We rely on technology to enhance our lives, and dental care is no exception. At Desert Foothills Dental, we invest in leading-edge technology because of the many ways it improves our patients’ experiences with us.
Our team is passionate about staying current with the latest advances in dentistry. We invest in new technology to make your visits more comfortable and efficient and help us achieve the most positive, long-term outcomes.
Please take a look at our current technology and call us if you have any questions or want to schedule an appointment!
Intraoral Cameras and Intraoral Scanners
An intraoral camera is a technology we use to inform and educate our patients about their oral health needs. If you ever had a dental exam and wondered what the dentist sees, an intraoral camera shows you. As your dentist moves it around the inside of your mouth (intraoral), the camera displays the results on your monitor so you can view them together.
Now you can see the cavity or broken tooth instead of just being told it exists. You become more engaged in the process, which means you’re also more informed about the state of your oral health.
After your intraoral exam, we save the still images and place them in your digital patient record so that we can access them easily as needed.
Intraoral scanners are used to scan the mouth to get a digital record of the teeth - much like a camera except it is a video and you can move the image to get an idea of the bite. Sometimes, we use intraoral scanners to scan the teeth to make the needed dental work.
3-D Cone Beam Imaging (CBCT)
Planning advanced services like dental implant placement requires sophisticated technology. We use 3-D cone beam CT scans because they show us details we can’t see with a two-dimensional x-ray.
Cone beam CT scans provide a 3-D view of teeth and jaws, soft tissue, bone anatomy, and nerve pathways that we use in various ways:
- Plan dental implant placement
- Evaluate jaws, sinuses, and nerve pathways
- Diagnose TMJ disorder
- Detect jaw tumors
- Plan root canal treatment
Laser Teeth Whitening
We offer Zoom! laser teeth whitening, a simple, non-invasive way to dramatically brighten your smile. The process takes 45 minutes to one hour.
First, we protect sensitive gum tissue to prevent irritation. Next, we apply a highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide whitening gel to tooth surfaces.
The intense light of the laser heats the whitening gel to activate it. The laser doesn’t heat your teeth, only the gel, and does not affect the teeth’s physical structures. If you want the best option to dramatically brighten your teeth, laser whitening is the way to go.
As part of laser whitening treatment, we also provide custom trays and additional gel to use at home so that you can maintain beautiful results.
Digital X-Rays & Digital Sensors
Dental x-rays are critical because they show us issues we can’t see with a visual exam alone, such as cavities inside or between teeth. We also use digital x-rays because they minimize radiation exposure by as much as 80 percent compared to traditional x-rays.
Highly-detailed digital x-rays help us diagnose dental issues in their earliest stages and treat them before they progress. Digital x-rays also help us keep you informed about your oral health needs. Because we can zoom in, zoom out, and rotate the images, we can give you the best view, so you can better understand our treatment recommendation.
Our digital x-rays are also comfortable because we capture the images with digital sensors. Instead of a film clip held in the mouth, the flat sensor has rounded edges that won’t poke into your cheeks and make taking an x-ray easy and efficient.
We store your x-rays securely in your digital patient record so any team member can access them easily.
Digital Records
We switched to digital records because it makes sense to store your patient information electronically, where it is safe, secure, and easily accessible to anyone on your team. Digital records make your visits more efficient and streamlined because we don’t have to take time to search through paper files when we have a question. If your insurance company needs details of your treatment plan, we can easily transmit them electronically.
Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas)
If you suffer from anxiety that makes you avoid dental visits, nitrous oxide can help you relax so you can have a comfortable appointment. Nitrous is also called laughing gas because it makes you feel very calm and happy.
Nitrous oxide is a gas, so we mix it with oxygen and administer it through a small breathing mask. As you inhale, you start to feel relaxed and a little dreamy as the sights and sounds around you fade into the background.
A trained team member monitors you throughout your procedure to ensure you are safe and comfortable. After treatment, we stop the nitrous, so you can breathe pure oxygen for several minutes as the drowsy feelings dissipate. There are no lingering side effects, and most patients can drive themselves home from their appointments safely.