Dental Technology

DR. CRAIG GOLDIN: We are so proud to offer the latest and best technologies to our patients, whether it's digital x-rays, which allow us to reduce the amount of radiation given to our patients when they have an x-ray taken as much as 80% or a laser cavity detector, called a Diagnodent, which allows us to check for cavities on the chewing surfaces of the teeth--those are really incredible technologies that we didn't have years ago. The CEREC machine is a really incredible technology that allows a patient to receive a dental crown in the very same day that their tooth is prepared. In other offices where they have a crown done, they have to receive a temporary crown and have a messy impression made of their mouth. They usually have to come back for a second or third visit. Using our CEREC 3-D technology, we can give our patients their crown the very same day that they have the tooth prepared. Our soft tissue laser is a great instrument to allow us to trim and contour gum tissues as well as remove pathologies that might exist in somebody's mouth without using a scalpel. The benefits of the laser is there's typically much less discomfort from that procedure than if a traditional metal scalpel had be used as opposed to the laser. You as a patient might appreciate having the laser done if you had excessive gum tissue and perhaps when you smiled, you had too much gum tissue showing. We might remove excessive gum tissue with this instrument. Also minor procedures like somebody who is kind of tongue-tied and their tongue doesn't extend as far--that can easily be handled with the laser. If you have a large canker sore, something that's uncomfortable, the laser can remove that ulcer in just one visit. The laser is a really wonderful instrument to use if a patient comes in and on one side of the mouth, the gum tissue is at a different height than that on the other side of the mouth. It allows us to even things up very easily, very painlessly. The Velscope is an oral cancer screening device that allows us, using special lamps and special filters, to allow us to look at the oral tissues and see oral cancer at an earlier stage than ever before. Oral cancer is very prevalent, and it's really important that the dentist be looking for that every time the patient comes in for their dental hygiene visit.