The Dentist's Blog
Posted by Dr. Shirley Cheong, BDS (Hons.) FICCMO
Digital Dentistry is the Only Way to Practice in the 21st Century
We started Yonge & Steeles Dental Care in 2002 with the idea of harnessing the best available technologies for Dentistry and patient care. We designed the dental office so that it would be able to accommodate the many coming advances in existing as well as new dental equipment which would be entering the Dental Operatory for good.
Out of the Darkroom
Our first three computers for clinical use were for Digital Radiography. This meant that we no longer required film, a darkroom or chemicals. A single digital X-Ray image could be stored in our server for quick retrieval in every room. The fact that patients would be able to see their own radiographs in real-time was a major breakthrough. Because our patients were able to see what we saw, we were able to break the traditional notion of “whatever you say, Doc”. The result was that patients became more involved in making informed decisions about their own oral health care.
Talking In Pictures
Two years later, in 2004, break throughs in digital photography meant that we no longer had to wait weeks for images to be processed. Not only we could we assess our own work instantly, but we could also get crystal clear, high definition close-up views of every tooth. Our ability to make a diagnosis improved 100 times just because we could zoom in 100 times. Looking in the mouth has not been the same since.
Passing Time
In the seven years that we have been using digital photography, we have recorded literally thousands of photo dental records. Photography has become the backbone of our diagnostic tools because it allows us to keep a running history of a patient’s oral health. From recording changes in a patient’s face and body posture to a broader overview of the arches and individual teeth, we are able to avoid, what I call, tunnel vision dentistry.
Finding The Best Bite
2006 marks the year when we opened our eyes further into understanding how the jaw muscles act together as the key to optimal physiological health of whole patient. We adopted Myotronics K7, electronic measurement of ElectroMyoGraphy (EMG) and Jaw Tracking Computerized Kinesiography to help diagnose and treat patients with myofascial pain, headaches, unstable and unbalanced bite and TMD issues. The new technologies allowed us to accurately locate and measure the jaw position and muscle status in real-time. This lead us to determine the optimum jaw position to achieve maximum health for our patients. From night guards to Full Mouth Reconstruction, we are able to achieve what we could never do before.
One-Visit Dentistry
By 2009 we acquired the ability to use 3D drawing software in conjunction with a CEREC milling machine to produce beautiful lifelike ceramic crowns right in the office. Now we could produce a product out of a durable ceramic that was a perfect fit and exact match to the patient’s existing tooth colour without messy impressions and an outside laboratory. What used to be a two week, two appointment task turned into a single two hour visit.
What’s Next?
2012 we mark our 10th Anniversary at YSDC. To mark the occasion, we are bringing in the next generation of CAT scanners called a 3D Cone Beam CT. Now we will be able to create three-dimensional images of bone and teeth allowing our team to continue to practice 21st century digital dentistry.
See you in 2012,
Dr. Shirley Cheong, BDS (Hons.) FICCMO
BlueDog