OT Geeking Out Over New Gadgetry

[desertslave]

Warning, this is a dentist thing, I should have thought of that for the title.

I haven't been to the dentist for more than a cleaning in several years. As luck would have it, I spawned 2 cracked molars within 2 weeks. Our office has always been on the semi-cutting edge for stuff--digital x-rays, etc. They have a new toy now, that I'd never heard of before, and it's really very cool considering it's a dentist thing.

They have a 2-hour permanent crown service. No more goopy impressions, no temps and waiting and extra visits. The dentist prepares the base of your tooth, they spray some powder on the surfaces, they use a calibrating tool to make the measurements (CAD/CAM), then they take a "blank" of the material, shape it according to the measurements, bake it for the right hardness, and in it goes! I needed 1 dry fit and 2 little adjustments and voila! I had a brand new crown! It's not cheap, but the consolation is that they're tied in with a project that brings new water wells to Ethiopia. New crown = a donation for another well.

Here's a quick video (not icky, I didn't think) about how it's done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qx92aIn9Y0

 

[Handley_Page]

Warning, this is a dentist thing, I should have thought of that for the title.

They have a 2-hour permanent crown service. No more goopy impressions, no temps and waiting and extra visits. The dentist prepares the base of your tooth, they spray some powder on the surfaces, they use a calibrating tool to make the measurements (CAD/CAM), then they take a "blank" of the material, shape it according to the measurements, bake it for the right hardness, and in it goes! I needed 1 dry fit and 2 little adjustments and voila! I had a brand new crown! It's not cheap, but the consolation is that they're tied in with a project that brings new water wells to Ethiopia. New crown = a donation for another well.

The ideal case for 3D printing, or so it seems.

 

[JustaSCOUNDREL]

Yes, 3 D printing was my first thought when she told me about it. I assumed some kind of temp. crown and come back in a week or so for the permanent crown. The one thing they told her is once the crown is machined in site it has to be be baked (cured) for 20 minutes before it is ready for the fitting. As she indicated the crown only required one small bit of grinding and a final polish and in less than 2 hours he had a new crown.

Several years ago I had a crown done and I waited for two weeks to get my crown glued in. (LOL) That is something else too, the new adhesives that glue skin together so stitches are not needed and joint replacements are glued in place and will last for 20+ years. The resent improvements in adhesives have leapt forward in huge leaps and bounds. Think of Post It Notes and Super Glue, one is minimally adhesive and the other is so strong you may have to break the original item rather than the glued seam, add in all the things we never really think about or even know about until we need them.

Something DS did not mention was once they glued the crown in place they zapped it with some UV light for a few seconds and it was ready. Her only restrictions were nothing too hot or too cold for 24 hours and as far as the they were concerned she has a crown for life.

Mike