Technology
In the past, a visit to the dentist could have been a terrible experience. Today, many people don’t even know what it’s like to have a cavity. Unfortunately, older people might remember visiting a dentist, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, having immense needles driven into their gums and waiting an eternity to have x-rays developed. Thankfully, most people today don’t have to suffer the way their parents and grandparents did thanks to improvements in dental technology.
Today’s dentist office is nothing like those of the past and certainly when you visit Dr. Roger Buzbee’s dental office at 2014 W. Chester Blvd. in Springfield, MO, you won’t have anything to fear. Dr. Buzbee uses the very latest in dental equipment and technology for your comfort.
CEREC® Machine
CEREC® technology has brought dental restorations firmly into the 21st century. What used to take weeks now takes only a day, or two at most. In the past if you needed dental crowns, you would need to have trays containing a gummy substance inserted into your mouth in order to take impressions. Then, the impressions would be delivered to a lab that would manufacture your crowns. You could end up waiting a couple of weeks to have the dental restoration you need.
The CEREC® system consists of a camera that takes 3D pictures of your mouth, computer imaging software and a milling machine. If you need crowns or other restorations, you don’t have to wait forever for them to come back from the lab – Dr. Buzbee can take images of your teeth and build your crowns, usually in a single visit. You’ll spend less time in the dentist chair and your restorations will be less expensive.
Laser Dentistry
If you were to ask dental patients what they hate and fear most about a trip to the dentist, most would tell you that they fear the drill even more than they do the needle. Often, it’s not even the way the drill feels – it’s the horrible sound. Today, many dental procedures that used to require a lot of drilling are actually done using lasers – there’s no noise and no pain. For small cavities, many patients don’t even require a local anesthetic. Lasers can also be used for treating periodontal disease, eliminating plaque, tartar and bacteria below the gum line safely and non-invasively.
If you have been neglecting your oral health because you find the mere idea of the dentist’s drill terrifying, Dr. Roger Buzbee and his staff at Chesterfield Family & Cosmetic Dental Center will be pleased to talk with you about the benefits of laser dentistry. Laser dentistry is particularly effective for children, who can be even more apprehensive than adults when it comes to dental treatments.
Digital X-Rays
Not all that long ago, it took a long time to have dental x-rays done. You 
had to sit in the dentist chair, get the images taken, wait to have them developed. Then if they didn’t come out right the first time, you had to go through the whole procedure again. Often, patients and dentists alike simply went ahead with treatment without bothering with troublesome x-rays and that meant that patients didn’t get the best treatment.
Today, it’s all digital. Your x-rays are taken using a small camera that is considerably less invasive than the older technology and processed immediately using a computer, and the procedure hardly ever has to be repeated. Your dentist is able to get a far better picture of your mouth and can identify even the tiniest cavities in their early stages. With digital x-rays, you spend less time in the chair, you get more effective treatment and you save money.
Intra-oral Cameras
To revisit the old days again, your parents or grandparents likely couldn’t even imagine having a tiny camera placed in their mouths to deliver a picture to the dentist, let alone having those images delivered to a computer and ready for viewing in a matter of minutes.
Today, intra-oral cameras are one of the best ways for your dentist to see what’s going on in your mouth. Intra-oral cameras can take pictures and magnify them up to 25x, so the dentist can see in a huge way the plaque and tartar deposits, worn or cracked teeth, and bad fillings in your mouth. This helps the dentist to determine a proper course of treatment and can also provide proof to your insurance company as to the type of treatment that is needed. If you like, you can even have the pictures delivered to your smartphone or printed off to take home.
Oral Cancer Screening
Everyone fears a diagnosis of cancer, but unless you are a heavy
smoker or a drinker, you probably don’t even think about the possibility of oral cancer. That’s a mistake, because oral cancer is actually one of the more common types of cancer and can affect anyone. Tens of thousands of new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed in any given year. And if not found and treated, oral cancer can be fatal.
One of the things your dentist looks for when he or she does an examination is signs of oral cancer. Often this appears first as tiny white spots that you might not even notice during your regular oral hygiene regimen. If anything appears to be out of the ordinary, then the dentist will order a biopsy. Like most cancers, if oral cancer is found early on, it is very treatable. This is yet another reason why you should make sure to visit Dr. Buzbee twice a year for checkups.
Contact Us
If you would like to know more about how technological advances can improve your dental health, visit Chesterfield Family & Cosmetic Dental Center at 2014 W. Chester Blvd. in Springfield, MO. You can also call Dr. Roger Buzbee at 417-888-0771 to arrange a consultation.
