We Are Proud To Announce Our Latest Technology
If there is ever something that is consistent in life, it is change. Change often signals opportunity, and the ability to do things better. Here at McOmie Family Dentistry, we are always striving to do things better, safer, and easier for our patients. We will always make the highest level of care available to our patients, and if that includes technology, then we will go get it. So that is why we have added a new cone beam CBCT/ Panorex to our practice.
The addition of the VATECH Green CT 2 marks the latest technology we have added to our practice. This is the latest technology in the world using the best sensors and sources to obtain the finest image in dentistry today. It is a fact that McOmie Family Dentistry is the only office in the state of Tennessee with this machine. Let us tell you about the reasons behind new and better imaging.
What Does This New X-Ray Machine Do?
This new machine allows us the option of doing a 2-dimensional image or a 3-dimensional image. We use 2-dimensional images to detect thing like cavities in between our teeth. Amazingly this new x-ray machine technology allows us to take bitewing radiographs without putting anything inside the patient’s mouth. Up until this time if we took bitewings, we place a digital sensor inside of your mouth you close down on a tab, and the dental professional aligns the x-ray head and then takes the x-ray. They then move the x-ray and take another view, and this is done four times.
It allows us to look at the in-between teeth spaces and detect dental decay. On the in mouth bitewings, we can see the crowns of the teeth or the upper part of the tooth. In contrast, the new machine all you put in your mouth is a small bite stick between your very front teeth. The machine in about 4 seconds takes all four x-rays. We not only see the upper part of the teeth but the lower part of the teeth as well. On these bitewings, we can look at the roots of the teeth and even wisdom teeth. This ability leads us to have more information leading to better diagnosis, all with improved patient comfort and less ionizing radiation (more on radiation in a minute).
A two-dimensional image may be all we need to properly evaluate a person’s impacted 3rd molars (wisdom teeth). As mentioned above 2-dimensional x-rays are great for seeing decay between the teeth and have been used for over 80 years for that purpose. With the new machine, we can also do what is called Cone Beam CT or CBCT or CT scan. It goes by several names, but in the end, it all means basically a 3-dimensional image.
With the 3-dimensional image, we can rotate around and look at things from many different angles. We use this technology to help us place dental implants. Helping us get them in just the right spot to maximize the stability in the bone and to make restoring the implant easier and less expensive. We can use the CT scan to 3D print what is called a surgical guide. A surgical guide can be used to pinpoint where an implant is placed this improves accuracy. The CT scan is beneficial to help diagnose teeth that have cracks or to look for extra canals when doing a root canal. Accessing airways for people with sleep apnea is done with our new scanner.
We can also use our CBCT machine to help diagnose fractured and cracked teeth. We can find unusual tooth anatomy when doing root canals, what that means is if there is any canal hiding we can find it and fix it. This really helps us and makes things more efficient, getting people out of pain.
Less Radiation
Safety is a major concern. We are mainly concerned with our patient’s safety, and our dental team’s safety when it comes to radiation. We do not ever take a routine x-ray of any kind we only take x-rays when we are looking for something and need this information. The exposure to a patient is always of concern to us so we monitor this very close and use the latest technology so we get the best image we can while using the lowest dose we can. Let’s look into the risk of x-ray and understand what it means and how much we use.
In the chart above we can see the digital panorex x-ray which we have used for about 15 years at McOmie Family Dentistry has 14-24 usv. This is the dose of ionizing radiation it takes to make this image. To the side we see that a commercial flight gives us 6 usv per hour so a 4 hour flight on a commercial airline will be as the equivalent to the highest dose we use taking a panorex x-ray. So in other words, not much radiation is used at all. Daily just walking around we get 5-10 usv so taking a panorex on our machine is like living three days longer in radiation dose. Our new machine lessens radiation dose by up to 70% over other methods.
The point is any risks no matter how little has to be taken seriously. We want you to know that we care about any risks to our patients and our staff. We use all precautions and use judicious judgment in using x-rays of any kind. We also employ the best and latest technology to get the best image with the lowest dose.
We shoot super low dose x-rays at McOmie Family Dentistry.
We are always looking out for you!
We are always looking out for your dental and overall health. We strive to be the best dentist office we can be. We love our patients and appreciate the trust you place in us, we take this seriously. We can’t wait to see you for your next appointment no matter what it is for. So go ahead give us a call with any question or to make an appointment. Remember you can reach us by calling or texting our main number 423-899-1112.
