Latest Technology
At Cherry Hills Dental, Dr. Lofton invests in the newest technology available because he wants to ensure the best, fastest and safest experience for his patients. His goal is to provide you with a positive dental visit that will help you stay healthy and have a great smile.
CEREC System (Same Day Crowns)
Why would you need the use the CEREC System?
Dentist's assisstant operating CEREC Milling machine to produce dental implants.
Have you ever broken a tooth and been told you need a crown or a cap to fix the broken tooth?
To fix this it usually takes multiple visits going back and forth just to get the procedure done. Well, if you have your broken tooth fixed with a CEREC System, the entire procedure can be done in a single visit using patented technology. No more temporaries and no more missed days at work just to get your tooth fixed. Get it all done in one visit. And the cost isn't any more than having it done the old fashioned way, it’s just faster and easier.
We use the CEREC System to repair broken teeth. CEREC has been used for close to 30 years. The technology allows us to take a digital picture of the tooth, have the computer design the tooth and then mill out your new tooth in a little over an hour.
How can you benefit from using the CEREC machine at the our office?
The CEREC Machine comes with groundbreaking technology that has revolutionized dentistry. In the past, crowns and inlays were created by taking an impression and it was generally a long process. Most patients have gone through this process and have experienced how long it can take to get a crown fitted. However, the CEREC Machine has changed all that, using CAD/CAM technology, patients can be fitted with a crown in just 15 minutes. The procedure beings with us taking an image with a specialized optical camera which then sends the images to computer. The next step involves us designing the restoration, once the design has been satisfactorily finalized, we can then instruct the computer to begin work on the restoration which initiates the milling process which is usually completed in 15 minutes. All that is required after that is to select the proper shade, everything else will be handled by the computer. A ceramic blank is placed inside the milling machine which then carves out the restoration per the specs instructed by us. It works much like a printer for tooth restoration.
Getting treatment with the CEREC system:
Digital X-Rays
Using about ¼ to 1/3 the exposure of a traditional x-ray, digital x-rays allow us to diagnose more accurately with less radiation exposure. Being digital, they can be displayed to you in an informative manner.
Intraoral Camera (DEXcam)
This camera allows us to show you what we see (we can take high definition color photos anywhere in the mouth). “A picture is worth a thousand words.” This gives our patients a real understanding of a condition a tooth or the gums may have.
CariVu (CariVu Imagery)
This is a ZERO-RADIATION cavity detection device. It uses near infrared illumination exactly like a night vision camera! CariVu illuminates the tooth with harmless light and captures the image. The cavities create shadows in a normally bright tooth.
Diagnodent
A radiation-free technology, Diagnodent uses a laser to inspect teeth, very similar to scanning tools used at the checkout in department stores and supermarkets. The laser light is reflected differently by healthy tooth and decay. This is measured by the Diagnodent. This tool can find cavities in the earliest stages that cannot be detected by traditional means. It also knows the difference between decay and harmless stains. It is a “must” technology to use on children’s new molars as they come in. This is where we find the highest risk of decay. It is healthier and more conservative to treat the cavity as it is in the beginning and still small.
Galileos
Cone Beam Computed Tomography or CBCT is an amazing technology that allows us to see the head and neck in 3D. These scans are highly detailed, take less than a minute, and uses 100 times less radiation than a traditional CT scanner. This technology allows us to see more areas such as nerves, tooth roots, the sinus, nose, etc. A typical x-ray “compresses” all the layers of information into a flat image making these areas much harder to see.
