Your grin is going to have a terrific decade in the following years. Shortly, new technologies that are now being developed will allow you to keep your teeth healthy for the rest of your life, provided you have the money to pay for the required dental care. Thanks to dental savings accounts, everyone can now afford dental treatment. You should see a dentist immediately to ensure your teeth are in good enough shape to benefit from these novel therapies.
Live Teeth!
A few dentists currently use 3D printing to expedite creating and inserting of new crowns, bridges, and dentures. With in-office technology, you no longer have to endure wearing ill-fitting temporary tooth replacements or going for weeks with a gap in your smile.
3D printing will eventually be used for far more than producing new teeth. The traditional “dead” dental crown is replaced with a live tooth in an investigated application.
Root canal therapy combines dental crowns to salvage decaying or diseased teeth. The pulp, nerves, and blood vessels infected from a tooth’s interior structure are often removed as part of the therapy. The treated tooth may become brittle and more prone to breaking due to nutrition deprivation. A new study has developed a printing technique inspired by 3D printing and duplicates a normal tooth’s blood veins and nerve structure to solve that issue. After a week of the dental pulp cells being exposed to the printed material, dentin, and artificial blood arteries had developed within the tooth. While more work has to be done, this is a significant advancement in the quest to regenerate a tooth entirely.
Create Your Teeth
While developing your teeth whenever you want would be lovely, the ability to print new teeth is excellent. We can, too! According to recent research, humans possess the same cells that enable sharks to renew their teeth.
Sharks like the Great White typically lose one tooth daily and develop 30,000–50,000 new teeth over their lifespan. They can accomplish this partly because of a unique collection of cells called the dental lamina. Sharks depend significantly on their ability to regenerate teeth because they lose them fast and because shark teeth aren’t as firmly entrenched into the jaw as human teeth are. Humans also possess these cells.
Humans employ this ability to replace their baby teeth with new adult teeth. Use or lose it, and humans have mostly lost the capacity to replace teeth. The good news is that researchers are putting much effort into improving our oral regeneration abilities.
Dental robots
Envision a computer-controlled robot with arms that can suture, drill, and conduct other dental treatments. Expect those robots to be armed with lasers for oral surgery without causing pain or bloodshed. So expect a robot to replace your dentist. Technology does not replace human skill; it improves it.
Dental Town
With dental town treatment technology, dentists can soon move into your mouth. This technology will allow them to zoom into your cavities, slide between your teeth for a close-up view, and even virtually travel through the structures of your teeth in the style of a “Fantastic Voyage.”
You’ll be in your happy place in the meantime. According to research, it is far more pleasant for patients to get dental care when they imagine themselves enjoying nature rather than sitting in a dentist’s chair. Indeed, the surroundings will be natural; studies have shown that patients teleported into metropolitan or fantastical settings did not experience the same calming effects.
In roughly ten years, dental offices will probably start using virtual reality systems that take you to a beach, forest, meadow, or other natural settings of your choosing regularly. Dentists are likely to employ the technology when treating individuals with dental phobias initially.
Self-Help Dentistry
When 3-D artist Amos Dudley built his plastic aligners to straighten his teeth, the internet went crazy. Until Dudley clarified that the method requires an “understanding of orthodontic movement, a 3D scanner, a mold of the teeth, CAD software, a hi-res 3D printer, retainer material, and a vacuum forming equipment,” everyone assumed they could create their braces. Whoops.
By 2027, it’s doubtful that we can adequately provide dental care independently since it takes sophisticated skills. Nonetheless, we will likely make virtual trips to the dentist. Why not teledentistry if telemedicine is increasingly associated with healthcare outcomes and patient satisfaction gains?
The U.S. Military has been treating soldiers through teledentistry since the 1990s. To do this, high-resolution digital photos of the soldier’s mouth are captured and sent to a dental professional, who can then direct a medic through the treatment procedure. Several jurisdictions are considering using technology to make it more affordable for specially trained hygienists to perform routine dental treatment under the supervision of “virtual” dentists. In a few years, your dentist could start providing virtual checks, but you’ll still need to make an appointment for a cleaning.
Integrated Healthcare
Dentists will play an increasingly important role on a patient’s medical team, from identifying early illness indications to treating oral problems that might lead to or exacerbate medical problems to offering anti-ageing therapies. As our knowledge of the effects of inflammation on the body’s systems advances, dental care is an essential component of preventative healthcare.
Low-Cost Dental Care
If making future predictions is never a sure thing, one thing is certain: dental care has been kept apart from other forms of healthcare for far too long. Dental town programs may guarantee that you can afford dental care today and maintain your smile and excellent health for decades as we wait for dental care to be covered by health insurance.
