Dentistry does not excite everybody but maybe it should. We all invariably need to visit the dentist at one time or another and any good news in this sphere should be welcome. Your local dental clinic used to be the house of pain, back in the day, not so anymore. Yes, the shiny stainless steel instruments are still very sharp and that electric drill whines up into your upper adenoids but pain management is a whole new ball game in modern dentistry. Let us look into the top dentistry innovations of 2024: what’s too cool to ignore?

Best Dental Care Stuff Happening In 2024 & Beyond

AI (artificial intelligence) is everywhere and dentistry is no exception to this all-embracing trend. Computer enhancement is promising to make dental care better in every way, whether it will deliver is another matter. We as a species are in adoration of our high tech toys. We are hoping that if we teach AI to do the things that we can do it will come up with better and more consistent ways of doing it. We are putting our trust in something that the majority of us don’t understand or comprehend. But hell, we have been doing that for years now. Let the PR spin roll and watch the glossy promotional video. Pump up the tyres and get into expo mode. 

Digital Scanners In 3D

Digital scanners continue to provide ever more accurate renditions of intra-oral structures. The orthodontic process is getting much easier in this regard. 3D scanners make mock ups of facial results brilliantly come to life. The digital smile design is changing the way things are done.

“We can even 3D print the proposed design and show the patient the mock up in their own mouth. The intra-oral scanner means that with aligner therapy scans are taken and movements mapped out on computer so that a series of aligners can be produced that will ensure those particular movements. This avoids the need for having the traditional ‘train track’ braces.” 
– The Irish Times

AI Reading X-Rays & Diagnosing Patients

Technology is brilliant when it works! We have all thought this and experienced the downside when it doesn’t work. Often it is the interaction points between humans and technology where things break down. This allows proponents to claim that their technology is never at fault, but if humans cannot operate with the technology it is still an issue. My concerns revolve around dependence upon AI – will it result in the long term dumbing down of humans? Will dentists begin to lose their overall expertise in the breadth of the subject? AI is not all upside with no downside – it pays to remember this. AI is already reading X-rays and diagnosing patients in many practices across the globe. Yes, this is a major breakthrough and will hopefully provide greater accuracy in such matters. Of course, right now it is being used in tandem with human oversight. How long, however, before this gets expedited, as these things always are? Will fail safes be put in place to catch those rare AI failures? We will have to wait and see.

Implant Technology Filling Some Gaps In Ireland

“Staggeringly some 15 per cent of the Irish population have no teeth at all. The beauty of modern dentistry is that a brand new set of teeth can be delivered in just one day. Before it used to be a six- to 10-month process, but now we can give them screwed in teeth in just one day.” 

Exciting advances in implant technology, including the screws which go into the jawbone, is delivering same day procedures for this game changing dental transformation.

Lasers Lighting Up Dental Clinics

Are you an individual who hates the sound of the electric drill and would love to see its demise? Apparently, most folk who fear the dentist identify drill phobia as their biggest anxiety in relation to a trip to the dentist. Lasers are now coming to the fore and may replace much of what the old drills used to do. More dental practices are turning to laser technology to detect and remove decay, prepare the hole for the filling, and dealing with hypersensitive teeth.

“The real future of lasers in dentistry lies in being able to fabricate an intra-oral ultra-fast laser handpiece – like the drill that we use today – that will fit comfortably in the mouth and do this at a reasonable cost so that it is used by general dentists in their everyday practice of dentistry,”
– Dr Grania O’Connell, Cork Dental Care

3D Printing Continues To Progress For Dental Applications

The 3D printing of temporary and final crown materials continues to improve. New resins are being released all the time. There are big advances being made in this very exciting technology for dental clinics globally. Being able to print your own materials is going to be a wow moment for many dentists going forward. Cost factors are coming down all the time too. Is it time to invest in a top-line 3D printer for your dental clinic?

Dental Clinic Software & Cloud Applications

This would be one of the strongest performing dentistry technology applications in 2024 and beyond. Platforms capable of managing digital dentistry are going gangbusters at the moment. These open platforms are taking all before them and clinics will not want to be left behind in a highly competitive environment. Moving data around seamlessly and being able to access it from anywhere makes the business of running a dental practice a much more agile operation.

So, regarding the top dentistry innovations of 2024, they may not always be too cool to ignore, but they’re not too cool for dental school. The wrap-up is the buzz surrounding AI to analyse and diagnose X-rays for better results with more accuracy. Technology is now available to make dentistry a more exacting practice. The caveat is we still need human dental expertise and oversight to provide a fail safe service to the public in the 21C. The good dentist will keep her or his hand on the controls despite the labour saving devices now entering the market.

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