Bruxzir™ and Emax™ the Highest Strength Metal Free Crown

One of the great dilemmas facing dentists is to create esthetic smiles for patients with severe wear, or destructive habits like habitual clenching and grinding (Bruxism). 

severe wear

Historically, the material of choice for patients who have these conditions has been the use of cast metal. The metal used was usually gold alloy, semiprecious, or non precious alloy in  crowns and bridges. These metals gave restorations great strength and wear  resistance. Unfortunately, metal has horrible esthetics.

metal bridge

We still measure the longevity of all other restorative materials against metal alloy.  A gold crown can function  more than 50 years in the mouth.

In the early to mid 20th century, acrylic and porcelain were used to hide the metal and improve the esthetics of dental crowns and bridges. The problem with these esthetic restorations is the weaker porcelain can fracture off revealing the metal below. 

porcelain fractured off porcelain/metal bridge

 Since then not much has changed in the fabrication of restorations until the use of Dilithium Silicate marketed as Eris™  and Zirconium marketed as Lava™, and Procera® and others. These materials utilize the Dilithium Silicate or Zirconium as a base layer (core)  and overlay with porcelain. Dilithium Silicate is 3 times as strong as porcelain, while Zirconium is 10 times as strong as porcelain. These were the first strong  "Metal Free" restorations that were used for crowns and bridges. Since their introduction, fracturing of porcelain is still reported in bruxers as the porcelain is still weak, so we kept looking for stronger materials with good esthetics.

porcelain fracture off porcelain/zirconium bridge

 Through experimentation, newer shades of Dilithium Silicate and Zirconium have been developed which have acceptable esthetics.  These materials are E-Max™ and Bruxzir™. Both of these materials can be milled out of a solid block of material. E-Max™can be used with the CEREC™ in office milling system,which can be placed in a single visit for single crowns and onlays. Bruxzir™ must be made in a lab and will require 2 visits. Bruxzir™ has enough strength to be used in a full arch bridge.

 We have been placing E-Max™ crowns in one visit for over 2 years with no breakage. 

E-Max™ before

E-Max™ after

We  have been using the Lava™ system for several years for crowns and bridges and now will be able to offer the Bruxzir™ system as well for our more severe cases.

Bruxzir™ bridge before

Bruxzir™ bridge after

If you have any questions you can contact us at:

phone                   815 458 2202 

or Email us at     info@drneal.com

You comments are welcome

Sincerely,

Phillip C. Neal 

Crystal Lake Dental Associates

280 B Memorial Court

Crystal Lake IL 60015

www.DrNeal.com

Is your dental work "Made in China"?

Many Dental Labs are outsourcing crowns partials and dentures to China in order to lower costs.

Dentists and Dental Labs are trying to control costs for patients. In the process, outsourcing lab work to foreign countries like China and Mexico is becoming more popular. It is important to know if your dentist uses a lab that outsources to foreign countries. These foreign labs may not be subject to quality control practices that prevent harmful impurities like Lead in their products.





We only use the highest quality lab products from U S Certified dental labs.

Your Comments are welcome.

Phillip c. Neal DDS
Crystal Lake Dental Associates
280 B Memorial Court
Crystal Lake,  IL 60014
815 459 2202 
WWW.DrNeal.com

Why I recommend Sonicare™ toothbrushes.

One of the most common problems we see daily in dentistry among adults is gum recession and root notching from improper tooth brushing.  Why do we see this?

Let's look at the anatomy or an arch of teeth.

 Note how the teeth are curved arch, and also how the teeth are not flat.  The most common action of brushing is a front to back, and back to front motion across the side of the teeth. This rapid motion causes the brush bristles to attack the most prominent surfaces and miss the recessed areas. If effect we over-brush the most prominent surfaces and underbrush the others. Th result is tooth notching,  gum recession, sensitivity, and plaque left in the recessed areas between the teeth leading to more cavities.

Toothbrush notching

Enter the power rotary brushes and what do they do?

Oral B™ rotary brush

 The same thing as a manual brush only faster. why? Because the person operating the brush usually does not take the time to manipulate the brush properly to keep the bristles from over-brushing the same surfaces and under-brushing the recessed areas. In effect is more efficient in ruining your teeth  and gums.

 Now we have the Sonicare™.

Sonicare™

The Sonicare™ is different in that the bristles are stimulated to vibrate and splay out into the recessed areas better.  In the mouth the vibrating motion breaks up Biofilm which is the community that the bacteria form and live in. The action of disturbing Biofilm takes place even at a distance from the bristles thus helping to remove bacteria that the brush physically does not touch. On top of this, the breakdown of Biofilm allows the fluoride in the toothpaste to penetrate the tooth better insuring lower decay again in places where the brush did not touch.

I have enclose links to 3 videos. The first is for the Oral B™ and the second is for the Rotadent™ , and the third is for the  Sonicare™.

Oral B™

Rotadent™

Sonicare™

Look closely at the entire  Oral B™ and Rotadent™ video and see for yourself if the positioning movements needed to clean the entire surface of each tooth look easy.

Look at how the Sonicare stirs up the liquid and think about whether you want a device that helps you ruin your teeth or one that really gets your mouth healthy.

As  you can tell I am a real fan of the Sonicare™ and my patients improved oral health is all of the proof I need. A list of studies on the Sonicare™ and its effectiveness are included on the link below.

Our entire staff and uses the Sonicare™ exclusively.

A list of studies on the Sonicare™ and its effectiveness are included on the link below.

Sonicare Studies

Your Comments are welcome.

Sincerely,

Philip C. Neal DDS

Crystal Lake Dental Associates

280 B Memorial Court

Crystal Lake  IL 60014

815 459 2202

WWW.DrNeal.com

Advances in Dentistry part 3

Advances to make your visit more comfortable, quicker, and with a better result.

Isolite® is a "tooth pillow" that also protects the cheek and lip while removing fluids and saliva. It can also illuminate the mouth for excellent vision.

Isolite®

Improvements in dental anesthetics.

Citanest®,  Articaine®, Marcaine® and other  advanced anesthetics allow for more comfortable injection and more profound numbing.

Anesthetic

The Wand® is a major leap forward in comfort is delivering dental anesthetic. The slow computer metered delivery prevents pain form the manual delivery from a traditional dental syringe. Dr. Neal uses this method routinely on all patients.

The Wand®

Dental lasers can be used to treat gum problems, diagnose decay, and is some cases prepare cavities.

we have 3 lasers:

DIAGNOdent® is used to detect decay under the enamel surface. It is much more accurate than x-rays or the traditional explorer.

 DIAGNOdent®

The Navigator® is used to sterilize gum pockets and for minor gum treatment procedures. It is compact ,versatile and a favorite of the team. The laser is quite comfortable to use and creates a bloodless field with rapid comfortable healing.

Navigator®

The Periolase® is revolutionizing periodontal treatment. It can replace the traditional cut and sew surgical method commonly used to treat gum disease. Healing is rapid and extremely comfortable. Gum levels are usually unchanged and tooth sensitivity is uncommon.

Periolase®

Relax in the dental chair as you can utilize oral premedication, Nitrous oxide ( Laughing gas), watch cable TV, listen to headphones, have a warm hand waxing, soft pillows and blankets... followed by a a warm cleanup cloth.

Now advanced oral cancer screening can be done easily with the Velscope®, or Vizilite® systems. We use the Vizilite plus® system.

Vizilite plus®

Composite "tooth colored fillings can be cured much more rapidly with the use of lasers, PAC lights or the new high intensity LED lights.

FlashMax2®

Dental treatment is now moving into the realm of microdentistry and microsurgery with the use of High powered dental loupes powerful lighting systems and dental microscopes.

Dental Loupe and light

Drill free dentistry can be experienced for certain procedures utilizing lasers and air abrasion techniques. These procedures also offer the possibility of not requiring anesthetic.

Air Abrasion  

Root canal therapy has advanced with rotary instruments that can speed up the procedure and improve the outcome and comfort. advanced x-ray imaging and electronic apex locators along with high powered magnification, and  ultrasonic diamond points can aid the dentist is visualizing and shaping the root canal space.

Root Canal

 Advances in fluoride, and enamel rebuilding pastes allow us to remineralize enamel,  reduce tooth sensitivity and drastically reduce tooth decay.

Some of the products that we are currently using include Fluoridex®  gel for reducing decay and sensitivity.

Fluoridex®

MI Paste® is used to reduce sensitivity and remineralize teeth. 

MI Paste®

 SootheRx® is used to reduce sensitively in teeth.

 SootheRx®

Drufomat®. 

New technology allows us to make more accurate mouth-guards , biteplanes, TMJ appliances,  splints and clear orthodontic appliances and retainers right in the office.

                         Drufomat®                                                    Biteplane/mouthguard

Advances in design and materials have allowed us to make great improvements in precision attachments for dentures and partials to make them more secure.

Locator® Precision Attachments

Dental implants continue to evolve with new shapes and coatings resulting in better  and faster integration and reduced bone loss over time.

Dental Implants

Advances in techniques brings us synthetic polymers, xenograft and allograft materials to replace missing or damaged bone and gum areas in the mouth for greater esthetics, health and function. These new methods and materials do not require donor sites form other parts of the body resulting in with much greater comfort and quicker healing.

Grafting before

Grafting after

These advancements are available right now at Crystal Lake Dental Associates and through our trusted partners.

Dentistry has come a long way from a 40watt light bulb and a barber chair. As we move forward, the advances in dentistry will continue to revolutionize our ability improve oral healthcare. I am eager to see the next improvements dentistry will have to offer our patients. As always I will embracing every improvement in dentistry.

Your comments are welcome

Sincerely,

Phillip C. Neal DDS

Crystal Lake Dental Associates

280 B Memorial Court

Crystal Lake IL, 60014

www.drneal.com

Technology in Dentistry Part Two

Restorative materials

Valplast®

Valplast® is a flexible material that is used to create partial dentures. The advantages are less stress on the remaining retainer teeth and no metal that shows. The retentive arms of a partial are made of the pink Valplast® material and can blend in imperceptibly with the gum tissue. The base pink material has a lifetime guarantee against breakage, and is very lightweight and comfortable to wear. Almost all of the partials we now make for patients are Valplast®.

E-max®

E-max® is a DiLithium Silicate material for the fabrication of tooth colored crowns and bridges which exhibits three times the strength of conventional porcelain.  It can be pressed in the lab, or milled in the office on a CAD/CAM system. The strength advantage means less tooth reduction. The excellent color eliminates and  grey metal margins. We routinely use E-max® CAD blocks for our in office CEREC machine.

  

Zirconium 

Zirconium is an extremely strong material which is used for implant connections, crowns, and bridges. The high strength has been used in the past as an understructure for these restorations. Zirconium allows for a metal free restoration and can block out unsightly dark stained teeth perfectly. Recently Zirconium has been reformulated to be used for bruxers and patients with a heavy hard bite. The most popular brands are Lava™ and now Bruxzir®

  

Snap-On Smile™

Snap-On Smile™ is a new technique and polymer that can instantly correct crooked, discolored broken, decayed and missing teeth. The Snap-On Smile™ fits over the existing teeth and can even be worn while eating. We have seen patients who were too embarrassed to smile shed tears of joy when they see the results.

Thin Veneers Lumineers®

Thin Veneers and  Lumineers® are a painless way to transform a smile. These no prep veneers are very strong and can be completed in 2 visits. they can change the shape size and color of your teeth. No shots are needed for most cases and no to minimal tooth preparation is needed. 

Ceramic Orthodontic  Brackets

Ceramic Orthodontic Brackets or clear brackets make orthodontic treatment more tolerable for many self conscious people. Now there are some orthodontic wire companies with a tooth colored orthodontic wire which also helps hide what is going on. Some orthodontists use lingual braces. Now several clear aligner companies like Invisalign® offer orthodontic options.

Advanced Nickel-titanium wires and super-wires for orthodontics

Nickel-titanium wires and super-wires for orthodontics can move teeth more quickly and comfortably. These wires can shorten treatment time significantly.

Advanced Bonding Adhesives

Advanced Bonding Adhesives combine multiple steps and give great strength while reducing sensitivity after restoring a tooth. Bonding adhesives can bond to many different materials. These adhesives have gone through several revolutions since their introduction 30 years ago.

Advanced Color Stable Micro-hybrid Composite Filling Materials

Advanced Color Stable Micro-hybrid Composite Filling Materials have also gone through many revolutions including nano-technology and the incorporation  of multiple filler sizes to enhance strength and polishability as well as color stability.

Low Shrink Composites

Low Shrink Composites allow for simpler filling and less sensitivity after curing. Tooth sensitivity after composite tooth colored fillings due to material shrinkage has been a serious problem. These materials do not shrink like the original materials did and now sensitivity is virtually never seen after fillings are placed.

Low Shrink Flowable Composites

Low Shrink Flowable Composites are used in areas of low stress as they are simple and easy to place.

Titanium Alloy

Titanium Alloy is used for dental implants and copings as well as for bridge and denture support bases. This material is light and strong and can be milled by CAD/CAM systems incorporating extremely precise fit of the restorations.

Your comments are welcome

Phillip c. Neal DDS

Crystal Lake Dental Associates

280 B Memorial Court

Crustal Lake IL 60014

815 459 2202

www.drneal.com

Advanced Dental Care Part One

Advanced technology enhances results, and patient comfort.

I have always believed in innovation to increase patient care and comfort. In this three part series ,I will share with you many of the innovations we use daily to deliver the best dental care possible in the most patient friendly way.

In part one, I will focus on digital and computerized technology that enhances results and patient comfort.

CEREC is a computerized digital imaging CAD/CAM system we use to make crowns inlays and onlays in a single visit. The advantages are no need for a second visit and getting numbed again and no temporary crown that may fall off.

Schick® digital x-rays are super low dose x-ray sensors that we have been using for the past 10 years. Images are instantly available and can be enhanced to better observe conditions. In addition, the patient can easily see the same conditions on the monitor.

Digital imaging with intraoral camera. Now the patient can see the conditions that we see on a monitor, in addition it is often necessary to document a condition that does not show up on x-ray for insurance coverage. The camera is also useful for documenting before and after treatment.

X-rite digital shade taking gives us a check against our eye for shades that a dental lab will use for fabricating crowns veneers and other esthetic restorations. A computer file of the image with data on the shade is emailed to the lab.

Eccovision® is used to send sound waves and map the size and shape of the nasal and oral airway. This is used to help detect restrictions and collapse of the airway during sleep. Airway testing is part of our screening process for snoring and Sleep Apnea.

Embletta® is a portable recording device worn at night to detect sleep related breathing abnormalities. We use the Embletta to test Sleep Apnea oral appliance effectiveness during sleep at home.

Carifree® is a testing and treatment programs for patients who display a high level of tooth decay. We test the plaque for high bacterial activity with a digital sensor . Once a baseline is recorded a special rinse protocol can be used to change the bacterial activity and reduce decay in the future.

CAESY® is a computer patient education program utilizing a series of videos to help patient understand their dental conditions and options. The customized videos can be burned onto a disc for the patient and others to view at home.

Invisalign® is a digitally created series of plastic aligners used to straighten crooked teeth. the series of aligners can be previewed on a computer to show the progress of the movement prior to beginning. the final tooth position can be assessed as well as each aligner step.

CT scanning allows us to visualize the tissues in 3-D. This visualization is helpful in dental implant cases where placement requires high precision and bone quality is questionable.

Simplant® is a computer program that works with a CT scan to determine exact placement of dental implants and a final design of a prosthesis (crown, bridge or denture). The use of the Simplant system incorporated CAD/CAM technology to create guides and frameworks for the dental prosthesis.

Softdent® patient management system allows us to seamlessly integrate all of our technologies sin an electronic file for our patients. Information is never misplaced or lost. Scheduling and insurance tracking are quick and easy.

Smilereminder® works with Softdent to stay in touch with our patients and keep them current through text messaging and emails.

All of these technologies and more are available in our office except the ICAT which we have access to through our local oral surgeon.

We at Crystal Lake Dental Associates have been leaders in technology and innovation for decades. To learn more call us of visit our website.

Your comments are welcome.

Phillip C. Neal DDS

Crystal Lake Dental Associates

280 B Memorial court

Crystal Lake, IL 60014

815 459 2202

www.DrNeal.com