Experience 21st Century Diagnostics in Alexandria!
Accurate Sensitive Diagnostic
Skill coupled with technology is everything.
Inaccurate diagnosis is dangerous. If we do not detect decay or if fix a tooth that does not have decay; both hurt you.
Sometimes it is easy to see decay or a crack. But if we treated only the easy-to-see areas we would be missing 60% of the decay in your mouth, leaving it to get larger and damage your teeth more. Accurate sensitive diagnostic tools let us treat you very conservatively while not missing anything. Catching a small cavity early, or not treating a spot that looks like decay but won’t change for 5-10 years; these come from accurate sensitive diagnosis.
Mirror and Explorer (pick)
Of course we still use the mirror and explorer and with our headlights and magnification glasses, even this old technology has improved. Studies still show that mirror and explorer exams with x-rays miss 50%-60% of active decay. That’s not good enough. Our office wants to see every cavity and repair your teeth before anything gets any worse. That’s conservative.
Dexis digital x-rays
Digital x-rays have reduced radiation to about 1/10th of what it was with E speed film. We have been using digital x-rays since 1997 to see bone level and decay between teeth. We can manipulate the density, contrast and value to see much more than even the best film x-rays could show. Digital x-rays can be quickly sorted and compared to see if incipient decay is progressing or stable. And we can blow them up to full-screen size instead of squinting at tiny little teeth. Today almost every office has digital x-rays
Cari-Vu
Cari-Vu is a wonderful new technology which uses infra-red light to give our office an additional look in between your teeth, without any radiation. Where x-rays view teeth from the side, CariVu views teeth from the top biting surface so it gives us even more information. CariVu helps us make an accurate diagnosis and not over treat or under treat.
Diagnodent
This small tool is a portable laser that allows our office to detect cavities on the chewing surface of the back teeth that would have otherwise gone undetected by previous methods. Diagnosing cavities in the back of the mouth using traditional methods is difficult; studies even show that 50% of cavities are left undetected in these areas. However, the new DIAGNOdent enables our office to locate and treat these cavities early, putting a stop to further decay. The laser is easy to use, harmless, and will alert us with an audible signal if it detects a cavity. It will even calculate the approximate size of the cavity so we can better plan treatment. By using this device, you can rest assured that cavities will be accurately detected and treated in their infancy.
Digital pan
Digital panograph x-rays is a low dose, big picture x-ray of you mouth used to get a full survey of all teeth (including wisdom teeth) and supporting structures. We also use it for orthodontic evaluation and cancer screening.
3-d Cone beam
Cone beam digital 3-dimensional x-ray evaluation is like a CT scan done at the hospital but it focuses only on the jaw area. We use it for endodontics (root canal diagnosis), cancer evaluation, surgical evaluations and implants.
Intra-oral Camera
The intraoral camera is a very small wand with a miniature Go-Pro on the end. It can give us views inside your mouth that are not seen any other way.