3D Dental solutions – your fast track to a fabulous smile
At our Family Dental Care Group, we not only pride ourselves on providing the most expedient solutions around in dentistry, but consider it our priority to do so. Being informed and abreast of the latest technologies means providing enhanced accuracy and faster turn-around times. Consequently, we are at the forefront of implementing these new solutions as and when they are cleared for clinical use.
3D Dental imaging in Ballito
3D Dental imaging is one such technological breakthrough in recent years championed by us. We are one of the leading providers of 3D dental imaging in Ballito using a state-of-the-art dental 3D scanner. The advantages of 3D imaging represent a clear set of benefits to our patients.
When you think of a traditional movie experience versus a 3D experience, the difference is that images ‘come to life’ and you are able to view yourself in the action with much greater effect. So too, a dental 3D scanner makes the images taken of your mouth ‘come to life’. The dentist is able to view things like roots, bone density and gum tissue with much greater accuracy than what a typical 2D or flat scan would provide. Canals, root fractures, jawbone fractures and hidden cavities are all revealed with a much higher degree of precision thanks to a dental 3D scanner.
Our 3D dental imaging in Ballito consequently enables us to plan a number of treatment options and paths. This allows for a greater degree of flexibility than would otherwise have been possible. Because we are able to gather much more information when doing pre-evaluations on a patient thanks to our 3D dental imaging in Ballito, we are able to forge forward with treatment with greater confidence than ever
before. The outcomes of a specified treatment or action plan are likely to be far more accurate; far more aligned to what we we’d hope as a best outcome scenario than if 3D imaging were not an option.
Our 3D dental imaging in Ballito is particularly useful in being able to project to you, the patient, how you’d look after treatment. No more guessing how your veneers, implants or dentures are going to impact your smile or profile. We can now virtually show you in advance so that besides us having confidence in a treatment plan, you can move forward with greater certainty and vigour, too.
Thanks to our dental 3D scanner, we are also able to significantly speed up treatment times. This technology allows us to make more accurate dental moulds, for example, accelerating the waiting time required for bridges, retainers, dentures or even veneers. It also allows us to take a greater control of the process inhouse, rather than having to outsource it.
3D Dental X-Rays
Our 3D dental X-Ray facility are a composite part of the technology used in conjunction with our 3D scanner. X-Rays help us identify cavities, check on the health of roots and bones, and see how the teeth are developing in general. The 3D dental X-Ray, of course, helps to deliver these images with an incredible degree of precision. We are able to realistically ‘enact’ a procedure prior to performing it.
A 3D dental X-Ray allows us to see things that may otherwise not be easy to pick up. These include spotting decay under a filling or cracks in a filling, identifying dead or malfunctioning nerves, and spotting cysts or even cancer.
We use cone-beam computed tomography (CT) to generate three-dimensional images. The machine 
revolves around the patient’s head while the patient is in the standing or sitting position. This CT uses less radiation than your typical hospital CT scan, but is far more accurate than your typical dental X-Ray.
In conjunction with a 3D dental X-Ray, digital radiographs are one of the newest X-Ray techniques. One of the advantages is that the images are transmitted to a computer, where they can be viewed as a sequence on a screen. This allows us to easily compare X-Rays taken at different times. We can identify the slightest changes by doing these comparisons and adjust treatment accordingly.
Digital X-Rays on the whole are preferable and more expedient than using traditional radiographs or radiography. We place a sensor plate in your mouth to ‘photograph’ the image. It is this image which is then relayed virtually in real-time to a computer, eliminating the need to develop film in order to be able to view the images that way. The amount of radiation you as a patient is exposed to, is significantly lower than via normal radiography, but the results obtained are higher in definition.
Cavity detection via lasers
Another big technological innovation in dentistry that we are watching with keen interest is the use of laser technology. Not only does laser technology speed up processes such as tooth whitening (thanks to UV light technology), but it is also far less invasive for the patient. 
Consider the traditional way of checking for tooth decay or cavities for example. It used to involve prodding each tooth with a sort of metal stick or explorer. When it makes contact with the tooth in a certain way, we are alerted to the fact that we possibly need to look for decay or cavities. Now, thanks to diode laser, all we need to literally do is shine a light. Healthy teeth don’t glow under the glare of the laser. When there is decay, however, this will show up as more ‘glow’ under the laser.
This has immense benefit as it could lead to detecting cavities earlier, and with more precision. In some cases, it does not cut out the need for X-Rays though, as X-Rays detect decay on the tooth’s grinding surface itself or even between teeth.
CAD/CAM technology
Computer-assisted design and computer-assisted manufacture help us manufacture same-day crowns and bridges, for example. The best way to describe it is like a 3D printout of what is required. This 
technology means we no longer need to make the moulds first, wait for these to set, and then build crowns or bridges based on the moulds.
The beauty of images that go straight to the computer, means that the crown can be made right in the office, not in a laboratory – enough to put an instant smile on your face!
