In the past few years, the practice of dentistry has been revolutionized with the advent of new technologies like PlanScan and same-day crowns. These procedures are quickly becoming the preferred treatment for modern practices, offering faster and more comfortable dental procedures and better oral health outcomes.
Learn more about how PlanScan and same-day crowns can benefit your oral health.
What is PlanScan?
PlanScan dentistry is a cutting-edge system that allows dental professionals to create highly-accurate 3D models of patients’ teeth.
Using these models, dentists can plan treatments with unprecedented levels of accuracy, resulting in faster, more effective care.
PlanScan dentistry can be used to create custom-made dental crowns and other prosthetics, providing patients with long-lasting results. Whether you need a routine cleaning or complex dental surgery, PlanScan dentistry can provide you with the high-quality care you deserve.
What Are Same-Day Crowns?
Same-day crowns are an alternative to conventional porcelain, gold alloy, or porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns, which typically take several visits to complete. The procedure repairs severely damaged teeth due to trauma or decay or caps a tooth after a root canal.
The dentist prepares the damaged tooth by removing decay and damaged enamel and then shapes it so it can accommodate a dental crown. Then the same-day crowns are created using digital scanning technology, a software program, and an on-site milling machine, which fabricates the crown from a tooth-colored block of zirconia ceramic. The dentist then cements the crown on the tooth.
Benefits of PlanScan and Same-Day Crowns
Compared with traditional dental technologies and techniques, PlanScan and same-day crowns offer numerous benefits, including:No Messy Impressions
Conventional dental impressions involve an impression tray injected with elastomeric materials, including polyvinyl siloxanes (PVS), condensation silicone, polyether, and polysulfide. These materials conformed to the contours of your mouth, but the excess often spread onto your face, leaving a sticky residue. Some of the materials, polysulfide in particular, also had a bad odor and taste and caused a gag reflex in some patients.
PlanScan and same-day crown technology eliminate the need for impression putties and trays. Instead, they use non-invasive digital technology, including intraoral cameras, to take accurate images of your mouth.
More Accurate Imaging
Most conventional impression materials are sensitive to moisture which can skew the crown mold, resulting in an ill-fitting dental crown.
PlanScan creates an intraoral scan that is significantly more detailed than the impressions created by other methods. This allows dentists to quickly, accurately, and safely evaluate patients’ oral health and enables them to identify problems that may have gone unnoticed.
Faster Treatment Times
Traditionally, getting a dental crown was a two-step process: first, the tooth was prepared by removing any damaged or decayed tissue. Then a temporary crown would be placed over the tooth, while the permanent crown was created in a dental laboratory. The entire process took several weeks and at least two appointments to complete.
However, with a same-day crown procedure, the permanent crown is made using computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology to create a 3D rendering of the crown. The crown is then milled from a block of ceramic material, allowing patients to get their new crowns in just one visit to the dentist.
Collaborative Approach to Treatment
Studies show that dentist-patient communication can significantly impact oral health outcomes following treatment. Conventional imaging and impression techniques don’t allow patients to communicate their needs and concerns with their dentist effectively.
PlanScan’s real-time laser video streaming technology allows patients to take an active role in their dental health by seeing what the dentist sees in real-time. This allows patients to ask questions, voice concerns, and be more informed about their oral health.
Receive State-of-the-Art Dental Treatment at Valley Dental Care
If you need to repair a damaged tooth or suspect you have an oral health issue, contact Valley Dental Care for an appointment. We offer cutting-edge technologies, including PlanScan, same-day crowns, and laser dentistry for fast, effective dental treatments to restore your smile.