Advanced Technology
Precision Dentistry
When you seek care at our office, you are assured that Dr. Louis Shelton and Dr. Grant Shelton utilize the latest in technology to enhance the quality of your dental care.
Our practice uses high powered dental loupes to enhance the precision of patient care.
Dentistry is micro-surgery. Using dental loupes (glasses with a microscopic lens fit to each eye) enables us to create dental restorations with a precision unattainable by the naked eye.
In addition to allowing for better precision in dental procedures, dental loupes direct a beam of light directly on the teeth, minimizing glare for you.
Nobody likes the high pitched sound of a dental drill.
Many dentists still use air-driven handpieces (the dental term for drills). While acceptable for many procedures, these “whiney sounding” air-powered hand pieces all have a degree of non-concentricity; meaning they do not rotate perfectly smoothly.
For the most precise aspects of restorative procedures, we use electric handpieces. These newer dental handpieces rotate more smoothly and at a lower sound level. Besides finer precision and control, electric dental handpieces do not vibrate or whine as loudly as previous air-driven models, resulting in a more comfortable patient experience.
Standard and 3-Dimensional Digital Imaging
Exposure time for digital dental x-rays is extremely minimal. Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant utilize digital imaging technologies within the office. Exposure time is about 50 percent less when compared to traditional radiographs. Digital imaging is not only safer but provides clearer and more detailed images for better diagnostic dental care.
Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant choose carefully which type and how often digital x-rays are taken. There are many guidelines that we follow. X-rays allow us to see everything we cannot see with our own eyes, detecting cavities in between your teeth, determining bone level, and analyzing the health of your bone. We can also examine the roots and nerves of teeth, diagnose lesions such as cysts or tumors, as well as assess damage when trauma occurs.
3-dimensional x-rays are also possible with the advent of digital x-ray technology. Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant use these types of images to see in even higher resolution the canals of a teeth for precise and painless root canals, the amount of bone for fully-guided implant placement, or to detect potential pathologies that may not be obvious on a standard 2-dimensional x-ray. Many of these images are available at x-ray doses equal to conventional two-dimensional images, resulting in better image quality while still adhering to dental x-ray guidelines.
Digital imaging also allows us to store patient images for our own reference and to quickly and easily transfer them to specialists or insurance companies.
Intraoral Scanners
No one likes a mouth full of impression material. While the standard for decades, and still useful in many procedures, traditional impression materials and trays can cause patient discomfort and prolong treatment times. While many dentist still use traditional impression materials, Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant have transitioned to a new, fully digital impression process. With the advent and advancement of intraoral scanning technology, patients no longer have to endure long and messy impression procedures. The scanner is a wand that is used inside the mouth to take many pictures of the teeth from different angles which are stitched together to generate a 3-D digital model of the teeth. This can be used to fabricate same-day crowns, Invisalign trays, surgical guides, night guards, and more with better precision and comfort than traditional impression methods.
Laser Dentistry
Laser dentistry is one of dentistry’s latest advances. The laser delivers energy in the form of light. Depending on the intended result, this energy travels at different wavelengths and is absorbed by different “targets.” In dentistry, these targets can be enamel, decay, gum tissue, or whitening enhancers. Each one absorbs a different wavelength of light while reflecting others. Laser dentistry can be used for both tooth and soft tissue related procedures. Unlike with the dental drill, with laser dentistry there is no vibration, making the procedure quite comfortable for most patients. For soft tissue (surgical) procedures it often eliminates the need for suturing and healing is much faster.
Lasers can be used to diagnose cavities. They can find hidden decay in teeth in early stages, and in some cases the decay can be reversed through hygiene and fluoride treatment and may never need filling.
Areas of dental care that benefit from laser technology:
- Cavity diagnosis and removal
- Curing, or hardening, bonding materials
- Whitening teeth
- Periodontal, or gum related, care
- Apthous Ulcer treatment (canker sore)
- Frenectomy (tongue-tie release) without sutures
- Crown lengthening, gingivectomy and other gum correction surgeries
Same-Day Crowns
At Perry Dental Associates, Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant believe in utilizing the newest technological developments in dentistry to bring better and more comfortable treatments to their patients. One of these is the CEREC same day crown protocol. A traditional crown is fabricated in 2 steps, but with CEREC, Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant are able to eliminate the need for most patients to return for the delivery appointment of their crown and instead complete the procedure in one visit. With CEREC, a novel 3-D optical scanner is used to make a record of the tooth once it is prepared for the crown. This means no uncomfortable mouth full of impression material! This 3-D scan is transferred to the CEREC mill where a custom-designed crown is cut from a specialty hardened ceramic material. This ceramic is treated fired, and polished to perfectly match your existing teeth in shade and shape. The crown is then inserted at the end of the appointment. Instead of waiting at least 2 weeks for a lab-made crown and undergoing two procedures to get a final crown, with CEREC same-day crowns, Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant can fabricate your crown in a single day!
Intraoral Camera
Dr. Louis and Dr. Grant utilize Intraoral Camera technology that helps enhance your understanding of your diagnosis. An Intraoral Camera is a very small camera – in some cases, just a few millimeters long. An Intraoral Camera allows our practice to view clear, precise images of your mouth, teeth, and gums in order for us to accurately make a diagnosis. With clear, defined, enlarged images, you see details that may be missed by standard mirror examinations. This can mean faster diagnosis with less chair-time for you!
Intraoral cameras also enable our practice to save your images in our office computer to provide a permanent record of treatments. These images can be printed for you, other specialists, and your lab or insurance companies.