Royal Oak and Birmingham, MI
If you had a cavity when you were younger, what did repairing the tooth entail? You might remember a dentist removing the damaged portion of your tooth with a drill, or the application of a semi-solid goop to make an impression of the tooth so that your filling could be fabricated. And before any of that, you probably received an injection with an incredibly long needle … you know, so you don’t feel anything. Modern dentistry has progressed rapidly in the past few decades and the advancements are not stopping anytime soon.
Now, imagine getting another cavity and going to your dentist, but repairing your tooth is as simple as having a laser beam shot into your mouth, followed by a quick injection of a paste. This may sound like science fiction but it is closer to being reality than you might think. Today on the blog, we take a look ahead to the future of dental technology and how it can improve your care in Royal Oak.
Laser technology: This is already present in many dental practices at the forefront of the field. At Hartrick Dentistry, we currently employ lasers in the form of a diagnodent pen, which can be used to detect tooth decay with 98% accuracy simply by exposing areas of your mouth to the laser light. This is just a taste of what lasers could accomplish in the field of dentistry. In time, lasers may replace drills, and treatments with lasers can be completed with virtually no discomfort, eliminating the need for local anesthetics or numbing pastes.
Regenerating teeth with electrical current: Move over, Doctor Frankenstein! In recent years, dentists created a potentially revolutionary process to remineralize areas of tooth decay through the application of electrical current. This has the chance to alter the way dentists do business and repair teeth. Imagine if, in the future, repairing a cavity is as simple as zapping it with electrical current and letting the tooth heal itself, thus removing the need to receive a filling.
Ultraviolet lights: The use of ultraviolet light is already rather common in dentistry. Using a handheld device, your dentist can expose any troublesome areas of your mouth to a fluorescent ultraviolet light as part of an oral cancer screening. The continued widespread use of this technology can help lead to detection of oral cancer more quickly, thus lowering the mortality rate from cancers of this type.
Digital dentistry: Digital technology has changed almost every aspect of our society. It has altered the way we work, shop and learn. It has also transformed the way dentists care for their patients. Hartrick Dentistry already makes use of digital technology in multiple ways. We store patient records digitally, use a digital X-ray system that is more precise and emits far less radiation than a traditional X-ray machine and capture images of your teeth that get transmitted directly to our computer system thanks to our intraoral camera.
Using state-of-the-art dental technology to provide care
Dr. Nancy Hartrick believes that advanced technology represents a commitment to providing the highest level of care to her patients in Royal Oak, Birmingham and the surrounding areas in Michigan. If you would like to learn more about how we apply technology at our dental practice or schedule a tour of our office, contact Hartrick Dentistry today by calling (248) 549-0950.