Every profession has its tools and dentistry is no different. Does today’s technology mean the days of painful dentistry are over? That might be a stretch, but machines can help us to be less invasive than we were in your grandfather’s day.
Dentistry, as with other health care fields, has evolved due to technological innovations.
Here is a list of the equipment we have at Sana Dental and how we use it for dental treatment.
X-rays are a necessary part of dental care. We use them to detect damage and disease that may not be visible during a regular dental exam.
Digital x-rays use an electronic sensor instead of x-ray film. Once the image is taken, it’s stored on our computers.
With computer software we can adjust the image’s colour, contrast and brightness, if needed, to assist us in analyzing your x-rays.
Digital x-rays allow us to minimize your exposure to radiation as much as possible.
Not all dental issues have obvious symptoms. That’s where an intra-oral camera comes in handy. The camera itself looks like a large pen that is attached to a computer, allowing you to see what he or she is seeing on the monitor.
Many dentists use an intra-oral camera for educational purposes. For the majority of us, seeing dental issues in the nooks and crannies of our mouths is difficult, sometimes impossible. By showing you what’s going on in your mouth, your dentist can help you understand the issue, and the treatment recommended to resolve it.
Lasers have been used to treat a number of dental problems since the mid-1990s. Dental lasers are typically used for:
Dental lasers work by administering energy in the form of light. This energy acts as a cutting instrument when used for dental surgery or gum disease treatment. The light energy of lasers is also used to “cure” fillings.
The BioPak Evaluation System is a computerized TMJ diagnostic tool. It helps your dentist to assess your jaw joints by:
All this data can be provided to you in a format that is easy for you to read and understand. For more information about the BioPak Evaluation System, visit www.myotronics.com.
TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. This small, battery-powered unit is often referred to as “the best part” of a TMJ diagnosis. Why? It is where the pain is temporarily relieved.
Using electrodes placed on your head, neck, and shoulders, the TENS unit sends mild electrical stimulation to the muscles surrounding your jaw. While you relax in a comfortable chair for 45 to 60 minutes, this repeated stimulation gradually relaxes your jaw muscles, perhaps for the first time in years. The pain caused by chronic stress also fades away.
Once your jaw muscles have relaxed the jaw joint into its optimum position, your dentist has enough information to plan your TMJ treatment options.
