At All Smiles Family Dentistry, we are committed to using the latest and greatest technology to provide the highest quality of dental care for our patients.
If you have been to a dental office, odds are you have had x-rays taken of your mouth and teeth. Your dentist and hygienist use x-rays to get information about your oral health that may not be readily detectible with an exam alone. X-rays can reveal tooth decay and other problems that can’t be seen with the naked eye.
All of the x-rays we take at All Smiles are digital, as opposed to traditional film x-rays. Digital x-rays expose you to much less radiation (around 75% less), and you do not have to wait for the picture to develop like with film. The majority of patients also find the process of getting digital x-rays taken to be more comfortable than film.
Click here to read more about the digital x-rays we take at All Smiles Family Dentistry!
All Smiles Family Dentistry is proud to have a 3-D imaging x-ray device at our practice. This top-of-the-line machine takes high-detail three-dimensional images that show the entire jaw and mouth. These are known as “cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans.” This technology is extremely similar to the computer-assisted tomography (CAT) scans that are taken by doctors in other specialties, though the dose of radiation required for CBCT scans is significantly lower when compared to CAT scans.
CBCT technology is often referred to as the “gold standard” for taking images of the mouth and jaw. These 3-D images are especially useful when diagnosing issues with the jaw joint and are helpful in placing dental implants, creating plans for tooth extractions, and performing root canals.
We also partner with 3DDiagnostix, whose board-certified radiologists specialize in reading the type of 3-D x-rays taken by our CBCT machine. As a dental office, our expertise lies in diagnosing and treating conditions in the mouth and jaw, but since a CBCT scan can create images of much of the head and neck, we can send our CBCT scans to be read by a specially-trained radiologist at 3D Diagnostix that has the expertise to diagnose any medical conditions that may exist in the area.
At All Smiles Family Dentistry, we use 3-D digital intraoral scanning technology in place of the old-style physical putty impressions whenever possible. Our digital scanning system from Medit is easy to use, fast, convenient, comfortable, and—above all—extremely accurate.
The Medit scanning system can be thought of as working similarly to radar; the scanner projects a beam of light onto its target and measures how much time it takes for the light to come back to its source (much like how radar measures how long it takes for the powerful waves it sends out to deflect off of objects in the sky and return). From these digital impressions, the scanner forms incredibly precise three-dimensional computer models of a patient’s teeth and gums.
Depending on the patient’s treatment needs, we either send the scans to one of our partner dental labs for fabrication of the items needed or use the scans to produce several types of 3-D printable appliances right here at our practice. Items such as crowns, bridges, and dentures have to made by a specialized dental lab that has the equipment and expertise to work with ceramic and similar materials, but our in-house 3-D printing equipment can produce items like biteguards and temporary healing dentures and partials. Read more about our 3-D printing technology below!
All Smiles Family Dentistry is proud to make use of in-house dental 3-D printing technology. 3-D printing in dentistry is a recent development. Over the last few years, the technology has become much more affordable and accessible to dentists.
We use our 3-D printing equipment in tandem with our intraoral scanner to take three-dimensional digital impressions of a patient’s mouth. With these digital impressions, we can print a multitude of items that we would normally have to have fabricated by a specialized dental lab and shipped to us, a process that can take several weeks.
Items we can fabricate here in-house include:
- Highly-detailed physical models of a patient’s teeth and gums
- Custom-fitted biteguards to prevent teeth grinding and clenching at night
- Temporary healing dentures and partials for after teeth extractions
- Custom denture impression trays in situations they are needed
We can 3-D print the aforementioned items and have them ready within just a few days a patient’s initial scanning appointment!