Dental Product Fabrication: The labs which prepare dental crowns, caps and dentures for patients are easily ignored by the mainstream population because they seldom come into the limelight. CAD/CAM technologies which have been used to great effect by the auto industry and other manufacturing businesses can assist labs that produce dental products such as titanium screws and porcelain crowns to fabricate better prostheses with the help of advanced intra-oral cameras and digital printers.
Dental Medication: New dental medications do keep up speed with the rest of the medical industry. However, the primary use of medicine in dental surgery is mostly sedatives, anti-inflammatory agents and local anesthesia. Root canal treatment, tooth extraction and dental implants require the use of anesthesia and new research in this area will ensure that these procedures become safer, painless and comfortable.
Tooth/Jaw X-Rays: Digital radiography, i.e. doctor-speak for X-rays, will play an important part in diagnosis of oral and dental diseases. Chemical films have already been supplanted by panoramic intra-oral X-ray machines that produce digital images, which can then be enhanced and stored on our computers. These panoramic and cephalometric X-ray machines will unite with diagnostic software to prognose and diagnose dental diseases.
So, as we have noted, there are some remarkable developments in the pipeline for dental treatment. However, it remains to be seen how quickly they are made available to the common man. Costs may initially be prohibitive, and so, everyone may not be able to benefit from these new procedures and products. The best they can do is promise painless and long-lasting dental care in future.