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The intra-oral camera is a valuable tool dental professionals can use to help you understand your examination, diagnosis and treatment. This small, handheld video camera is about the same size as a dental mirror (or an oversized pen) and comes with a disposable plastic sheath for contamination prevention. It is used to take actual pictures of your teeth with up to 25 times magnification and project them onto a screen for your review. It can also be used to give you a video tour of your entire mouth so that you can see things such as plaque deposits, decay, worn...

Laser technology is becoming quite commonplace in a wide variety of areas throughout the healthcare industry; but did you know that it can now be used to detect tooth decay? Today, using a small, handheld device, it is possible to detect tooth decay that is not yet visible and would otherwise be undiagnosed by conventional methods alone. Plus, traditional methods of detecting tooth decay are much more accurate and efficient when used in conjuction with laser technology. You can expect: dramatically improved early cavity detection reduced size and possibly number of fillings that might be needed, thus possibly lowering the...

They are inside your laptop computer and your DVD player, present on the factory floor and the supermarket checkout line. And now, lasers are finding increasing use in dentistry. Someday soon, you may have a routine dental procedure performed with the aid of a powerful, yet highly controllable beam of laser light, instead of a drill or a probe. What are dentists currently using lasers for? These devices have been proven to help in the detection and treatment of oral diseases. They can be used for treating gum disease, detecting cancer, and pinpointing tooth decay in its early stages. They...

A tooth that has been structurally damaged by decay or trauma sometimes needs to be crowned or “capped” so that it can look good and function properly again. A crown is a durable covering that is custom-made to fit over the entire tooth from the gum line up. Crown fabrication traditionally takes place in a dental laboratory. But these days, there's a much more convenient alternative: same-day crowns made in the dental office. Advanced dental technology known as Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing, or CAD/CAM, makes it possible to fabricate laboratory-grade crowns and other dental restorations in minutes. It's an amazing innovation...

When it comes to cleaning your teeth, few dental instruments can match the power and speed of an ultrasonic scaler. Ultrasonic equipment was first used in dentistry back in the 1950s; today, ultrasonic scaling is a mature and time-tested technology. In experienced hands, these high-tech instruments can disrupt and flush away bacteria along with hard deposits that your toothbrush can't touch — and they can even help moderately stained teeth look brighter. Chances are you may already be familiar with ultrasonic scalers — or at least, your teeth are. They are the tools of choice for many dentists and dental...

The complex devices all around us — from long-range satellite links in our cars and offices to powerful computers in our hand-held gadgets — prove beyond a doubt that we live in a technology-driven world. In the field of dentistry, new technology is constantly changing the way diseases are diagnosed, routine procedures are performed, and illnesses are prevented. Although they may seem unfamiliar at first, new and improved dental technologies offer plenty of real benefits for patients. Here's a look at some of the latest examples, coming soon to (or now appearing at) a dental office near you. Air Abrasion...

Canker sores, or aphthous ulcers, are literally a break in the skin or mucosa, the lining membranes of the mouth. Aphthous ulcers occur most commonly on movable thinner oral membranes — inside the cheeks, lips and under the tongue, and even on the soft palate at the back of the throat. They rarely occur on tougher more resilient tissues like the gums, surface of the tongue and hard palate. Common Sores Aphthous ulcers are most commonly round in appearance with a yellow-gray center and a fiery-red border or “halo.” They are characterized by a tingling or painful sensation anywhere from...

Lichen planus is a fairly uncommon, non-contagious disease that can appear on skin surfaces and mucus (lining) membranes in various parts of the body: on the wrists, legs, inner (mouth) side of the cheeks, gums, or tongue, for example. It can also involve the genital area or the fingernails. The disease gets its name from the appearance of the lesions, which were originally thought to look similar to organisms called lichens often found on trees or rocks. It is not actually related to lichens, which are communities of algae and fungi. When it affects the skin surfaces, it often shows...

While the name “Black Hairy Tongue” may sound scary, the tongue does not always appear black and it does not grow hair. It is caused by an overgrowth of tiny bumps on the tongue called filiform papillae that assist in gripping food for chewing. These papillae are usually about 1 millimeter in length, though they are constantly growing. In the normal course of eating and daily oral hygiene, the filiform papillae tend to get scraped down and replenished by the body. But when something disrupts the balance between their growth and removal, the little bumps can elongate to as much...

A traumatic fibroma (“traumatic” – injury; “fibro” – fibrous tissue; “oma” – tumor or overgrowth) can form where a person has bit the inside of their cheek. It's not as bad as the name may sound and is actually quite common. Cheeks, lips and tongues occasionally get in the way of the teeth and get chomped on. Most people know only too well what that feels like. Usually, these small wounds heal quickly, fully and uneventfully. But when the normal healing process is interfered with, as when the area is bitten and injured again, an excess of fibrous tissue can...

The pandemic has had a monumental impact on a variety of aspects of life, and dental health is not an exception. Unfortunately, many people have reported symptoms associated with COVID-19 that have impacted their oral health. There are a variety of reasons why this can happen, but the most common reasons are due to the avoidance of seeking routine dental care during lockdown, as well as side-effects from prolonged mask wearing and pandemic-related stress. What is Mask Mouth? When wearing a mask has a negative impact on oral health, this is called mask mouth. Mask mouth develops due to a...