Over the last 20 years or so, the dental industry has seen vast technological improvements. There have been significant leaps in the industry’s ability to diagnose and treat a wide range of dental conditions, and the ability to accomplish incredible feats of aesthetic remodeling cannot be understated.
Patients can now well and truly take their dental care into their own hands – and at a lower cost than ever before. In this article, you’ll learn about three particularly impressive innovations.
The Benefits of 3D Printing
The field of 3D printing has made waves for its impressive application within a number of different industries, modernizing the entire manufacturing process. When it comes to its application in dentistry, there are similarly major benefits.
From crowns and bridges to aligners, dentures, and even titanium hardware for orthognathic procedures, 3D printing offers greater accuracy, lower cost, and a much more refined result than traditional methods.
Patient comfort is greatly enhanced, and in many cases, the dental appliances required can be manufactured in-house as opposed to being outsourced to a different company (thanks to the combination of state-of-the-art software and hardware with a low footprint).
Given the fact that this technology improves significantly every year, 3D printing is expected to continue to revolutionize dentistry well into the future.
Better Materials for a More Seamless Finish
Improvements to standard procedures such as fillings have been slowly underway for years, but dentists are now at a point where they can flawlessly match a patient’s natural tooth shades thanks to one-shade flowable composite.
The material works by way of reflecting the natural tooth’s color, which means when viewed to the naked eye, the transition from enamel to filling is indistinguishable. This sort of material also means that dentists don’t have to spend as much money, because they don’t need to purchase multiple different shades. It’s common for dentists to have a huge amount of products to arrange and sort through, and simplifying inventory management in this way makes the entire process more efficient – both for the dentist and for the patient.
The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry
Artificial intelligence has permeated virtually every industry at this point, and only continues to grow. While debates rage on about both the ethics and efficacy of its application, its helpfulness in certain situations cannot be understated.
In dentistry, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly more common for diagnostics and treatment planning. AI can now be used to quickly assess an X-ray for signs of tooth and root damage, and the tech has been helping dentists to be more precise when planning complicated orthodontic treatments.
For instance, AI has been used to simulate the final results of a course of orthodontic braces, giving further assurance that plans are correct. Alongside a high-quality CBCT scan, it can also be used to help plan where dental implants need to go.
Wrapping Up
The above technologies and practices represent only three ways in which dentistry continues to evolve into exciting new territories. Who knows what the future may bring, and what may be on the horizon for better patient care and more consistent outcomes!
