Dr. Giulio Spagnuolo and the team at We Smile Dentistry in London, Ontario, get excited about new dental technology. That enthusiasm goes far beyond the thrill of seeing a shiny piece of equipment installed or learning new skills. Digital dentistry helps us deliver better care to our patients – more comfortable and efficient treatment with high-quality results that last.
A 5-Minute Journey with iTero Technology
1: Hi, it’s Kelly and Dr. Spagnuolo at We Smile Dentistry. Here we have just completed an iTero scan on one of our patients and Dr. Spagnuolo is going to review the scan.
2: Hello, so this scan took approximately five minutes to do from start to finish. And we can look at her teeth in many different forms. We can look at just the bottom arch, and we can make it bigger and smaller, and what I see here is we have a crown on this tooth. We have fillings in here, they are done in tooth-coloured material. So, sometimes, it’s a little bit challenging to pick to see, but these are fairly big fillings and they are still seeming to be in decent shape. Let’s look at the top. So, we’ll have to flip this around. We’ll notice from an orthodontic point of view, this patient is a post-ortho patient, so teeth are relatively straight still after many years. Somebody’s been wearing her retainers obviously!
Well, look who do we have here? It looks like we have Kelly with our patient Sue and she’s been scanned with our iTero scanner. Here, it looks like we finished the scan of the bottom teeth and now we are gonna go on to the top. And it looks like we’ve almost completed the scan of the top teeth. So far, this process has been only a couple of minutes. (1: Squeeze, good) Now, we’ll be scanning her bite. (1: Open, thanks) So, in this view, we are actually going to be looking at the bite of the patient. As teeth hit harder, the colour goes closer to red, and as the teeth hit less, it goes closer to blue. And you can see nice, relatively nicely uniform bite all the way around, a little bit hard in a couple of spots and that’s something we’ll need to assess if treatments are required in the future. We can also see a bit of gum recession on these photos. As we look at the gum… So this computer scan has wonderful technology called NIRI technology, which allows us to look at the teeth with a special black light filter, so that we can see how things look, and if we find any areas of decay and tartar below. And so, as we are going slowly through this, there is the colour photo and this is the black and white of the same area. As we keep trucking along over and near the bottom front teeth, and there we see a little white area, and that’s tartar buildup. So that’ll be, the hygienists will be spending a little extra time, there’s a little more tartar buildup, making sure those areas are nicely cleaned.
And that’s it!
Some of the dental technology we use
We utilize leading-edge equipment for diagnosis, and treatment:
- Oral cancer screening – Early detection dramatically improves prognosis for oral cancers. VELsope illuminates potentially abnormal tissues on gums, tongue, cheeks, and lips before they are otherwise visible to the dentist. Screening is painless and adds only a few minutes to a routine checkup.
- Digital radiography – Low radiation digital X-rays give the dental team insight into teeth, bone, and other tissues. These high-resolution images are vital to diagnosing problems and planning treatment. Pictures are ready instantly, so you spend less time in the chair. You and Dr. Spagnuolo can view X-rays together, and the electronic files are easy to share with your other healthcare providers or insurance company.
- Laser cavity detection – This system lights up cavities that are too small for visual detection or are in hidden areas. The sooner tooth decay is discovered and treated, the more healthy tooth structure we can preserve.
- Intraoral camera – This small device, about the size of a pen, gives a panoramic view of what is going on inside your mouth.
- Laser dentistry – Imagine having a soft tissue procedure such as treatment for gum disease performed with little or no pain, bleeding, or swelling. Soft tissue lasers are less invasive and automatically seal blood vessels. Laser energy disinfects the treatment area for speedier healing.
- Air abrasion – Do you dread the sound, vibration, and frictional heat of drilling? Air abrasion eliminates that anxiety. Hard tissues are precisely prepared for restorations using a fine stream of air and particles.
- CAD/CAM dentistry – With CEREC one-visit crowns, you won’t need a temporary restoration or a follow-up appointment. These strong, lustrous porcelain restorations are made while you wait.
- iTero Element 5D – This cutting-edge visual technology facilitates a new dimension in dental care with just one scan. It’s the first integrated dental imaging system that simultaneously records 3D, intraoral colour, and near-infrared images. With iTero TimeLapse technology also enabling comparisons, it boosts diagnostic, restorative, and orthodontic workflows.
Are you ready to benefit from modern dental technology for a healthy, bright smile? Call We Smile Dentistry in London, ON at (226) 605-0042 to become Dr. Spagnuolo’s newest patient.