Welcome to Albano & Greenwald Family Dentistry, where compassionate dental care intersects with cutting-edge technology. Located in Waterbury, CT, our practice prioritizes your comfort, efficiency, and effectiveness by harnessing the most advanced dental technologies available. Explore below to discover some of the innovative technologies we use.
Digital X-Rays
Digital x-rays are a crucial element of a dental exam and can assist dental care providers in identifying issues long before they become visible to the naked eye. These issues can include early tooth decay, gum disease, abscesses, and abnormal growths.
Benefits Of Digital X-Rays
- Easy to obtain: Digital x-rays are obtained by placing a small electronic sensor in the mouth, and captured images can be viewed instantly on a computer screen.
- No waiting time: Unlike traditional x-rays, which require an intermediary chemical process, your dental care provider can abstain and evaluate your x-rays almost instantly.
- Images are clearer: Digital x-ray images are clearer than traditional ones, allowing your healthcare provider to zoom in and out to better detect potential issues.
- Easy to share and store: Digital x-rays can be easily emailed to different specialists if necessary and stored conveniently on your computer.
- They are safer: Compared to traditional x-rays, digital x-rays reduce your exposure to radiation by up to 90%. Although the risk is minimized, there is still a slight risk that radiation from x-rays could cause cellular changes that might lead to future disease. The benefits of digital x-rays greatly outweigh the risks, making them a commonly used tool in modern dental care.
Intraoral Camera
Slightly bigger than a pen, an intraoral camera is an innovative tool that can take up-close pictures of teeth, gums, and other hard-to-reach places in the mouth. Intraoral cameras can help dental care providers detect dental issues like tooth decay, periodontal disease, and oral cancers.
Benefits Of Using An Intraoral Camera
- Oral health status: You and your dental care provider will be able to see with precision where you might need to brush or floss more or how your current oral healthcare routine is working.
- Oral health tracking: You will be able to see the difference before and after treatment and the progress of treatment over time.
- Diagnostic assistance: The intraoral camera can magnify images of your teeth and gums, which helps dental health professionals diagnose gum disease and cavities and, if caught early enough, help prevent them.
- More photos, more coverage: These photos can provide proof that insurance companies need to provide coverage.
Cone Beam CT Imaging
Cone beam CT imaging provides dental care providers with a three-dimensional view of the mouth, jaw, teeth, and nasal cavity. These images contain invaluable clinical information and help reduce the need for invasive procedures, shorten treatment times, and make treatment plans more effective and efficient. With 3D scans, dentists and dental specialists can now evaluate:
- Soft tissue size & location: This is especially important in diagnosing and treating sleep apnea, where soft tissue might be blocking the airways during sleep. These images will also show tumors and irregular growths and can help your dental care provider plan for oral surgery.
- Location of impacted teeth or teeth that haven’t grown in yet: Knowing the exact location and size of your teeth helps in planning treatment for braces or impacted teeth.
- Location, size, & density of jaw bone: Knowing the location, size, and density of your bones will help determine the best plan of action to take if you need an implant or jaw surgery.
When you get a cone beam CT scan, an imaging device rotates around your head. The scanner records between 150 and 600 different x-ray views in under a minute and sends the scans to a computer, where a virtual, three-dimensional model is created from the images.
The model can be rotated from side to side or up and down, magnified, or viewed from any angle needed. This allows your dental care provider to not only see your entire tooth’s anatomy but also zoom in to see the condition of your root canal itself. This enables detailed preparation for procedures or examinations of your health in great detail without you needing to be present or sit in an uncomfortable position.
Like x-rays, CT scans are associated with low amounts of radiation exposure. It’s important to consider the risk before getting a scan. Most often, the benefits of getting a CT scan outweigh the risks, but it’s particularly important to be cautious for those with preexisting health conditions.
Digital Dental Impressions
Dental impressions can be uncomfortable enough to make anyone avoid the dentist. If you’ve ever needed a crown, bridge, or retainer, then you’ve experienced the discomfort associated with waiting for the gooey, putty-like material (alginate) to set for a dental impression. Thankfully, new methods using digital scans of your mouth have revolutionized this process.
Digital impressions create accurate virtual representations of your teeth and bite by taking a series of digital photographs. The resulting virtual model of your mouth allows your dental care provider to determine the best plan of care for you. Getting digital impressions is not invasive and takes little time. Initially, the teeth are dusted with titanium dioxide powder. Then, an intraoral wand scans the teeth and mouth. If you are getting restorations, the scans will be sent to the lab, where the bridge, veneer, crown, or oral appliance will be made.
Digital impressions provide:
- Comfort: No more gag-inducing goop to achieve dental impressions.
- Efficiency: Your teeth can be immediately assessed to see if they are ready for treatment, and because digital scans don’t need time to set like traditional impressions, you won’t need to spend as much time at the office.
- Quality: Because digital impressions can provide a more detailed representation of your mouth, your new crown, bridge, or veneer will be better suited for your mouth.
Air Abrasion
Air abrasion is a drill-less technique that uses an instrument to blast away small areas of early-onset tooth decay and assists dentists in performing other dental procedures. It is especially recommended for children or patients who are fearful of traditional drilling. Air abrasion is suitable only for cases of minimal decay.
How Air Abrasion Works
A fine stream of particles, such as silica, aluminum oxide, or baking soda, is directed at the stained or decayed portion of the tooth. These particles are propelled by compressed air or gas through the air abrasion instrument. As this steady and powerful stream targets the tooth, it blasts away decay particles on its surface. The detached particles are then quickly suctioned away through a tube.
Air Abrasion Advantages
There are several advantages to using air abrasion over traditional drilling methods, including:
- No heat, pressure, or vibration: This technique does not generate heat, pressure, or vibration, reducing discomfort.
- Reduced need for anesthesia: Anesthesia may not be necessary, especially if the cavity is very shallow.
- Healthy tissue preservation: More healthy tissue can be preserved with this process.
- Reduced risk of fracturing: There is a lower risk of fracturing or chipping a tooth.
Air abrasion can also assist your dentist with other procedures, including removing old composite restorations, preparing a tooth’s surface for bonding or sealants, and removing surface stains and tooth discoloration.
Anesthesia Wand
The single-tooth anesthesia wand offers increased comfort and reduced anxiety for dental procedures requiring anesthetization. This device, resembling a small pen with an extremely small needle at the tip, specifically numbs the individual tooth your dentist needs to work on. The anesthesia wand is uniquely controlled by a computer, delivering a steady flow of anesthesia.
Because of the wand’s less intimidating appearance, it is an excellent option if you are apprehensive about shots and needles or if you experience extreme dental phobia or anxiety. It is particularly useful for children who aren’t yet accustomed to injections.
Anesthesia Wand Benefits
Using the anesthesia wand comes with numerous benefits, including:
- Single-tooth numbness: The wand anesthetizes only one tooth, which means you won’t leave your dentist’s office with a completely numb mouth.
- Complete computer control: The device automatically controls and regulates the flow rates and pressure during injection, enhancing the predictability and precision of the injection.
- Dynamic pressure-sensing technology: This technology monitors the exit pressure of the anesthetic to ensure precise needle position during the administration process. Your dentist also receives visual and audio feedback from the unit, aiding in the correct placement for the injection.
Laser Dentistry
Laser dentistry utilizes diode lasers to direct a controlled force of energy that can remove or alter bone and tissue. By applying varying wavelengths of energy, dental lasers are employed to detect and treat a myriad of oral health issues, including detecting oral cancer and treating small cavities. There are two different types of dental lasers: hard tissue lasers and soft tissue lasers.
Hard Tissue Lasers
With unparalleled precision, hard tissue lasers emit a wavelength that can cut through bone, or more specifically, the calcium phosphate that makes up our bones and teeth. The hard tissue laser eliminates the need for a dental drill, which is often associated with uncomfortable noise and vibrations.
Hard tissue lasers are typically used for:
- Removing decay from a tooth for a filling
- Detecting cavities under the gum line
- Treating tooth sensitivity
Soft Tissue Lasers
Soft tissue lasers emit a wavelength that is easily absorbed by water and hemoglobin, a molecule found in the blood. These lasers cut through soft tissue and seal exposed blood vessels simultaneously, which is why laser treatments often have little bleeding and heal quickly.
Soft tissue lasers are typically used for:
- Reshaping gums to lengthen crowns or for cosmetic purposes, such as treating a “gummy” smile
- Making changes to soft tissue, like treating limited tongue movement or removing soft tissue that causes sleep apnea
- Detecting abnormal tissue, such as oral cancers
- Treating infection in the root canal or gums
Benefits Of Dental Lasers
Lasers sterilize what they touch and seal any blood vessels they cut, which means dental lasers:
- Reduce the need for sutures
- Reduce the need for anesthesia
- Reduce the risk of infection
- Significantly reduce healing time
- Reduce blood loss during treatments
Laser Decay Diagnostics
Using lasers, dentists can detect tooth decay that is not yet visible and would otherwise remain undiagnosed using traditional methods. Laser cavity detection relies on the principle that healthy tooth structure reflects light, or “fluoresces,” differently than decayed tooth structure. Teeth with decay will display a higher level of fluorescence, and the higher the fluorescence, the more advanced the tooth decay. Additionally, laser decay technology emits an audio signal when it detects areas of decay.
Prior to the advent of laser scanners, dentists relied on x-rays and fine picks to identify cavities. This process was not only uncomfortable but also less effective in diagnosing decay in areas with limited visibility, such as underneath the gum line. Laser technology offers about a 90% accuracy rate in identifying suspicious areas and cavities.
If tooth decay is caught early enough, you might not even need a filling, meaning laser technology not only enhances early cavity detection but also reduces the size and number of fillings you might need over time. This advancement helps preserve your natural teeth and avoid the need for more extensive and costly dental treatments.
Revolutionizing Dental Care:
Advanced Technologies At Albano & Greenwald Family Dentistry
Albano & Greenwald Family Dentistry is dedicated to providing the highest quality dental care through the integration of state-of-the-art technology and personalized attention. From the precision of laser dentistry and the efficiency of digital dental impressions to the comfort provided by the anesthesia wand and the innovative air abrasion technique, our practice in Waterbury, CT, is equipped to meet a broad range of dental needs.
These advanced technologies not only improve the accuracy of diagnostics and treatments but also enhance the overall patient experience by minimizing discomfort and recovery time.
At Albano & Greenwald Family Dentistry, we are committed to ensuring that each visit is a positive step towards maintaining and improving your oral health. Join us to experience a new standard in dental care, where technology and compassion come together to create smiles that last a lifetime.
