January 21, 2022
The importance of dental health cannot be understated. Oral well-being offers important clues about the overall health of the rest of your body. Not looking after your teeth and gums properly can lead to a number of other health issues that you may not be aware of. Bad dental health could increase the chances of diabetes, severe gum disease, and in extreme cases HIV/Aids. It’s easy to see why keeping oral bacteria under control is an essential part of living a healthy life.
Many people avoid going to the dentist unless they absolutely must. Recent studies have shown that more than 20% of patients in the United States have not visited the dentist in over a year. Blinding lights, huge hospital chairs, and uncomfortable dental tools all contribute to the unease people feel when thinking about the dentist. But new technologies in the field seek to eliminate these feelings, making visits to the dentist faster and easier for patients.
What Are Some of The New Advancements?
Artificial intelligence seems to be part and parcel of everyday human life. It’s in our mobile phones, laptops, and computers, and even our cars. AI technologies have also entered the field of dentistry. By using peripheral radiographs AI is far more accurate than humans at detecting and diagnosing tooth decay and recommending the appropriate clinical treatments. This also eliminates the need for human intervention in the mouth of the patient.
Computer-assisted design and 3D printing are now important pieces of technology used in some dentist offices today. This technology has the potential to print medicines, tools, prosthetics, and even replicas that dentists can use to tailor treatments for their patients. An example of this technology in action could be where a patient needs a crown implanted. Normally a dentist would have to make a mold of a tooth and thereafter fashion a crown by hand. 3D printing technologies eliminate the labor required and will create molds based on the specifications entered into the printer.
What Do the Dentists Say?
There have been plenty of studies into the opinions of dentists on the introduction of digital technologies into their workplaces. Many of these technologies, as described above, seem to remove some of the important labor that dentists have been practicing for centuries. As such there are large differences in the motivations of dentists to employ and use these digital technologies.
The so-called digital revolution is not something that all dentists agree on. However, dentists all tend to agree that patients should schedule meetings with their dentists every 6 months. Dr William Moore from Roanoke, VA recommends that children see a dentist 6 months after the eruption of their first tooth, and retain this habit for life. Finding a reliable dentist nowadays shouldn’t be a problem, as parents can simply do a quick Google search for Dentist Roanoke VA, for instance, and make an appointment online or over the phone. Dentists in other states agree with Dr. Moore; Californian dentist Michelle Wang says that prevention is better than cure, and everyone should plan for bi-annual visits.
This agreement is grounded in the fact that apart from general tooth hygiene, regular visits to your dentist could help to spot any potential issues such as excessive tooth grinding, and gum diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis. With the use of new technology, these issues may get spotted even earlier, allowing dentists to take action long before they have a chance to develop.