Digital Imaging
There are many guidelines that we follow to ensure the safety of the patient and staff. Radiographs allow us to see everything we cannot see with our own eyes. They enable us to detect cavities in between your teeth, determine bone level, and analyze the health of your bone. We can also examine the roots and nerves of teeth, diagnose lesions such as cysts or tumors, as well as assess damage when trauma occurs.
Dental digital radiographs are invaluable aids in diagnosing, treating, and maintaining dental health. Instead of conventional radiographs, digital radiographs result in less radiation to you and provide a better understanding of your dental condition. Exposure time for digital radiographs is calibrated to be as low as possible while assuring the highest diagnostic resolution.
Digital imaging also allows us to store patient images electronically, and enables us to quickly and easily transfer them to your general dentist, other dental specialists, or insurance companies.
Surgical Microscopes
The introduction of the surgical microscope has revolutionized the field of Endodontic Microsurgery. Dr. Dalzell and staff are specially trained in microsurgical techniques that preserve natural tooth structure and enable us to precisely visualize each situation with confidence and efficiency. The combination of magnification and fiber-optic illumination are necessary in aiding to see tiny details inside your tooth allowing for exceptional diagnostic ability and treatment efficiency. Problems such as cracks, root fractures, and calcified canals can better be visualized and therefore treated. Microsurgical techniques help ensure conservation of tooth structure and help provide the highest quality of care available today.
Our success depends on us being able to see the minutest of details – you cannot treat what you cannot see.
Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT)
We employ low radiation CBCT in the office for a variety of situations to obtain high quality 3D images of the tooth. In certain cases we apply CBCT to visualize canal morphology, diagnose root fractures, enhance early diagnosis of endodontic lesions, assess anatomical structures, plan surgery, visualize internal and external resorption defects, assess non-endodontic pathosis, and assess endodontic healing. The early diagnostic capability of CBCT can save you from unnecessary, invasive treatment. And, in many cases CBCT can improve treatment outcomes, thus helping to reduce treatment time and the number of treatment visits.
Precise And Conservative Treatment
Electronic apex locators allow for electronic, accurate measurement of root lengths without exposing you to additional x-ray films. They improve the quality of care and allow for more precision-based endodontics.
Nickel-Titanium Instrumentation
Today, the cleaning and shaping of root canals is no longer an arduous procedure done with hand files. This job is now performed with mechanized, engine driven rotary files that have made the procedure more efficient, predictable, quieter, and far more comfortable than before. These instruments have increased the quality of care and made the procedure much easier and more pleasant for the patient.
Ultrasonic Instrumentation
Ultrasonic instruments are a wonderful adjunct to the operating microscope. They are very small instruments that vibrate at ultrasonic speeds to precisely and delicately remove tooth structure during the root canal procedure. Ultrasonic instruments allow Dr. Dalzell to precisely remove small amounts of tooth structure allowing him to clean the canals more effectively and efficiently. This conservation of tooth structure allows success in situations that were previously considered hopeless. They can also be used for passive ultrasonic irrigation, helping to agitate irrigants in the root(s).
Irrigants
We use antimicrobial solutions for irrigation and disinfection when performing endodontic procedures. Thorough disinfection of the root canal space is critical to long-term success. As research leads to the creation of new, more effective solutions and techniques, we incorporate those into our procedures. One technique we routinely use is negative pressure irrigation to safely and effectively draw antimicrobial solution to the end of the root. Studies show this technique is the most effective way to disinfect the internal structure of the tooth. All combined, these techniques and technologies set the stage for the most favorable outcome possible.
