Monday, April 14, 2014

The Future of Bright, Healthy Smiles?


For years, creating a crown for a patient suffering from a cracked or broken tooth has been known as a complex process. At Kern Dental Specialties - your trusted dentist in Bakersfield - it's a procedure we're very familiar with. As a team of renowned dental professionals who relieve dental needs like cracked and traumatized teeth, we're always keenly aware of which procedures can cause the most discomfort for our patients - and we work hard to ensure these issues are limited as much as possible.

A crown commonly involves having a model of the tooth and surrounding area made using a mold, sending the impression to a dental laboratory to make the crown, having a temporary restoration put in place, waiting a week or more for the finished crown, and returning for a second visit to have the crown removed and new crown cemented in it's place. 

Yet, the cutting-edge new procedure, referred to as a "same-day crown" or a "crown while you wait", involves taking a digital scan of the mouth using ans intra-oral camera. A 3-D image of the teeth and gums then appears on a computer screen, and based on the position, size and shape of the damaged tooth, computer software will suggest the ideal dimensions of the needed crown.

The "same day crown" procedure is only one of many procedures that are being dramatically changed by new technology. Others include digital radiography and x-rays, cone-beam computed tomography (CT) imaging and even digital dentures.

As the root canal dentist Bakersfield trusts to provide effective, gentle dentistry with truly stunning results, our team at Kern Dental Specialties will certainly continue to keep up with all the latest advances in dentistry. Our endodontist in Bakersfield provides customers with exceptional endodontic retreatment and implant surgery, among other dental needs.