Digital Dentistry in Glenmont, NY

Digital dentistry is the future, and we're doing everything we can to bring the latest technology and techniques to our Glenmont dental office.

Buying dental technology is like buying a car, there are many different brands and products on the market, and none of them are cheap. We make sure we spend our time researching, so we bring the product with a proven track record and functionality to serve our patients in the best way possible.

How We Use the Latest Dental Technology

We now use digital technology in many aspects of dentistry, including:

• Digital dental x-rays with ultra-low radiation for diagnosis
• Caries (cavity) detection using non-radiating imaging, called Near Infrared Imaging
• Intraoral pictures and on-screen models for patient education and insurance communication
• Checking occlusion (the bite) with a digital model
• Taking digital impressions to fabricate crowns, bridges, implant surgical guides and restoration, dentures, nightguards, Invisalign treatment, and certain veneers cases

Low-Radiation Digital Dental X-Rays

Patients often worry about taking dental x-rays and the radiation associated with the procedure. At Bethlehem Town Family Dental, we take your safety very seriously and always strive to prescribe the minimum number of x-rays needed to reduce radiation exposure.

Different Types of Digital X-Rays

Dental x-rays allow us to observe and diagnose so much more than if we just simply looked inside the mouth.

Bitewing x-rays allow us to see if there are cavities between the teeth and can also be used to see calculus build-up and bone level around the teeth.
Peri-apical x-rays show us the root structure, infection, and the condition of existing root canal therapies.
Panoramic x-rays allow us to observe the condition of the wisdom teeth and their position in relation to the nerve and bone around them. Panoramic x-rays can help us locate any cysts or cancer formations.

Benefits of Safe, Effective Digital X-Rays

Your safety is critical to us, and we’re proud to offer digital x-rays at our Glenmont dental office. With the advancement of technology, digital x-rays are now the gold standard because they require a low level of radiation, produce much clearer digital images, and can be stored digitally. 

Digital x-rays accurately pinpoint problem areas, and the technology improves the analysis of images, which isn’t possible with traditional x-rays. The result is better information with less radiation.

Another benefit of using state-of-the-art digital x-rays is that we can display the image on our computer monitors, so you see exactly what we see. We believe that visualizing the problem makes it easier for you to understand the need for treatment.

We may recommend routine x-ray screening for a number of reasons, but we’ll always explain why specific x-rays are necessary. 

Benefits of Digital Impressions

Most digital scanners have a margin of error below 50 microns. This is drastically more accurate than traditional impression material.

With the traditional method, the patient has to sit through 5-10 minutes of goopy, bad-tasting impression material, and sometimes gags on the impression tray. 

There are many steps that are required to transfer the impression into an accurate model. During each of these steps, errors could occur and then negatively impact the accuracy of the model. If the model is inaccurate, the dental crown or bridge will not fit properly.

With the digital method, we skip the impression material and go straight to scanning the mouth. The scanning process usually takes a few minutes only, and we only require patients to open their mouths for only a minute or two.

Digital Record-Keeping

We then send the digital records to the lab digitally for processing, skipping multiple transfer steps and shipping, and greatly reduces the chance of error and reduces processing time in the lab.

Another advantage of the digital impression is that we can store them securely in our digital record system. If we ever need to use the same impression again, we have a saved copy on the computer to reuse instead of going through the impression steps again.

Leading-Edge Same-Day Dental Crowns

We have finally found a way to provide same-day crowns without compromising the strength of the crown material. The answer is the new technology we purchased called the Glidewell Fastmill. We have always shied away from same-day crowns concept before because the crown materials are often very weak, and they look terrible. Because the Glidewell Fastmill creates more durable and better-looking dental crowns, we often use them for posterior (back) teeth where the teeth do most of the work of chewing.

The breakthrough that fixed all these issues came from Glidewell Lab where they found a way to pre-sinter (harden) zirconia material and make them super strong. Zirconia is by far the best material to use for posterior crowns, as recent studies have shown will last longer without damage.

A traditional way to make zirconia crown in the office takes too long due to the long sintering process after the crown is milled, defeating the purpose of having a same-day crown. Now that the sintering is done beforehand, all we need to do is to mill the material into the shape we want, and we can deliver the crown immediately afterward. 

The only exception to same-day crowns would be cosmetic cases where we need to work with a lab to enhance the esthetics of the restorations. 

Say goodbye to temporary crowns or having to return for crown delivery or to get numbed again—it's truly revolutionary!

Our Investment in Technology Is an Investment in Your Healthy Smile

If you would like to learn more about digital dentistry and how we use it to enhance our practice, contact our Glenmont dental practice to arrange an appointment.