ProviderThe Role of Technology in Orthodontics
At Meldrum Orthodontics, dental technology plays a key role in just about everything we do.
We use technology to help us understand the nature of your orthodontic issue in detail. It allows us to make an accurate and specific diagnosis, which in turn means highly customized treatment planning to meet your specific needs and goals in the safest and most efficient way possible.
Our technology also guides us in developing these treatment plans and adjusting them along the way as required.
Throughout your orthodontic journey with us, you'll encounter our technology as we use it to communicate with you about your condition, treatment plan, and progress.
Below you can learn more about the types of technology we use most often at our Georgetown and Orangeville orthodontic clinics.
Digital X-rays
Digital X-ray technology uses digital sensors and a computer to produce high-quality internal images of your jaws, teeth and gums. These detailed images allow your orthodontist to see the precise position of your teeth under the gums, as well as the surrounding bones, and to make a diagnosis of your orthodontic condition.
Digital X-rays also show things that may impact your orthodontic treatment, like developing tooth decay and previous dental restorations. All of this information is essential to diagnosis and orthodontic treatment planning.
Panoramic X-rays
A panoramic X-ray is a two-dimensional dental X-ray that can capture a single image of the entire mouth. These images include the teeth, the upper and lower jaws, and the surrounding structures and tissues.
Panoramic X-rays play a crucial role in assessing the presence or absence of specific teeth and their roots, their form and structure, their eruption sequence, and their relationship to one another in the jaws. The unique information panoramic X-rays provide gives us valuable insights that can be fundamental to treatment planning and assessment.
iTero® Intraoral Scanner
The iTero intraoral scanner is a handheld imaging device that is capable of taking between 800 and 6000 frames per second! This technology creates highly detailed, three-dimensional digital impressions of the hard and soft tissues of the mouth, without the need for goopy impression materials.
The iTero scanning process is nonintrusive; you'll find it's a lot like a dental exam. You simply open wide, and your orthodontist will move the device around your mouth, capturing images. It only takes a few minutes to complete. The system then renders 3-D models of the inside of your mouth, which can be displayed in real-time on a touch screen, right there in the treatment room.
