Latest terms in dentistry

Air Abrasion

Instead of using a conventional drill, the dentist is able to remove decay with a wand-like device that has a small opening through which minute particles are sprayed in a thin stream of air. As these particles bounce-off the tooth they are collected by a large suction hose. These same particles are commonly found in toothpaste and are harmless if swallowed. Air abrasion is commonly used on children and small shallow cavities. It emits a windy sound (unlike the noisy drill) and in numerous situations no anesthesia is required. You may however feel some coolness. Air Abrasion cannot be used for extensive work like caps (crowns), removing old silver fillings, and will require anesthesia if the decay is deep.

Power Whitening

This allows your dentist to whiten your straight teeth in one or two hours using a concentrated whitening agent, which is thought to be activated and intensified, by using a special beam of light. This is very similar to the whitening offered by the much-commercialized Britesmile Whitening Centers. The cost averages around $500. Although the results are immediate, the result differs between individuals and for maintenance it should be followed up with the Take Home System. Power whitening is for those who do not want to be bothered wearing the bleaching trays. Keep in mind that whitening fades with time (6 months to 2years) and the Home System gives you the best value. Besides being less expensive ($150-$300) the home system allows you to touch up the whitening every 6 months for a night or two to keep them white. This consists of custom-made trays, which holds the whitening against the tooth either overnight or for an hour if you are using a stronger percentage of bleach. If cost were not a factor, power whitening followed up by the one-hour take home system would be ideal. Recent research has shown that the use of light, including that of the so called ‘laser lights’, to magnify the bleaching process has made little difference to the whitening process.

Cosmetic Imaging

A picture is worth a thousand words. Using a Dental Imaging system, the dentist photographs your straight teeth while smiling which is then immediately viewed on a monitor. Together with your dentist, you can alter the shape, color, length and proportions of your straight teeth with the click of a mouse. By graphically altering your straight teeth before beginning cosmetic treatment gives you an idea of what your new smile could look like. Be cautious as this an approximation. What changes are done on the monitor may not exactly match what the dentist is capable of creating. If the dentist does not have an imaging system you can request a diagnostic wax-up. This is a stone mould of your straight teeth which is cosmetically altered using tooth colored wax. Before doing any cosmetic dentistry ask to see some before-and-after photos of cases your dentist has actually completed himself.

CAD / CAM

This is a sophisticated machine which is able to manufacture your crown (cap) chair-side in a single dental appointment without having to send it to a laboratory to have it fabricated. This saves you having to wear a temporary cap for 2 weeks and makes a second dental visit to get it fitted unnecessary. Using a 3-D camera the dentist freezes an image of the prepared tooth on a computer. From the image the computer designs the crown. The computer then send a signal to a small milling machine which then cuts the cap from a solid tooth colored ceramic block. The crown is then fitted and bonded into place. It saves the dentist and you time but at $75 000 only a few dentists in the USA have one. Some opponents believe that the fit of these machined crowns are not as accurate as the conventional laboratory method.

Current concepts in dentistry

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