The Stow Dental Group Blog | Dr. Mark Iati

Becoming more popular, especially amongst teens and adults, the days of metal braces may be on the wane with Invisalign. If you have crooked or misaligned teeth and want to fix them, but don’t want to deal with traditional braces, Invisalign might be the answer you've been looking for. These are virtually invisible when worn.

The Invisalign aligners fit over the top and bottom teeth, much like a mouth guard might. As your teeth straighten, you will get a different set of aligners about every six weeks. Changing aligners does not always require you to make an appointment with the dentist, and you can simply come down to the office to pick up your next series. However, one of the major benefits of Invisalign is that the aligners can be removed for special events or when eating.

While the Invisalign course of treatment varies from individual to individual, you can expect to see major improvements in less than a year. Compare this to the one to two years you might have to wear traditional braces.

While there is some pressure when wearing the aligners, there is no pain. Most of the discomfort will come during the time you change to a new aligner, but this will soon pass as you become used to the new series of aligners. Usually within 3 days.

If you are interested in Invisalign dental aligners and are in the Stow or Akron-Canton, Ohio area, please contact the experienced orthodontists at Stow Dental Group for an initial consultation.

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One thing many people dread about tooth restoration procedures, like getting a crown, is that it takes more than one visit to the dentist. No one wants to wait around with a temporary crown while the permanent is being made in a lab. With the E4D system used at Stow Dental Group, there is no waiting for the crown.

E4D is the latest upgrade to the CAD/CAM system, which has allowed dentists to create and mill crowns in one visit. This allows the patient to get back to their busy schedule and keep them from worrying about how they will keep their temporary from falling off.

E4D Process

• Using a laser scanning device over the area to get the crown, a digital impression is taken to make a 3D model of the tooth
• The 3D map is fed into the chair side computer that uses CAD/CAM software so that the dentist, can adjust and determine the parameters of the restorations
• The design is sent to the E4D milling center where the restoration is created. While the restoration is being made, the dentist can continue to focus on other areas that may need attention saving valuable time.

This is an accurate and quick way to get you smiling again with crowns that look and feel like your natural teeth. The technology has advanced to the point where even veneers can now be made in one visit. With the addition of a porcelain furnace, we can customize your restoration right at the chair side, just like the lab would do.

As with all dental work, every situation is different and this technology is not always the best way or even a feasible alternative for a laboratory fabricated crown. It is up to you and your doctor to decide which type of crown is best for your situation!

If you are in need of crown work or would like to know more about the E4D, please contact the experienced reconstructive dentists at Stow Dental Group in Stow, Ohio.

Labels: akron, cosmetic dentistry, dental crown, dentist, dentistry, ohio

Part of going to the dentist to have your teeth cleaned includes yearly x-rays. The images taken of your mouth and teeth allow us to see areas both above and below the gum line. This allows us to diagnose decay, periodontal disease and abnormalities of the bone. For years the way these radiograph photos were taken involved the patient wearing a lead-lined vest and a large camera or x-ray head pointed at the mouth while the patient was asked to “bite down.”

Staying on the cutting edge of technology, the Stow Dental Group in Stow, Ohio has begun to use the Schick wireless x-ray device. This digital camera technology is used by very few in the state of Ohio and is the first wireless instant dental x-ray system available in the world.

By using the Schick wireless system, our team is able to take high quality digital pictures of our patients’ teeth in a way that is comfortable to them, as well as giving us further mobility without sacrificing clarity. The sensor comes in two sizes to accommodate all patient types.

Rather than having to endure the old style films, the Schick wireless x-ray system allows the Stow Dental Group liscened radiologists to place the sensor in your mouth comfortably. The sensor is attached to a holder, and the whole thing acts as a radio frequency device. The images are taken and viewed within seconds.

Benefits
Freedom of movement and the ease of placing the Schick sensor are just two of the benefits. Other benefits that help us to give you the quality oral care you deserve are:

• Faster and more accurate diagnoses
• Ability to manipulate images for size and contrast as well as emailing quickly to dental specialists
• As much as 80% less radiation than using traditional film x-rays
• No harsh chemicals

Labels: akron, cosmetic dentistry, dentist, dentistry, ohio

The more the world gets busy, the more our lives do, too. As a result of trying to keep up, we sometimes forget things. Even those things, or especially those things, that have been scheduled for months. While Stow Dental Group has always called to remind patients of upcoming appointments, technology has allowed us to employ several other ways to contact you.

Stow Dental has implemented the “Smile Reminder” service in order to keep you and your family’s oral health and cosmetic needs from dropping off the radar. This service allows us to confirm, remind, or even schedule appointments through email, text message, paging, and more. Smile Reminder also allows us to send out newsletters to those who wish to receive them.

Stow Dental’s patients also benefit from Smile Reminder through the ability of updating their patient profiles. By adding new insurance information, pay bills, update addresses, and more, you don’t have to take a significant amount of time out of your busy schedule to keep your smile healthy and beautiful.

For more information about Smile Reminder, or to set up an appointment, please contact Stow Dental Group in Canton, Ohio today.

Labels: akron, cosmetic dentistry, dentist, dentistry, ohio

Are you a person with a crazy-busy schedule? If so, we have good news for you as far as tooth whitening is concerned: A Zoom! teeth whitening treatment takes only an hour or so. The “or so” part refers to preparation and follow-up done before and after the actual treatment.

When you are comfortable in our chair, we will apply a protective gel to the soft tissue in your mouth – lips, gums, some cheek tissue. Then the whitening gel is applied to your teeth and an activating light directed towards them. You can wear headphones and listen to music, or just doze off and catch up on a little sleep.

During the one hour of actual treatment time we will apply the whitening gel three times for 20 minutes each. That is because the whitening agent slows down after that amount of time. If at any point your teeth start to feel sensitive, we can stop treatment and apply a desensitizing gel. Most people do not have this problem, but we know that some teeth are extra sensitive and we do not want you to be feeling uncomfortable.

Your results will be transformative for your smile. It is quite fascinating what a large difference bright white teeth make to a person’s facial appearance. Many people immediately feel more confident about smiling, and of course, a person with a ready smile tends to elicit smiles from others. That can also boost one’s self-confidence

The Zoom! system includes a follow-up kit to take home with you. We will show you how to use it. You can use it right away if you think your teeth could become even whiter, or you can keep it for later touch-ups.

Please see our pages on Teeth Whitening and Cosmetic Dentistry for more information.

Our dentists and our supporting staff are all believers in patient education. If you would like to schedule an initial consultation at the Stow Dental Group to learn more about the best way to whiten your teeth, please call or email our cosmetic dentistry office today.

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Not many people know about dental bonding. It is a quick and easy way to fix a multitude of small problems and can be an alternative to porcelain veneers.

The term “dental bonding” refers to two things:
• The white putty-like dental substance
• The procedure which uses this substance

If you have any small chips or shallow cracks in your teeth, or any stains that have not responded to tooth whitening, tooth bonding can correct those defects. Your dentist would apply small amounts of bonding incrementally to the problem areas. The bonding will fill the chip or crack and cover the staining and then your cosmetic dentist will use a curing light to harden the bonding.

Now it is permanently part of the tooth. Tooth bonding comes in an array of shades and your cosmetic dentist will choose one to most closely match your natural tooth color.

In a similar way, bonding can fill a small gap between your front teeth and correct minor crookedness or misalignment. The secret is in your dentist’s skill.

Besides all these cosmetic uses, tooth bonding is also used for white fillings, as an alternative to porcelain inlays and onlays. As a filling material it is more often called “dental composite”. Again the bonding is applied to the cleaned cavity area and then hardened with the special curing light. Your dentist will always check your bite to make sure your upper and lower teeth are coming together comfortably.

If you would like to learn more about tooth bonding and how it might help your individual smile, please contact our cosmetic dentistry office today for a personal consultation.

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Labels: akron, dentist, dentistry, family dentistry, neuromuscular dentistry, ohio, TMD, TMJ

Labels: akron, britesmile, cosmetic dentist, cosmetic dentistry, dentist, dentistry, ohio, tooth whitening

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Over the past several years the general public has been bombarded with ads and infomercials regrading dental products. Never before has the public had such a wide aray of materials to choose from in search of the perfect smile. Some of these ads however can be VERY misleading. Lets take one example. Lumineers. These are a type of porcelian veneer that has been around for a very long time. This is not a new invention just a remarketing of the same product. The idea behind Lumineers is that they are very thin and therefore can be placed over the top or fronts of your existing teeth without drilling or reducing any tooth structure. They state that there is no grinding, no shot and therefore no pain involved. Now initally that may make sense, however in 95% of the cases that is not true. The creation of truely well done cosmetic dentistry requires dealing with many inherent dental problems such as rotations of teeth, malalignments and inadequate length and poor color. If your teeth were nice and straight in the first place why would you need veneers? Good question. We don't think it should be your first choice. If your teeth are truely in need of veneers then you may have issues that will require some removal of tooth structure and addition of tooth structure in other areas. The addition of porcelain over non prepared tooth structure can lead to bulky, lifeless and poorly contoured teeth, this is not healthy for the surrounding gum tissue.Do not be fooled by something that sounds to good to be true. Look at the picture of a Lumineer case at the end of this blog ( not done by us) and then look at some of our before and after pictures and they will speak for themselves. Please research, ask questions and seek second opinions if you do not feel comfortable. Check the qualifications of your dentist, make sure they are members of the AACD or like organization which focuses on continuing eduction in esthetics. Remember it is your body, treat it right.

Labels: akron, cosmetic dentistry, dentist, dentistry, lumineers, ohio, porcelain veneers

Fot the past 3 years in janurary I have traveled to Honduras as part of a medical mission from Holy Family Church. The 8 day trip included dentists, physicians, nurses and interperters to help with the flow of information. Becuase we were working in the jungle without electricity and running water I was limited to removing decayed and painful teeth. With only a light on my forehead and my trusted assistant, Fr. Mike Ausperk, my partner and I were able to remove over 250 teeth.

The poverty in Honduras in imense and the need to help these people is great. Words can't really explain what it is like there so the following pictures may help explain the situation. Enjoy.

posted by Dr. Iati

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