Going to the dentist might not be your favorite thing â especially if you are anxious or have had a bad experience with a painful treatment.
But youâd be surprised at how advancements in dentistry have led to more comfortable and thorough treatments with the help of technology. If you need a filling, that painful drill is no longer your only option!
Even if you always follow good dental practices, youâll still need to get regular checkups and might seek cosmetic dentistry options.
Read on to learn about five advancements in new dental technology and how they might help you.
1. Invisible Orthodontics
When you needed braces, you used to be stuck with a mouth of metal and would have to make frequent appointments to get your braces adjusted. But thanks to the newest dental technology, you can now use clear trays to align your teeth and simply switch these out every week or two.
The most popular option is the Invisalign aligner system, which can handle minor to complex cases and shorten your treatment time in half in some cases. While you will need to wear these trays 22 hours a day, you can simply remove the trays from your mouth when you eat or brush your teeth â an option you donât have with traditional braces!
2. Digital Smile Design
If youâre interested in cosmetic dentistry, new dental technologies allow your dentist to create a digital design of your teeth so that you can see how treatments such as veneers and Invisalign will make you look.Â
To create an image of your teeth, your dentist uses an imaging wand connected to a computer to build a 3D model. You can even watch the image while itâs being made and then go through different treatment scenarios to find which you like the best.Â
You can contact a dentist to check it out!
3. Dental Implants
Whether you lost teeth due to aging, disease, or injury, your only options used to be dentures or bridges. New dental implant technology has changed this to make it possible to replace individual teeth or even your entire set.
When you get a new dental implant, your dentist places an artificial tooth root, often made of metal, into your jaw. Youâll get a crown placed over that tooth root, similar to how you would if you got a crown on an existing tooth.
If somewhere were to happen to the replaced tooth or it wears down over time, you can simply replace the crown.
4. Laser Dental Treatments
New dental technologies also have led to the use of lasers in the dentist office. Not only can your dentist use a laser to detect cavities earlier, but you can even have more complex treatments done more comfortably with the help of lasers.
Using lasers to fill cavities can allow dentists to remove less of your tooth structure and also avoid anesthesia in many cases. Lasers can also speed up tooth whitening procedures.
Even treatments like getting rid of tooth sensitivity, removing tumors, and repairing your gums can use the help of lasers.Â
5. Improved X-Rays and Imaging
New x-ray and imaging technologies now allow dentists to expose you to less radiation and also get better pictures of your mouth.
You might already be familiar with digital x-rays, which many dental offices use as part of your regular dental checkups. This quicker imaging option cuts your radiation exposure by up to 90 percent!
Dentists can also get 3-D images of your whole jaw, teeth, and skull with the help of cone beam CT scanners. This assists dentists better with treatments such as dental implants and wisdom teeth extraction.
Take Advantage of New Dental Technology
Whether itâs time for your next dental checkup or youâre interested in improving your smile, itâs worth meeting with your dentist to see what kind of new dental technology offered in their office.
You might need to do some research and explore other dental offices in your area since some do not yet offer all these services. Itâs also worth checking out a specialist like an orthodontist or cosmetic dentist who could be likely to offer advancements in these areas.
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