One Magnificent Smile uses the latest in dental care advancements, including digital X-rays and CEREC, at their Oak Park office in order to give you the most thorough, low-risk, and time-efficient care possible. One Magnificent Smile uses several digital and laser-based innovations in our general, restorative and cosmetic treatments. To learn more about how we use digital X-rays, lasers, and computer-aided CEREC technology at our Oak Park office – serving Elmwood Park and the greater Chicago, Illinois area – contact our office today.
CEREC Single-visit Restorations
One of the most exciting innovations in use in our office is CEREC (CEramic REConstruction or Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics) technology. For many years, engineers have used computer-aided drafting (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) technology for designing and building a number of machines. CEREC applies this same technology to making incredibly precise, custom-made dental restorations in a fraction of the time traditionally required.
In the span of about an hour, CEREC technology allows you to begin enjoying the benefits of dental crowns, bridges, and porcelain veneers. The process begins with the treatment of your existing teeth. If necessary, the dentist will remove weakened or decayed portions of your teeth to create a healthy foundation for your crown or bridge. Once these alterations are complete, our dentist will create an optical impression of your teeth using a special digital camera. This impression is then transmitted to a machine that will use diamond-tipped milling tools to craft your custom restoration from a single block of ceramic or porcelain, whose color will match your existing teeth. The benefits of this technology are many: decreased treatment time, increased quality, and decreased cost.
Digital X-Rays
X-Rays are an essential part of dentistry that can reveal complications such as abscesses, cysts, bone loss, tumors, decay, developmental abnormalities, poor tooth and root positioning, and complications inside teeth or below the gum line. We use digital X-rays, which employ an electronic sensor instead of X-ray film to capture and store digital images on a computer. Instead of having to wait for film to develop, digital X-Rays can be viewed and enlarged instantly, helping to detect any possible complications faster than ever before. While traditional X-rays involve an already low exposure of radiation to the patient, digital X-Rays reduce that level of radiation by an additional 80 to 90 percent. We still provide lead aprons for patients to be worn while X-Rays are taken, reducing exposure to radiation even further. We recommend a full mouth series of digital X-rays for new patients, and annual bite-wing X-rays (X-rays of the top and bottom teeth biting together) to detect any new dental problems.
Laser Dentistry, the latest and greatest in dental technology!
Laser Dentistry is all the buzz in dentistry. There are countless uses of a laser in the office and the rewards that the patient will receive are unbelievable. We use a diode laser at One Magnificent Smile, which uses a very low wavelength to sterilize and decontaminate tissue. Since the wavelength that is emitted is at such a low wattage, it is painless and the recovery is as well, with the most severe complaint we have heard to date was that the patient felt like they had a “pizza burn.” As a result, the laser is used in hygiene at dental check ups, smile design to create a longer, more cosmetically pleasing tooth, eliminating diseased tissue while preparing a CEREC crown, removing and sterilizing infected tissue in a root canal, and many more procedures. The laser in itself is only providing benefits to each and every patient we have at One Magnificent Smile, and we continue to be amazed by the results it provides.
Diagnodent Dental Caries Detector
If there is one thing that Dr. Cliff is passionate about, it’s making sure that his patients have access to the latest, an greatest technology available to the dental community. The Diagnodent is just one more of these products our doctors keep as a strong part of their arsenal in fighting decay and keeping our patient’s mouth free of dental decay.
The Diagnodent has been approved by both the FDA and ADA in detecting dental decay in the early stages, often when it cannot be seen on dental x-ray or by the naked eye. The Diagnodent works by detecting various changes in density within the tooth, indicating that the tooth is breaking down underneath the overlying enamel layer. As a result, our doctors are able to restore the decay long before it travels deeper into the tooth and causes a larger cavity, or worse yet, a crown or root canal.
Velscope Oral Cancer Detection
Oral cancer is nearly impossible to detect with the naked eye. We use a special laser to painlessly “look” below the skin surface for abnormal signs and lesions. When exposed to the laser, malignant tissue will appear different than healthy tissue. Analysis with a laser accompanies a traditional visual and tactile analysis of the neck, face, and glands to help detect oral cancer as soon as possible. Early detection and diagnosis can prove critical in successful treatment of oral cancer.