It’s an exciting time to be a tooth. Innovations in dentistry are rapidly changing the way dental care is given out. Better and more efficient ways of caring for teeth are here and dental clinics and patients are feeling its effects everywhere. From improved fixtures to streamlined processes, they are all helping build a superior industry.
To better understand these developments, here are the emerging trends in the dental medicine field.
3D Printing
This trend is not just taking over dentistry. According to Engineering, 3D printing has also been improving the architecture, automotive, manufacturing, aerospace, and medical industries. And for good reason. The ability to realize computer designs might sound like something straight from a science fiction novel if it happened just a couple of decades ago. But it is really here.
In dentistry, 3D printers are being used to create more accurate custom aligners, crowns, tooth replacements, and crowns. The precise nature of the end products is helping dental professionals create smoother experiences for their patients. It also reduces the wait times for dental items since most designs can be produced in-house.
Digital Design
Speaking of computer designs, its use has been growing exponentially. Although computer-aided designs (CAD) or computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) have been around for a while now, they have undergone vast improvements, and these are being maximized in dentistry as well.
Using digital impressions, issues like cracked or deteriorated casts are being either significantly reduced or eliminated altogether.
Innovations in digital design are also the reason for the rise of labs for clear aligners, dentures, 3D printed materials, and other dental items.
Lasers
Laser technology has been doing a lot for dentistry. Its features include whitening teeth, removing lesions, eliminating bacteria during root canal sessions, removing tooth decay, reshaping gums, preparing the enamel for fillings, and a whole host of other complex tasks.
The use of lasers also improves the patient experience because the likelihood of requiring sutures is reduced. Some cases don’t require anesthesia. Lasers also reduce the risk of infections since they eliminate bacteria. This means shorter recovery time for the gums as well. And compared to traditional surgery, patients tend to lose less blood.
Digital Tools
Dentistry doesn’t only involve teeth-related activities. In fact, it’s surprising how much time patients and dental facilities spend on more trivial tasks like setting up appointments, making and receiving payments, pulling up records, and more. These administrative tasks are slowing down the actual dental work. Fortunately, the rise of digital tools has been helping industries like dentistry to streamline processes and focus on core tasks.
From digital tools that hold dental records, inventory managers, timekeeping software, to billing and accounting applications, digital tools are significantly reducing the rime and resources spent on administrative work and redirecting it into more fruitful endeavors, like fixing teeth issues. And this change has been helping people on both ends of the business.
Artificial Intelligence
Nothing says future like robots. In dentistry, AI robots are not able to perform dental work that is minimally invasive like cap applications, filling cavities, teeth extractions, and other tasks. This is only a glimpse into a more promising future for the industry.
Watch out for more developments in the world of dentistry. The trends mentioned above are bound to stay and improve over time.