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A dental endoscope just for you
5th Mar 2010
Although there have been great advances in technology and procedures for dentistry, dentists are still faced with the traditional issues of trying to work within a very confined space.
They invariably spend their time leaning across patients, pulling at their mouths in order to see into dark cavities whilst wearing odd contraptions for magnification and trying to illuminate the areas to be worked on past head, hands and instruments.
Hand-held intraoral cameras were designed to assist, but are impractical during surgery and even some of the new dentaloscopes designed to try to magnify areas by external camera still require the dentist to jostle for position between the lighting, his hands and implements.
It's no wonder patients are traumatised by visits to their dental surgeries and dentists suffer from muscular pains and stresses particularly to the neck and back along with fatigue and eye strain.
That is, until now. Inside, from the Italian manufacturer Faro, is the first endoscope made specifically for dentistry. Its fundamental characteristic is its ability to show high resolution, highly magnified images directly from inside the oral cavity whilst managing the images and lighting intelligently. The dentist is able to sit comfortably behind the patient and work to a screen in front of him. Fundamentally, it addresses three very important areas for dental practices:
• Aaccuracy
• Dentists' health and wellbeing
• Patient comfort and communications
The Inside system can be either attached to existing dental equipment, or by a simple floor or ceiling installation. The Inside endoscope itself is mounted on an articulated (compensated) arm that is very sensitive and precise, guaranteeing images which are absolutely stable. Thanks to its swivelling arm, once it has been correctly positioned, the dentist can let go of the Inside and have both hands free to work. The swivelling arm also houses the control unit with its buttons for managing the various functions and the regulator for air flow for cleaning the optics.
The Inside endoscope contains a high-quality colour CCD, offering outstanding images with a magnification of up to x 20 anywhere inside the mouth (including traditionally hard to reach and see back areas). Furthermore it is surrounded by a white, high intensity LED and fibre optic crown ensuring excellent illumination directly where it's needed. The use of a dental light is still recommended to obtain a warmer image and to have a better 3D effect with depth.
By means of the control unit, the dentist whilst watching the image on the monitor, can rotate the image 360° in any direction or invert it so as to make the movements of the hands consistent with the images on the monitor.
That is to say, if the dentist needs to move the instrument to the right on the screen, they move to the right on the patient.
Accuracy of work procedures
The enlargement of the area to be treated allows for more accurate diagnosis and greater precision in operations Faro claims that ‘there are no more zones that are inaccessible to the eyes of the dentist'.
In endodontics, it is possible to ‘see' the canal entrances perfectly and thoroughly inspect the pulp chamber, thus offering fundamental support in endodontic operations and successive check-ups Also, during operations, the surgery can be illuminated by the dental lamp.
Dentists' health and wellbeing
The dentists' seated and upright position guarantees less fatigue in the osteo-arthro-muscular system of the spine resulting in feeling less tired at the end of the day. By being behind the patient and working to the screen, the dentist is able to use both hands on his instruments and with no need to strain to see smallest detail.
The risk of cross infection between the dentist and patient is reduced due to the distance now between their faces and the dentist is also no longer subjected to involuntary reactions by the patient.
Patients' comfort and reassurance
The patient also benefits greatly. They no longer have the feeling of ‘oppression' as dentists lean across into their ‘personal space' peering at them from all angles, there is less of a need for their mouths to be ‘pulled apart' to allow as much light in as possible.
Finally, for older patients and possibly many female patients who have a fear of being tipped back, some procedures can now be completed in a more upright position.
Although designed for in-surgery use, the Inside is also proving a hit with training centres as it allows lecturers to show live procedures out to as many external student monitors and screens as required, even video conferencing for consultative procedures.
Any of these procedures can be recorded for playback or saved to on-line libraries for access by authorised persons and students.
The Inside is now available in the UK through Faro's distributor, Phoenix AV Solutions and short video clips of the system in action can be viewed at www.phoenix-endoscope.co.uk. For more information, please call 01952 677144.
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