The gradual advancement of software, electronics and mechatronics sciences and their use in dentistry have led to a change in the traditional treatment methods that have been applied for a long time.
The beginning of these applications started with the change of imaging methods. X-rays, which were formerly printed on plastic-based sheets, are now kept in digital media, making it easier to store, share with other physicians, and transfer them to various diagnostic tools. This was followed by the development of digital photography, and computerized smile designs using face and tooth photographs. In this way, people can see their post-treatment expectations in advance and facilitate the doctor-technician relationship.
Over time, high-resolution cameras became smaller and smaller and became used for intraoral scans. The images of the teeth are scanned with special devices produced today, they are made 3D in the digital medium, and prostheses to be made in the computer environment are designed. In the past, porcelain teeth, which were produced by the technician by hand from porcelain paste and prepared after firing at high temperatures, are now produced by scraping from zircon blocks by computer-aided scraping devices, just like a marble is shrunk and revealed by a sculptor. The advantage of this method is that it can be produced very quickly and without errors.
Digital technology has also become indispensable in the field of orthodontics. Before the braces treatment, the teeth are transferred to the digital environment, planning is made and a treatment plan is created. The treatment with clear aligner, which is produced as an alternative to normal braces, is planned in the computer environment, first corrected tooth models and then clear aligners are made. Invisalign and orthero companies have a lot of experience in this field.
In people who will receive orthognathic surgery treatment, the skull base and jaws are scanned with computerized tomography and transferred to the computer environment, the operation is performed in a 3-dimensional environment, just like in the operating room, and the postoperative results are monitored on the computer. Surgical splints are made to guide this surgical plan and are conveyed to the maxillofacial surgeon along with the treatment plan. During this whole process, we stay in contact with the surgeon and all preparations are made to ensure that the surgery goes well.