Dental technology has made leaps and strides in the last 30 years. No longer are dentures made out of wood and teeth that are completely lost can be replaced with implants that mimic the function of teeth almost flawlessly.
Below are the 10 most important dental advancements in the past 40 years.
1. Adhesive Dentistry
believe it or not, but there was an age when removing a cavity meant removing the entire tooth. The invention of adhesive dentistry allowed for dental restorations that fill in missing parts of a tooth to prevent further decay.
2. Cavitron
A cavitron allows for the removal of plaque and other nasty things that normally cling to teeth. Its invention allowed for a cleaner and more complete cleaning of tooth surfaces.
3. Block Injection
Can you imagine what type of pain killer you’d use without a localized anesthetic? Block injection replaced archaic pain management while in the dentist’s chair, allowing for procedures to be done in less time.
4. Composite Resin
Composite fillings enabled teeth to be repaired in ways that they couldn’t before. Instead of being forced to make large holes for metal fillings or put crowns on teeth with cavities in places that metal fillings would be inappropriate, composite resin allowed for fillings to be arranged differently.
5. Porcelain Fused to Metal Crowns
This advancement in the way crowns were engineered allowed for crowns to not only be natural looking by using porcelain, but also strong by having a base made of something as strong as metal.
6. Intraoral Cameras
If you’ve ever tried using one of those small mirrors that dentists stick inside of your mouth, they you may know just how difficult they are to use. Intraoral cameras offered a whole new way to see the whole dental picture inside of your mouth, and in much clearer ways.
7. Mac Dental Software
From keeping appointments in order to managing information on patients, Mac dental software has revolutionized the way that dentists run their practices. This software made it so dentists could keep all their information in one place without having to sort through agenda books and filing cabinets.
8. Cosmetic Dentistry
Instead of being forced to deal with teeth that simply were functional, cosmetic dentistry allowed for patients to have teeth that were both functional and beautiful.
9. Dentist Postcards
As people became more and more busy with their daily lives, it became increasingly hard to remember things like dentist appointments. It also became even more difficult for a dentist’s employees to remind patients when appointments set in the future were. Thus, dentist postcards were invented to help patients be reminded when their next checkup was due so their dental health didn’t fall behind.
10. Dental Implants
Dental implants allowed for an anchor to be placed directly in the jaw’s bone. A crown can then be attached to the protruding part and missing teeth can be replaced.