowns, veneers, bridges, and implants.
These scanners also streamline the digital workflow for planning orthodontic treatments (like clear aligners), creating surgical guides, and diagnosing conditions, with the PrimeScan 2 adding advanced features like cloud integration and caries detection.
Whether you need a crown, bridge, or veneers, our Intra-Oral Scanner ensures a fast, smooth experience with highly accurate results.
T-Scan® Occlusal Analysis
The T-Scan® Occlusal Analysis system is a digital diagnostic tool used by dentists to precisely evaluate how your teeth meet and function. Unlike traditional methods that use articulating paper (thin, colored strips) to mark contact points, T-Scan provides a dynamic “movie” of your bite. This allows your dentist to see not just where your teeth touch, but also the timing and force of those contacts in increments as small as 0.003 seconds.
How It Works
The process is simple and non-invasive. You bite down on an ultra-thin, handheld sensor connected to a computer. As you move your jaw, the software generates a 2D or 3D map showing exactly where the pressure is highest and which teeth are making contact first.
- Precision Adjustments: It identifies “high spots” or premature contacts that are invisible to the naked eye.
- Protection for Restorations: By balancing bite forces, it helps prevent fractures in crowns, bridges, and dental implants.
- TMJ and Pain Management: It can help diagnose and treat issues like jaw pain (TMD) or tooth sensitivity caused by an uneven bite.
- Clear Communication: You can view your bite on a monitor, making it easier to understand the source of discomfort and the proposed treatment.
T-Scan is particularly valuable for patients receiving multiple restorations or those experiencing chronic jaw issues.
VELscope® Oral Cancer Screening
The VELscope® Oral Cancer Screening system is a non-invasive, handheld device that helps dental professionals detect oral abnormalities, including precancerous and cancerous cells, that may not be visible to the naked eye.
How the Technology Works
The device uses a specialized blue excitation light to stimulate natural tissue fluorescence. When viewed through the patented optical filter:
Healthy tissue naturally fluoresces and appears as a bright, apple-green color.
Abnormal tissue—which can indicate trauma, inflammation, or early-stage cancer—absorbs the light and appears significantly darker.
The Screening Process
A typical exam is quick, taking only about two to three minutes. It is typically performed alongside a conventional oral exam (COE) where the dentist visually inspects and feels the mouth and neck for lumps. For the VELscope portion, the room lights are often dimmed to enhance the visibility of the fluorescence.
Why It Is Used
Early detection is critical, as it can significantly increase survival rates for oral cancer patients. While a dark spot under the VELscope is not an immediate diagnosis of cancer, it alerts your dentist to areas that may require closer monitoring or a follow-up biopsy—the gold standard for a definitive diagnosis.
