There have been many technological advances in the specialty of dentistry. The main one is what is known as minimally invasive dentistry. Currently, any intervention that we are going to perform in the mouth can be planned with 3D diagnostic means, with photographs and digital impressions.
Digital diagnostic imaging techniques in restorative treatments allow us to see the restoration before even touching the profile of the patient’s mouth. And in the case of surgical treatments, we will know the exact point where we should make the incisions.
We can now predict very well how the patient is going to look. Digital Smile Design technology is based on a photographic examination of the patient. Photographs are taken of your face, the way you smile, the way you speak and, of course, the teeth. We work on 3 levels: first of all, putting the smile line in the ideal situation with respect to the patient’s profile. That is, to make a harmonious smile with your face. Secondly, we give the morphology and the appropriate color of the teeth that the patient should have, so that it fits the smile. And, thirdly and based on the two previous points, we decide what type of treatment we are going to do to set the teeth.
The DSD -Digital Smile Design- is beginning to be the basis of all our treatments. Any patient who comes to us with problems of tooth wear, bruxism, abrasion, who are not happy with their esthetics, or others who have already been rehabilitated many times but do not achieve an optimal result, the first thing we do is to incorporate an esthetic result to, from there, to achieve a good functional result. The objective or purpose of the treatment is always the same: to give health to that which is sick, to give function to that which does not work and to give aesthetics to that which does not have it.
Advances have reached all fields. From the surgical point of view, we have Piezosurgery or Piezoelectric Surgery, an ultrasound surgery technique that consists of making a selective cut in the bone, respecting the soft tissues. This innovative method has significantly improved the insertion of implants and the extraction of wisdom teeth.
On the other hand, the application of the laser has allowed us to work directly with a much smaller focus on those points that are damaged, both in terms of periodontal disease and caries. Since it is a light system, we have neither macrovibrations nor the need for invasive techniques.
There has also been a very important innovation with regard to materials for in-mouth restoration. Lithium disilicate ceramics are totally biocompatible ceramics and allow us to restore teeth working with material thicknesses of only 0.3 millimeters. The esthetic result achieved is sensational. And the innovative nanocomposites, substances that, on a plastic base, have ceramic particles, normally of silica, are so extremely small that an effect of absolute mimicry with the tooth and a much higher resistance to fracture is achieved. In other words, the tooth tissue is perfectly replaced.
From the patient’s point of view, these new technologies are undoubtedly beneficial because any intervention that may have been complex can be performed more easily. Above all, it allows us to carry out treatments that were previously unthinkable, but which we can now perform. For us, the specialists, it also allows us greater peace of mind when it comes to performing them, since we have reached limits that we could not reach before.