Picture Perfect Smile

In this medical health video learn how dental imaging tools that can not only fix your smile but can help diagnose hidden medical conditions.

Male Speaker: Nothing can raise joy better than a sparkling smile, but that can be difficult if you're suffering from tooth pain or dental disease. If bad teeth have had you hiding from the camera lately, then you should come out from the shadows because dentistry new imaging technologies can give you something to smile about. Say cheese. Even if you're not even picture perfect modern dentistry can see your smile in a new light. If you ever had braces, or needed a crown you're familiar with dental impression and the goo that goes along with them. Now, high desk and digital images are making a big impression in the dentist chair. David Yudkowsky: It's nice and clean and neat because there is no models to pour, there is no mason laboratory, there is no sterilization that is needs to be done. Male Speaker: Using his one light laser camera, dentist can take a 3D portfolio inside the mouth. David Yudkowsky: I can take this image -- Male Speaker: Thousands of images are recorded and blended to make an exact like this. David Yudkowsky: Click on Send button and all the images that we took are put together are now currently on the way to the laboratory to be done. Male Speaker: The result are more comfortable, more precise impression. David Yudkowsky: The models that come back are extraordinarily accurate. It's really nice. Patient: I was a little uncomfortable eating at times. I knew something was wrong with it. Male Speaker: Whenever he took a bite, Tony Kokowsky (ph) knew he had a problem, but regular X-rays didn't reveal it. Male Speaker: Now we didn't see any major sign of infection here. Male Speaker: So his dentist got a 360 look using ultra high resolution 3D pictures. Joe Kravitz: It's like looking through the tooth, like superman. So you can see the inside of the tooth. You can see it from the top, you can see it from the side, and you can see it from the bottom. Male Speaker: As the scanner circles the head, digital plate record thousands of slices of data and put it in a 3 D skull format that dentist can manipulate. Joe Kravitz: You get to the arteries, and the veins, and the nerves, and then you can also see the bone, teeth at the roots of his teeth. Male Speaker: In Tony's case it uncovered a hole in the skull caused by infection at the root of his teeth. A root canal and the filling fixed it, but the scan has also alerted patients about much more serious medical problem. Joe Kravitz: We found tumors in patients where they didn't realize that they had cancer. Male Speaker: In fact you might be surprised that how much your mouth reveals about your overall health. Male Speaker: Up next diseases your dentist might be the first to suspect. [Audio Gap: 00:02: 37- 00:04:38] Male Speaker: Your mouth could be the key to diagnosing a whole range of elements, so your dentist plays a vital role in total health. Joe Kravitz: Oral cancer is probably the a number one thing that we find on patients. Male Speaker: Tell-tale signs are white or red patches in the mouth that won't heal. Joe Kravitz: All of this tooth structure was eaten away and destroyed by the acids from her stomach. Male Speaker: That was artist Lida Allen's initial warning that she had acid reflux disease. Lida Allen: I wouldn't have thought that my stomach would have had such an effect. Joe Kravitz: And this is a sign of diabetics. Male Speaker: Bright red bleeding gums can be a sign of Type II Diabetics, an ammonia smell might indicate kidney disease, accelerated tooth loss could be an osteoporosis and what about swollen sensitive gums. Joe Kravitz: They didn't know that they were pregnant before they came to see me. Male Speaker: And speaking a personal stuff dentist can even tell which side of your body you sleep on because your teeth tend to be more eroded on that side.