At Dr. Nathan Anderson’s office, we believe that a true commitment to the very best dentistry requires a dedication to continuing education and investment in the best dental technology. Along with the common technology often found in a state-of-the-art dental office—like digital X-rays and charts and above-standard sterilization center—we have highlighted some of the technology that we believe allows us to offer the highest level of care to our patients.

BioEMG with 3-D Jaw Tracker and T-Scan

One of the most critical and revolutionary developments in the treatment of TMD for Dr. Anderson is the combination of the 3-D jaw tracker, the BioEMG, and the T-Scan digital occlusal sensor. The combination and understanding of these three technologies allow Dr. Anderson to precisely measure and record which changes or movements of the mandible (lower jaw) cause an imbalance or misalignment of forces and muscles that lead to acute and chronic pain. This technology has proven to be invaluable in speeding up the process of recovery for our clients suffering from acute or chronic facial pain or migraines. Without this technology, one would only be guessing what might be leading to pain. Our ability to not only measure, but also record all three of these conditions at once truly sets us apart in this field.

With CEREC technology, we can fabricate porcelain restorations of the highest quality that used to take two or three weeks at a dental lab. This allows us to be more conservative with the amount of trauma done to the tooth in preparation, eliminate those annoying temporary restorations, and skip having to come back for a second visit. Dr. Anderson has been using this technology his entire career beginning with early models of this technology. The advancements in this field have been astounding, and we are excited to be a part of it and to be able to offer it to our clients.

Cold laser therapy has been used in Europe for decades. The current technology allows Dr. Anderson to not only treat areas of acute pain, but also promote and improve long-term healing time of the tissues treated for chronic pain. Below is a great illustration of the benefits of cold laser therapy.

MLS Laser Therapy technology is the most advanced laser therapy system on the market. Reduction of response times—and therefore overall treatment times—distinguishes MLS Laser Therapy from traditional laser therapy with reciprocal advantages for both the operator and the patient. *

The advancements in 3-D imaging have been incredible. If you can recall watching your dentist look at a film through a lightbox, this technology will make you feel like you are light years ahead. The volume of information available from a 3-D image allows Dr. Anderson to more completely identify jaw joint problems, abnormal skeletal issues, risk factors for sleep apnea, infected teeth, and many other things not possibly seen on 2-D X-rays. Dr. Anderson has had this technology for a few years and was one of the first dentists in the area to have it available in office. Having this technology available in office has allowed us to identify concerns or problems that otherwise would have gone undetected for years, and the prognosis would have been much worse had these issues not been identified so soon.

With T-Scan, we are able to see where we couldn’t before using traditional occlusal indicator methods. Our state-of-the-art digital software helps us to identify premature contacts, high forces, and interrelationship of occlusal surfaces. Whether eliminating destructive forces on a new restoration or performing an occlusal analysis and adjustment procedure, T-Scan helps us balance our patients’ occlusions (bite) with precision and accuracy.

T-Scan allows us to predictably balance the forces of a patient’s bite. Balancing the and timing of the bite not only feels better, but it reduces the damage caused by a traumatic bite relationship and decreases the sensitivity to temperature that so many people deal with. We would not be able to do this with the old method of marking the bite with ink paper. T-Scan has revolutionized how we look at and correct bite issues. We would not want to practice without it.

This highly sensitive and precise instrument allows us to measure muscle activity called surface EMGs. Much like an EKG measures heart muscle activity to determine abnormalities or concerns, we use the measurement of the muscles of the head and neck to help us do the same. For many of our TMD or chronic pain patients, this K7 technology finally allows them to see a measurable set of information that is consistent with what they have been feeling. Being able to measure these muscles allows us to take a lot of the “guesswork” out of treating TMD that has unfortunately become the standard in dentistry. We know that 90% of pain, including in the head and neck like migraines and joint or facial pain, comes from muscle. We love being able to share this information with our patients that have struggled to find answers.