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Technology

Technology

Keeping Up with Pleasant Valley

At Pleasant Valley Dental, we know it can be hard to keep up with the latest, greatest technology. (One minute you’ve got the hottest smartphone, the next there’s something even better, right? We've all been there.) While your Vernon dentists can’t help you with your cell phone, we can offer contemporary dental technology to help us provide you a more convenient, comfortable dental experience.

Get the Care You Deserve… Comfortably

Schedule a visit with us today!

3D Imaging

You’ve probably had dental impressions at one point or another in your life, whether it was braces when you were young or a crown more recently. Nobody wants to sit with goop in their mouth for several minutes—we get it! That’s why we’ve invested in the latest 3D-imaging technology that allows us to take quick digital impressions without the goop and gagging. 3D images are then converted into a digital model of your teeth, so we can map out an accurate treatment plan that includes guided dental implant placement for a successful end result.

CEREC® Milling Machine

In the past (and in many dental offices still today), getting a major dental restoration like a crown was a long process. Your first appointment would include an injection, messy impressions, preparation of the tooth, and placement of a temporary crown. Your impressions were then sent to an off-site dental lab to have your crown created, and you would wear the temporary for a few weeks until your next appointment. Then you would need another injection, removal of the temporary, and placement of the permanent crown. Are we having fun yet? Thankfully, with the help of our CEREC same-day milling machine, we can take digital impressions to have your new crown designed, fabricated, and placed all in a single visit. Now that’s something to smile about!


Digital X-rays

Remember how old-school dental x-rays used to be? You had to get up from the dental chair and go into a separate room, put on a heavy lead vest, stand still, turn and face the other direction, and stand still again to have x-rays taken. The x-rays would then take some time to develop–and if you moved at all, you had to start over again! Thankfully, x-ray technology has come a long way in recent years—now x-rays are digital and can be taken in a matter of seconds right from the dental chair.

Intraoral Cameras

Intraoral cameras have revolutionized the dental industry. In the past, the only way we could get a good look at the inside of your mouth was through the magic of sight and the help of a tiny dental mirror—and we all know our eyes can deceive us. Thankfully, intraoral cameras now allow us to get an up-close-and-personal look at the surfaces of your mouth, allowing for massive magnification so we can get a better look. The images can be viewed right alongside the doctor so you can gain a better understanding of your oral health and treatment needs–and disease and decay can be detected and treated much sooner.

Laser Dentistry with the Fotona LightWalker®

Laser technology has been another exciting development in dentistry in recent years. We love using our Fotona LightWalker AT, which has the capability to target and treat damaged or decayed tissue with pinpoint accuracy while leaving healthy tissue intact. The LightWalker allows us to perform both soft- and hard-tissue procedures without the need for cut-and-sew techniques, so we are able to offer patients minimally invasive treatment for fast healing and healthy outcomes. Pleasant Valley Dental uses the LightWalker to treat gum disease, to assist us with implant procedures, and to perform PIPS root canal therapy.

VELscope® Oral Cancer Screenings

Oral cancer is typically not detected until its advanced stages, which is why it has become deadlier than other types of cancer that may be detected earlier; the overall survival rate is currently about 62% five years after diagnosis. Patients over 60 are at an increased risk, although changing risk factors including HPV have caused higher instances in women and young people under 40. Pleasant Valley Dental has invested in VELscope oral cancer screening technology that utilizes natural tissue fluorescence to illuminate abnormalities that may be signs of oral cancer—abnormalities that would otherwise go undetected by the naked eye.

Nobel Biocare

With more than half a century of heritage and experience, Nobel Biocare offers dental implants and solutions for the successful treatment of millions of patients all over the world.

More than 18 million Nobel Biocare implants have been placed worldwide. Your well-being is key for us. That’s why we continue to invest in scientific research and innovation, and can look back on many years of scientific evidence for our products. Every new product is carefully engineered and tested to provide you with safe and long-lasting dental solutions – a practice that translates into new quality of life for people like you every day.

X-Guide Navigation

THE MOST ADVANCED DENTAL IMPLANT TECHNOLOGY IS FEATURED IN PLEASANT VALLEY DENTAL!

The industry-leading X-Guide’ surgical system paired with Cone Beam 3D imaging allows us to provide our patients with the most accurate implant surgery. With X-Guide Navigated surgery, our doctors utilize live, 3D views of anatomy – it’s like real-time directions during your procedure to place the implant exactly where it should be. Our doctors’ control and precision over the entire implant process is elevated.

NOMAD™ Handheld X-Ray

BENEFITS OF HANDHELD DEVICES

Handheld x-ray devices offer advantages compared to traditional wall-mounted units, including portability and flexibility in patient care. The patient may feel less intimidated about x-rays if the operator stays in the room instead of running out to stand behind a wall during exposure. The ability to stay in the room makes it ideal for use with any patient who has difficulty with x-rays, including pediatric, geriatric, special needs, or fearful patients.

In addition, staying in the room may reduce the number of retakes caused by patient movement and improve efficiency and workflow. In fact, the time needed to take radiographs is often reduced by half, saving approximately 120 hours annually. The freedom to position portable devices at any angle makes it possible to take x-rays while the patient is reclined or sitting upright.

Digital Impressions

ENHANCED PATIENT EXPERIENCE

In the past, the only way to get impressions of a patient’s mouth was to put a gooey substance into a dental device and have the patient bite down, leaving an impression. This required prep time, and then the person had to sit there with a mouth full of stuff. Digital impression scanners eliminate that discomfort while also shortening prep and turnaround time. It is also preferable for individuals who have a sensitive gag reflex. The purpose of getting impressions is so that the surgeon can design a dental crown that fits perfectly among the rest of your teeth. Old methods are not as reliable as what you are given with digital scanners. This technology means that fewer adjustments are necessary, so you are given the restorations you want more quickly.

Faster Turnaround Time: You have a life you would like to get back to. Your dental procedure should not eat up a lot of your time that could be spent at work or with family. Past methods would require several weeks until you could get your restoration. Digital impression scanners allow that time to be cut down to 24 to 48 hours.

More Predictable Results: While past methods were fine, occasionally issues would come up where there was an inaccuracy with the impression. This would result in a crown that did not quite fit right. With digital impressions, a surgeon can detect a problem before the images are sent to the lab to create the restoration. This reduces the margin of error significantly.

Lasers for Hygiene

Incorporating lasers into clinical practices has yielded so many positive results for patients. The use of lasers has shown a decrease in postop discomfort following scaling and root planing as well as better bleeding indices, improved tissue color/contour changes, and reattachment occurring at a faster rate than doing traditional SRP with no laser integration.

Within every inflamed periodontal pocket resides billions of bacteria. These bacteria are not only responsible for causing systemic problems by spreading to the heart and lungs, but the infection they cause in the gums adversely affects blood sugar control in diabetics. In addition, those same bacteria are responsible for bad breath, bone loss, gum recession, and tooth loss.

What are the benefits of “Laser Pocket Disinfection” or “Laser Cleaning?”

  • Reduction of the bacteria that could be introduced into your bloodstream
  • Prevent cross-contamination of the harmful bacteria to other parts of your mouth
  • Eliminate the bacteria that can cause further destruction of your gums and bone
  • Reduction of inflammation
  • Encourage healing with the biostimulation effect from the laser energy

Oral Health Products

CariFree®

CariFree is a line of professional-grade oral health products including toothpaste and rinses that help facilitate optimal oral health. Whether you struggle with tooth decay or gum disease or you just want products recommended by your Vernon dentists, CariFree helps kill the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease and bring the mouth into a healthier pH balance.

CariFree

The Humble® Co.

The Humble Company makes the vegan, cruelty-free toothbrushes we hand out to our clients from 100% biodegradable, sustainably-grown bamboo and quality bristles from DuPont®. In addition to being better for the environment than the typical plastic toothbrush, every Humble purchase funds efforts to benefit children in need.

Get in Touch

If you have any questions about our technology or products, we would love to speak with you. Contact your Vernon dentists, Dr. Bicknell, Dr. Montian, or Dr. Hackman, at Pleasant Valley Dental today!

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