At Wayside we have wholeheartedly embraced the digital revolution to improve our patients’ outcomes and comfort. Here are just a few of the things we offer….
Intra-Oral Scanners use a tiny HD camera which takes hundreds of photos and builds a highly accurate digital replication of your teeth, gums and occlusion. You can watch the image of your teeth and gums build up on the screen in front of you. It’s so much more comfortable than using gloopy alginate and more accurate too. Plus, we can keep this as a record of tooth movement or if you need us to make something like retainers or bleaching trays.
Using our scanners to capture all the information digitally, we can use our software to design your new tooth and send this design to our milling machine. This mill can make perfectly fitting and completely natural looking crowns in just 40 minutes using tiny, automated drills. We then glaze and stain the crowns and fire them in our furnace. We will soon be able to 3D print these too when new materials become available!
The X-Guide from X-Nav allows us to do pre-planned, fully navigated implant surgery so we can see, on a computer screen, where we are in the jaw at all times during surgery. This makes implant placement safer, more accurate and allows for a more natural looking restoration. It also allows us to place implants on patients who have been told it is not possible.
This new software uses the cameras in the X-Guide to accurately map where your implants are in relation to each other-this is called Fastmap. This, together with the information we have from your CT scan and intra-oral scans allows us to create an avatar of your mouth which we can use to plan your temporary or final teeth. This plan can then be printed out on our 3D printer in under an hour. This is a game changer for teeth in a day, making teeth in a few hours possible. Photogrammetry also means that the temporary teeth will fit perfectly and will therefore protect the implants. An imperfect temporary can put unwanted force through the implants which can cause them to fail.
This can be used to print crowns, bridges, night guards, whitening trays quickly and accurately.
Let’s not forget the Wand pain free anaesthetic delivery system Although we have had these for over 20 years, they are still essentially computers. They sense and measure the pressure in your mouth to deliver the anaesthesia comfortably. So comfortably that most patients are surprised when we tell them we have finished!
Wayside Dental practice in Harpenden, Hertfordshire is proud to champion digital dentistry and believes passionately in offering all our patients the very best dentistry available in the UK. Contact us today for more information or to book an appointment.
