Cerec, The Wand And PRGF Endoret
It’s the little extras we provide that help us to go the ‘extra mile’ for our Epsom patients.
Long gone are the days when a visit to the dentist meant a check up, a filling or a tooth extraction. Dental care has evolved and come a long way since then and more sophisticated treatments are now available to restore any type of tooth damage that may have occurred. One of the most significant advances in oral care though is the advent of cosmetic dental procedures which can help you to have not only healthy teeth, but a great looking smile too.
Like many other dentists in the UK, the Clocktower Dental, Implant & Facial Centre has embraced these advances and now offers a wide range of treatments for our patients. These include not only popular cosmetic treatments such as teeth whitening, but the placement of dental implants to replace missing teeth as well.
In addition to these newer treatments, we have also taken time to research some of the perhaps less well known innovations, but ones that we feel offer benefits for patients of our practice. It is three of those that we will take a look at in today’s blog.
Cerec
Most dental practices use outside laboratories when it comes to the preparation of crowns, inlays and onlays. This means that the patient not only has to wear temporary restorations for up to two weeks while the final restoration is prepared, but also has to come to the practice twice; once for preparation and impressions and the other to have them fitted.
By using Cerec, we can take digital impressions and avoid the traditional impression taking which some patients find messy and can cause a gag reflex. Once this is done, the information is fed into the computer system and your new restoration, such as a crown, is then milled from a single block of ceramic. This process takes approximately one hour and will be ready to be fitted as soon as the process is complete. In many cases, we will be able to preserve more of the natural part of the tooth using this method.
The use of Cerec is a great advance for dental practices and also more convenient for our patients, requiring just a single visit to our Epsom clinic to have a crown fitted.
The Wand
The ‘Wand’ sounds like something out of a magician’s bag of tricks and many patient’s experience is that it is something approaching that. The Wand is an anaesthetic delivery system that avoids the use of a syringe. This is ideal for those whose dental phobia is led by a fear of needles. Even those who are less concerned about needles also tend to appreciate the ease of the Wand. With so many people finding a traditional anaesthetic injection uncomfortable, the Wand offers a great way forward in making things easier and less stressful for our Epsom dental patients.
When the Wand is used prior to a procedure, a topical anaesthetic is applied to the gums which numbs it enough for a tiny needle to inject the anaesthetic into the bloodstream. This is a very small needle compared to a traditional syringe and with the topical anaesthetic applied beforehand, you should barely feel the ‘injection’ at all.
If you have a procedure coming up and would like to discuss this option, please contact us beforehand so that we can provide you with further information.
PRGF – Endoret
PRGF Endoret is a technology that is used for dental implant placements. While it doesn’t form a part in the procedure itself, it is applied to help the healing process following the placement. This is an important stage that is key to having a healthy and secure replacement tooth.
The technology uses a small sample of the patient’s blood and extracts the healing proteins from it. These are then applied to the ‘wound’ area where the implant placement has taken place. Using PRGF Endoret means that it is likely that there will be less inflammation and discomfort and increases the likelihood of a faster recovery time.
As you can see, we do our best to investigate new products and, where we feel they are useful and appropriate, integrate them into our highly-rated Epsom practice. If you have found any of the three mentioned above to be something you might be interested in applying to your own treatment, we are always happy to provide you with further information if needed.
If you would like to know more about the Wand, Cerec or PRGF Endoret, or wish to contact us to arrange a consultation for any procedure, please contact the Clocktower Dental, Implant & Facial Centre on 01372 720136 and we will do our best to help you.