subject: An Automated System To Present Patients Of The Results Of Cosmetic Dental Procedure [print this page] As we approached the 1980s, dentistry in the United States faced a challenge ironically brought by its own excellence in helping fight tooth decay for 20 years. General dentistry may have lost its revenues but this was just transferred to the now flourishing cosmetic dentistry.
Nowadays, over 80 percent of the 130,000 dentists of the country do cosmetic job and a lot are reporting that it is the part of the practice that grows the fastest.
The cosmetic division of dentistry is said to be able to generate almost half of the $32 billion annual revenue of the industry, said a professor at a medical college in Georgia and book author.
The president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry says that the cosmetic work among dentists has tripled compared to five years ago. The birth of the state of the art materials have pulled the demand up.
Most apparent among them are the porcelain laminates, thin porcelain veneers that are placed over existing teeth and bonded into position. To prevent scratching its surface, patients must not bite their nails or chomp on spareribs.
But most dentists say that with minimal care, the laminates are durable and virtually undetectable. The use of porcelain laminates is generating up to $250,000 a year in revenues for dentists who average 10 treatments a month.
Adding to the list of cosmetic dental treatments in America these days is bleaching which is a chemical treatment which whitens teeth and it costs between $100 to $200 per treatment.
You may be wondering who comprise a big portion of its patrons, they are the entertainers and politicians. But non public people also avail this, especially the men. Almost half of the cosmetic patients are male and this is quite a big leap from the 20 percent just a few years ago.
Porcelain has been used by dentists for decades, but it was only a few years ago that porcelain veneers, and the bonding techniques to existing teeth, were fully refined. The sales for porcelain laminates for this year alone will reach 300,000 amounting to $20 million for the American manufacturers.
For now, porcelain is the best option, but researchers for cosmetic dentistry are continuous hunting for a better bond. One dentist uses ceramic particles in a resin base to form caps and bridges.
The caps are placed inside an oven set for seven minutes, after being molded in the mouth. The result is caps that are at least twice as strong as porcelain laminates at about half the price.
A specialty designed oven that costs 1000 dollars will enable dentists to do baked bonding on site. While one dentist is working with ovens, another New York dentist has developed a patented silk bonding process that he says increases bonding strength by 300 percent.
However, it is 25 percent more expensive than the present bonding. It has been acknowledged by an official of the ADA that the baking option used can indeed strengthen the composite materials, but not that significant.
There is also a newly found process that takes out the need for bonding in particular cases. Hydrogen peroxide is now their main ingredient for application to do the bleaching.
Detrimental effects are really not reported, but there is a high incidence of discoloration recurrence. Cosmetic dentists are being hassled by the returning patients who they believe stems from the uncertain visualization of these people regarding their treatment result expectations.
A faculty member at a Southern California university has embedded a computer system in his office that allows clients to visualize their expected smile appearance after the cosmetic work.
A video camera, an electronic pen, and an electronic writing pad comprise the said system that are all connected to a tower with color monitor. He uses the camera to capture an image of a patient's smile which is then displayed on the monitor.
With the results automated, he can show the expected cosmetic enhancement on screen like whiter teeth, closed gaps and smoothened edges.
The close up image of their smile normally surprise people. Seeing the great improvement in appearance for only the slightest change will amaze them even more.
