Get your teeth into digital dentistry

Whether you are looking for a new smile or have problem teeth to be addressed, modern dentistry presents a completely different landscape to dentistry in times of old. Advances in the fields of cosmetic and restorative dentistry mean that practitioners can provide a wide range of new and exciting treatment options.

At Dental House in Dublin, Dr Ronan Perry, who is president of the Orthodontic Society of Ireland, says dentistry has experienced huge advances in recent years in regards to aesthetic treatments .

There is now minimally invasive dentistry, meaning that dentists can carry out treatments with minimal or no removal of tooth structure, no drilling of the teeth, and the placement of aesthetic restorations without the use of anaesthetic.

“The introduction of composite (white filling) materials allows veneers or aesthetic treatments to be carried out in-chair in one appointment with optimal cosmetic result including the closure of gaps, masking of white/brown spots and restoring damaged teeth to their original appearance. Basically it is easier for people to get their perfect smile with less time and no drilling of teeth,” Perry says.

With the advent of 3D printing, dentists can now virtually plan their patient’s treatments digitally, present to them before treatment and very often provide them on the same day.

“This streamlined workflow is a great advantage for patients with a busy schedule and offers the dentist precise control over the final result,” Dr Tom Canning from Clontarf Aesthetic Dentistry says.

Implant solutions

“More and more, with digital planning and the ready availability of in-house CT scanning, we are able to place dental implants and attach teeth to them on the same day. Combining treatments in a single visit offers obvious time advantages to our patients. The ability to virtually design potential changes to patient’s teeth using digital impressions and present these to our patients is becoming more and more popular. Furthermore, in cases involving veneers or dental bonding we can now create 3D print guides to allow us to faithfully reproduce the design of the new teeth according to the patient’s desires, allowing a huge degree of control over the entire process,” he says.

Advancements in implant dentistry allow fixed, non-removable solutions to missing teeth.

“This is suitable for young and old, for example patients experiencing loss of teeth over the years, or dental trauma in younger years,” Perry says.

“With the right technique, such as Zygoma, people who previously were advised they were not a candidate for dental implants are now suitable. Our surgeon, Dr Grigoli, who performed surgery on Shane McGowan, is one of a small number of qualified people in this area, having placed in excess of 27,000 implants to date,” he adds.

Advancements in bleaching materials allow improvements in the shade of teeth as well as the ability to align teeth with invisible aligners. These are often carried out in tandem with each other.

“Undoubtedly, technological advances in dentistry over the last five to 10 years have been game-changing for our profession. The advent of digital impressions allows the dentist to capture an exact replica of your teeth without the need for any putty or gel impressions. The arrival of dental CT scanning machines to many dental practices allows for the careful planning of dental implants. This lets the dentist visualise the important structures in the region of interest and allows us to place dental implants with a great degree of precision resulting in a far more predictable result,” Canning says.

Brilliant smile

With such amazing advances in dentistry, more and more people are seeking to improve their smile.

“Many of our younger patients want to achieve a whiter or brighter smile or to make a small modification to a missing or chipped tooth. Contemporary dentistry allows for very conservative measures to be taken to address issues such as these without the need to damage the underlying tooth structure. Some patients report a fear of seeing the dentist and attribute this to something which happened many years previously. Newer techniques and advances in procedures allow for many dental visits to be a much more patient-friendly experience,” Canning says.

Time in the chair can be kept to a minimum too.

“Often treatments can be carried out in one appointment, and can sometimes be done in up to two hours, depending on how extensive treatment is. So there is no downtime as often there is no drilling, and the materials are instantly set. In the long term, patients need to ensure excellent oral hygiene and attend regular dental appointments for general maintenance of all of the teeth,” Perry says.

“It would not be uncommon for us to place multiple implants using a keyhole approach and send the patient away on the same day with a full set of new teeth. We have successfully done this treatment for a number of patients in their mid-80s and the recurring theme is they wished they had been able to do this 20 years ago. There is no doubt that more modern techniques make the patient’s journey much easier than ever before,” Canning adds.

For those who are considering taking their business abroad, Perry urges patients to take caution.

“If going abroad, you need to do research into what exact dental treatment will be carried out, and the qualifications of the clinician. Consider the fact that if something goes wrong with treatment, you will need to return to that country in the future, so it may not be as cheap as it seems,” he says.

Looking for previous examples of the dentist’s work or client testimonials is a good way to get peace of mind.

“Unfortunately, this is something which is often overlooked when people seek treatment abroad. Frequently patients attend dental practices in Ireland having had extensive complex treatment done abroad with which they have now developed a problem. Of course, there can be complications with any type of dental treatment but when making a decision about the health of your teeth you should ensure that you have a strategy for their maintenance in the years to come,” Canning says.