
Everyone knows that a sparkling smile is something that is a strong pillar in building your confidence. To achieve that beautiful and whitened smile, there are tons of people out there who spend lakhs from their pockets. A whitened smile props up your confidence to a higher level and enlivens your life. Well, let’s be honest visiting a dentist is not a joyous moment, and just by hearing the name of the dentist, there are tons of fear that takes birth in your mind.
Well, who would not relate to the fears while visiting a dentist? Sitting in that huge chair that is illuminated by a blinding light, those enduring lengthy seated sessions when someone is looking and poking inside your mouth using edgy and frightening devices. When the misery gets over, your dentist advises you not to eat your favorite sweets and instructs you to brush your teeth regularly by taking care of your oral health.
Though visiting a dentist is an essential thing that everyone should do. The fears in the mind while sitting in the dentist’s chair can easily bring a shiver down your spine. No one feels like visiting the dentist even though they know how crucial it is to maintain your oral health. The fascinating discoveries made in dental science are like a revolution that has a whole new attitude toward oral health for the near future.
For figuring out how the body structure changes over time, researchers are increasingly looking to understand epigenetics, which is the study of changes in organisms that are caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. This scientific endeavor also extends to teeth as well. To avert the major fear from the mind, and for curbing all the major disasters, and wipe off fear from the mind there are several fascinating discoveries are made, in the dentistry field. Keep on reading this article and you will grab knowledge about several dentistry and technologies which you will definitely thank later.
Artificial intelligence:
This is one of the most advanced technology in the field of dentistry. Dentists have employed software for getting insights into clinical decision-making. This will also develop further for integrating the A.I. algorithms and this will enable the clinicians for searching the best modalities for their patients.
The studies of 2019 show that with the exponential rise in health data and the maturing of healthcare A.I., dental medicine is also entering a new stage of its digitization. These algorithms can be integrated into the healthcare system for analysing health data, research findings, and treatment techniques that offer diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations for individual patients.
This could be further made possible with the accumulation of health data; in particular, genomic data, which can also offer a deeper understanding of each individual’s system for personalized care. With these A.I. tools that have the access to such information, this can instantly offer the best treatment options and probabilities of success to the clinicians.
These A.I.-based algorithms help specialists to understand better trends in dental conditions. In 2019 researchers did a study that developed a machine that learns the method for accurately quantifying the immune cells in the vicinity of oral cancer cells. This in turn gives better insights into the spreading of and resistance of cancer; thereby this helps in determining the chances of survival. While others are using neural networks for better detection of dental decay and periodontal disease with the help of radiographs. Such approaches can become standard practice in the near future. However, as the field of dental medicine is exploring the potential beneficial uses of digital data both for dental practice and in research, digitalization is raising numerous novel and unpredictable ethical challenges in the biomedical context.
Smart toothbrush:
We all know that the future lies in smart technologies and gadgets. In the near future, everything will be confined to smart devices. So why our bathrooms would be left behind? Hence to upgrade yourself with updated and smart technologies there are these smart toothbrushes to give you that feeling. Well, at the beginning you might feel abit strange to let a sensor into one of your most intimate activities, such as tooth brushing, but this makes it a lot easier to maintain oral hygiene and prevent the build-up of plaque or cavities.
These smart electric toothbrushes make sure that you are brushing your teeth the right way through its app and at times there are some smart toothbrushes that offer kids fun games to keep up the good habit of regularly cleaning their teeth. There are some toothbrushes that come with a pack of sensors in its handle. These provide real-time feedback via a companion app that warns if you are applying too much pressure if you are brushing in the correct way, or where you are brushing, and even coach the user as to how to brush properly.
These electric toothbrushes are meant for following the proper brushing techniques. When you would first use this electric brush, you might feel a little awkward because not everyone out there is enthusiastic about the technology. Well, if this is the case then your dental professional would help you in demonstrating the proper techniques during your next appointment.
Augmented Reality:
By reading the name, you might have built up an idea of what the thing actually is. You would be familiar with augmented reality and you have some of the ideas, through social media apps. Well, this augmented reality has also built up its space in the field of dentistry too.
In the field of dentistry, AR is the technology that is more prevalent in reconstructive and aesthetic procedures so it helps the patients to know what they will look like after the treatment. There are certain such AR apps that use the phone or tablet’s camera to overlay the virtual depictions of the improved set of teeth prior to the procedure. This, in turn, allows the patients and dentists to configure the features and the structures of their teeth such as height and spacing to their liking before they even enter the surgery room for further treatment.
Virtual Reality in dentistry:
By reading this, you should not confuse it with AR. VR is completely different as it closes off the outside world with a dedicated headset and immerses the user in a virtual environment. With the help of the virtual reality camera, a surgeon can stream the operations globally and he can also allow the medical students to actually be there in the OR using their VR goggles.
Dentistry even outpaced other fields of medicine when it adopted this method. By adopting this method the technology can further be used for helping the dentists to build on their empathy skills, through the simulations putting them in the shoes of their patients or in challenging situations. With the experiments done on the patients, it was seen that VR could be used as an effective distraction tool in the field of dentistry. During the treatment was done, patients wore goggles that displayed the calming natural scenes, and remembered the treatments more positively afterward. OperaVR is one such VR tool that is used for reducing dental anxiety.
Tele dentistry:
If you hesitate to go to the dentist, then you can imagine how hard it would be for children, patients with special needs or the elderly in nursing homes. Not just that, there is another issue which is the distance, people who live in rural areas rarely get access to a dentist, and it almost never has the possibility of choice. Well, this situation can be changed significantly with the help of tele- dentistry.
Tele dentistry is one such thing that provides, easier access to oral and dental care; and it is significantly cheaper for patients; to shift towards the cheaper option of practice, and tele dentistry also allows the patients to consult with otherwise unavailable medical professionals. Not just that, a dentist might also start a video chat with the patient and the caregiver so that the medical professional can actually see and talk to the patient, build rapport, help connect them and bring them into the office if there is any such requirement arises.
Computer-assisted design and 3D printing:
With the development of technology, 3D printing doesn’t require any introduction while considering the buzz that it had generated in healthcare. The importance of 3D was further seen during the tough of Covid-19, to bypass the supply chains for meeting the demands of hospitals. As the technology is set to become an integral part of healthcare practice, it will also become incorporated into dental labs.
Computer-assisted design (CAD) and computer-assisted manufacture (CAM), which includes 3D printing, are already revolutionizing the sector; and they are turning them into low-cost, they are more effective in digital labs. Traditionally, when a patient needs a crown, a dentist must make a mold of the tooth and fashion a temporary crown, then wait for the dental laboratory to make a permanent one.
3D printers can also produce, orthodontic models, surgical guides, aligners, retainers, and more dental equipment faster and more precisely; and the tasks that would take longer with traditional methods. This helps in improving workflows, by reducing errors and the amount of labor needed, which ultimately endows the technology within a limited time and cost-efficiency.
Intra-oral camera:
This is an advanced technology, this has grabbed a lot of importance in the field of dentistry. At times, it might become quite an inconvenient moment while you sit in the dentist’s chair, and it also becomes quite a problematic time for you no matter how wide you open your mouth, the dentist still cannot see what they would like to see, even by using the trusty dental mirror.
These types of situations become uncomfortable for both the patient and the doctor, but it is also painful. However, the advent of intra-oral cameras can remedy this exact problem.
This camera has a unique liquid lens technology that works like the human eye for ensuring effortless image capture and delivery of clear, detailed images that the patients can really understand.
Regenerative dentistry:
There is a certain age during our lifetime when our teeth start to fall off, or they might get damaged and get replaced by prostheses. The field of regenerative dentistry challenges this preconceived idea with developments that can lead to self-healing teeth and biological therapy for damaged teeth.
CRISPR:
CRISPR is something that has come from the lap of Mother Nature. Researchers have made discovery its immense popularity recently. This has also been a weapon against cancer. This will also help in benefiting the field of dentistry as well.
So would be the benefit of CRISPR in the field of dentistry? Studies are being conducted, where the researchers are using CRISPR for altering the functioning of bacteria that are responsible for the formation of plaque. The endeavor could even lead to the reduction or outright prevention of dental caries and periodontal diseases. But one thing that you need to keep in mind is brushing regularly twice a day.
Conclusion:
By now you have known the different technologies, which have conquered the field of dentistry. These techniques have come up either for improving oral health or for upgrading the practice as a professional to give the patients a better experience during and after the treatment.