Sunday, May 8, 2011

Implant Dentistry Day Three

Using this advanced technology will make your dental surgery more effective and comfortable for you.


As they say, sadly, 'all good things must come to an end' and certainly this conference and my stay in Lugano has come to an end.

Day 3 has been a shorter one, packed with back to back short sessions by clinicians showing the use of 'Ultrasonic Bone Surgery' using the piezoelectric machine in all different aspects of Oral, Periodontal and Maxillofacial surgery. I will not go into all technical details, but I can definitely say that the way we will do bone surgery from now on, will be different than what has been done so far, providing we have available this great machine that has all the advantages mentioned so far.



The piezosurgery system uses ultrasound waves to cut bone without damaging soft tissue. Whereas traditional methods of bone-cutting, such as drills and burs, result in some tissue and bone loss regardless of the dentist’s precision, piezosurgery technology eliminates this risk. This means I am able to perform procedures such as crown lengthening, ridge expansion, periodontal therapy, and implant site preparation with increased accuracy and minimal discomfort.

The fact that its so precise and does not cut soft tissues, the possibilities are endless. I can now shape the bone better, go in between teeth without risking the health of the teeth, the inserts are so fine. The indications and possibilities of use are just greater than I thought! I feel privileged to have this machine at our office and have it at my disposal for treating my patients.

So, in conclusion, it has been a great trip and learning experience, tiring, but energizing and inspiring to come on Monday morning and share all of this with my fellow colleagues at Dentistry on Dundas.

Ciao!!!
 

Implant Dentistry Day Two

A Revolutionary Technique for Minimally Invasive Implant Surgery.

 To all my esteemed colleagues at Dentistry on Dundas and our great patients, I have to say that it has been an excellent and productive day! Not only is the glorious weather helping out, and the beautiful flower beds remind us of what is to come once spring finally arrives, the program today really made my trip all the more worthwhile.




I had the chance of attending a workshop which was hands-on and given by two of the most respected Oral Surgeons in Italy. The workshop allowed me to practice in a pig's jaw (I know, sounds gross but its the way we all learn) the way that our machine inserts work when opening up the holes before placing an implant. Its so precise and smooth that its incredible how little pressure we need to use for the bone to be ready. Its exciting to have this technology available in our office. Also, one of the most important reasons why this machine is so cool to use, is the fact that it doesn't cut soft tissue (such as a nerve or a sinus membrane). So, when the bone is too short either in the upper jaw or lower jaw, we can safely use it to prepare the sinus for an implant placement, or, when we are close to the nerve in the lower jaw, there's no risk of doing any nerve damage (especially if we continue with our very diligent efforts to prepare our patients with the right xrays).

Tomorrow, I look forward as well to a new technique which will allow to use this machine to prepare our patients who will have braces in order to speed up the process of their treatment and save up to 6 months of treatment. An exciting development I really look forward to learning about.

I leave you as well with a beautiful vista of Lugano. To learn more about Dr. Levy Click here
Ciao!!!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Implant Dentistry Day One

Dr. Levy, Periodontist at the Piezoelectric Bone Surgery


International Symposium May 5 to 7, 2011

Having the opportunity to come to Lugano, one of the most beautiful towns in the Italian Swiss alps, only enhances my excitement over the fact that we, at Dentistry on Dundas, are at the cutting edge of surgical technology (among others!). In essence, what dental implants were 30 years ago (first North American conference was in our own Toronto), ultrasonic piezosurgery is today leading the way in greater dental implant surgery.

Ultrasonic Piezosurgery is just another very high tech name for a very cool machine that instead of using drills to open holes in the bone before putting the impant in, it actually uses special diamond coated 'inserts' that go at an extremely fast speed (compare a smart car to a formula one car). So, this speed is so fast, that it causes 'waves' at more than 30.000 per second, wow! So, with lots of water, there is barely any heat on the bone, and its so precise! For those that have narrow bone or very soft bone, its just the ideal new way for having implants done!

As learned today, my first day in this three day conference, we can place implants with far less swelling, much more precision and far greater initial and long-term stability than what can be achieved with our regular implant drills.

I'm excited for our future and also keen to use this in our office for all our implant patients. Stay tuned for day #2!!!