Modern gadgets are helping to improve everything – including your teeth. Oral care has long been big business but now revolutionary inventions have made it possible for those to correct even the ugliest of smiles. Here are some of the most pioneering technologies that you can currently sink your teeth into.
Orthodontists across the country have long adopted 3D printers to produce braces and retainers. By taking a dental imprint of your teeth, they are able to translate this into a 3D graphic design, which can in turn produce a perfect and precise brace or retainer to help straighten up your teeth.
Some have recently taken this to new levels producing their own 3D printed braces. If you’re handy with 3D product design software and have your own printer, it’s a great way of saving money on the extortionate dental fees that an orthodontist might otherwise charge you. With 3D printers constantly becoming cheaper and our technical skills rising, we might all soon be producing our own braces one day.
Laser treatment
Lasers are the ultimate sci-fi inventions and dentists are constantly finding new implications for them. The most common use is for teeth whitening. A peroxide bleaching material is applied to the teeth, which is then activated by the laser. You can also use lasers to get rid of tooth decay, to reshape gums and remove lesions in the mouth. Such treatment minimises bleeding, causes less pain and reduces anxiety for those frightened of dentist drills. However, it is much more expensive and when used to whiten teeth, can heighten sensitivity due to the removal of enamel.
Intraoral cameras
Intraoral cameras have been around since 1989, replacing the need to use foggy mirrors for hard to access areas of the mouth. Footage on the camera can be transmitted onto a screen, that the dentist and patient can see, so that the dentist is able to accurately describe what they are seeing.
More recently they have become relatively affordable, so that you don’t have to be a dentist to own one. It’s pretty tricky to look inside your own mouth without fiddling with multiple mirrors, but now you can use an intraoral camera that can be hooked up to Wi-Fi and viewed on a computer or phone.
Whitening toothbrush
Electric toothbrushes have come a long way – some models now coming complete with cases and wash kits to keep them extra clean and sanitised. One of the more newer toothbrush technologies however is the polisher. Examples such as the iWhite tooth polisher can not only more easily remove plaque but get rid of staining as a result of tobacco and coffee. Because of the nature of this brush, you have to be careful when applying pressure as well as rinsing it – it’s not like a conventional toothbrush. It’s recommended you use it only once a week and it comes with gel instead of regular toothpaste. Any one eager to maintain their pearly whites should get one.
