Dentistry has changed a lot in the last few years. Advances in dental technology are resulting in more accurate, more comfortable, and more personalized care. At Edgewood Dentistry (based in Edgewood, KY and serving patients across the Northern Kentucky Metroplex), we put a big premium on making sure that our patients have the access to the best and most advanced dental care available. From imaging to disease therapies, our office combines technology and technique (developed over years of experience and study) to give you your best smile and protect your oral health.

Imaging: Seeing It Through
Taking photographs of your teeth to make diagnoses and create treatment plans has always been a part of dentistry. X-rays of course allow your dentist to get a better look at your oral cavity and teeth, but standard X-rays produce two dimensional images that produce only a fraction of the information needed to provide you with optimal care.
Advances in imaging technology allow us to get a higher degree of detail, and in all three dimensions.

Digital Radiography
X-ray images have been around for about 120 years, and their usefulness has only increased as x-ray cameras became more and more sophisticated.

Conventional X-ray photography (radiography) has one major drawback: it produces images that are only two dimensions, in hard-copy form. By embracing digital radiography, we are now able to manipulate, store, and send images effortlessly. This is convenient for us, but it also allows us to assess any problems and find solutions more quickly than ever before.

The Cone Beam Scanner
Remember what an X-ray camera used to look like? Most people picture a tube attached to an articulated arm (similar to what you might have on a desk lamp). It only produces two dimensional images; while still useful, it only gives a partial glimpse into your oral health and the state of your teeth.

In our practice, we use a cone beam scanner, which produces high-clarity, three-dimensional images by taking hundreds of X-ray photos from hundreds of angles in a short period of time. The scanner rotates around your head; as it does, it takes pictures after pictures which are sent to a computer that combines them into a single, three dimensional digital image.  This allows us to actually turn the image around and look at your teeth from any angle, and we can catch problems well before they become serious. The cone beam scanner also makes creating highly detailed, highly customized plans for your therapeutic treatment and cosmetic enhancement.

i-Tero Intraoral Camera
We offer Invisalign in our practice for our patients looking for the best and most convenient orthodontic solution for their alignment issues. Briefly, Invisalign depends on highly detailed images to create the custom aligners that gently guide your teeth into the proper position.

The i-Tero intraoral camera is one of the most reliable and accurate imaging method for Invisalign. It can create the design for your aligners 50% faster than other methods with a higher degree of accuracy. That means a better fit and better results from your Invisalign treatment, and it also means you don’t have to go through the unpleasant experience of getting a physical dental impression made.

i-Tero is an intraoral camera. As you might have guessed, intraoral means that the camera goes into your mouth. This is achieved by placing a small but powerful, high definition camera on the end of a hand-held wand. Your dentist is able to get incredibly detailed images of the inside of your mouth quickly, and most importantly, comfortably.

Laser Technology
Lasers used to be just a staple of science fiction (we are a “Han shot first” practice, by the way), but today they are used in medical procedures of all kinds, and dentistry is no exception. Lasers ensure greater accuracy and less painful procedures than conventional dental tools.

LANAP
Periodontal disease (gum disease) is one of the most common dental afflictions in the US; 65 million Americans are estimated to have some form of gum disease, and it is the leading cause of tooth loss in the US.
Treating gum disease means eliminating the infection that causes its symptoms; before laser technology, this required a lot of work with metal tools and elbow grease. LANAP (Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure) gets rid of the infection and damaged tissue quickly and with much less discomfort. Instead of metal tools, a small fiber optic laser (about the width of three human hairs) is placed between your tooth and gum; the laser does the work!

Diode Laser
Another laser that we employ is the diode laser. The diode laser is used to cut or remove tissue with greater precision and less pain than conventional methods (such as a scalpel).

The WAND (anesthesia)
While most people don’t suffer from severe dental anxiety, the “Big Needle” that is used to anesthetize an area of your mouth for a procedure does tend to give folks the willies. Not only does it look imposing, but injecting anesthetic into oral tissues (the gums especially) can be very uncomfortable, but not because of the prick of the needle. Your gums are a very dense tissue, and there isn’t a lot of room for the anesthetic to go; as it enters the tissue, the pressure it creates can be unnervingly painful. That’s where the WAND comes in: instead of a manual plunger that pushes anesthetic into your gums all at once, the WAND uses a computer operated pumping mechanism to gradually and gently inject the anesthetic into your gums. Local anesthetic is supposed to protect you from pain and discomfort; you shouldn’t have to suffer for it!

See 21st Century Dentistry Firsthand at Edgewood Dental!
Want to experience the latest dental technology and a dental care team that really makes your comfort a priority? The investments we’ve made in our technology is only a small part of what makes Edgewood Dental a different kind of dental practice.

Make an appointment today! Call 859-474-7830 now!