Technology

At Sky Valley Dental, we utilize digital technology to scan and make a 3-D impression of your teeth. Digital impressions eliminate the need for the uncomfortable and messy impression material used in the past.

Dr. Cho uses digital impressions for making same-day porcelain crowns with CEREC technology, creating Invisalign treatment plans, and more.

Same-Day Crowns. Same-Office Implants. Because the Scanner, the 3D Printer, and the Mill Are in This Building.

Sky Valley Dental does not send your tooth to a lab and hope it comes back in two weeks. We scan. We print. We mill. That is how a broken tooth becomes a permanent crown before you pick the kids up, and how we plan an implant on your actual bone, not a guess from a 2D X-ray.

What Each Machine Is For

CBCT (3D X-Ray)

A regular X-ray is a flat photo. CBCT is the room. We use it when we need to see bone, nerve, sinus, and root in three dimensions: implant planning, difficult extractions, and cases where a 2D film would make us guess.

3D Printer

Once we have the scan, we can print the guide or the model here instead of waiting on an outside lab. That is how implant placement stays precise and how turnaround stays short.

CEREC Mill

For a crown, inlay, or onlay, we scan the tooth, design it on screen, and mill the porcelain in the office. A typical visit takes about two hours. There is no goop tray and no temporary that falls off on a bag of chips. We still use a lab crown when the material or the case calls for it, and we will tell you which, and why.

What That Means for You

• Broken tooth on a weekday: often a permanent crown the same day, not a temporary and a second appointment
• Implant: planned on a 3D scan, then guided, placed, and restored here
• Fewer "come back in two weeks" visits, fewer referrals, and one team that already knows your mouth

Comfort Is Part of the Same Visit

We offer nitrous or oral sedation if you want it, along with a blanket, neck pillow, stress ball, headphones, an iPad with Netflix or YouTube, and water. The technology is why the visit is shorter. The rest is why it is tolerable.

See it on the office tour, or just book. (360) 794-5788.

Would you like to see what Dr. Cho sees? It would likely give you a better understanding as to why your tooth needs a filling if you could see the tooth decay, right? Well, now you can with our intraoral camera.

This compact, pen-sized device allows us to take color pictures of your teeth and your mouth, so you can understand exactly what your treatment needs are.

If fear or anxiety has ever kept you from getting the dental treatment you need, we would love to talk with you about using nitrous oxide during your dental procedures. Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, is easy and comfortable to use during most dental procedures and it helps "take the edge off" so you can feel more relaxed and at ease when receiving the dental treatment you need.

It also leaves your system quickly, so there are no lingering effects, and you can drive home and comfortably resume your normal activities.

Due to horror stories from the past, most people don't think that root canal treatment can be comfortable. However, modern dentistry has made many advances in making dental procedures more convenient and efficient, and rotary tools do just that for root canal treatment.

Made of flexible nickel-titanium, these hand tools make it easier to reach the inner canals of your tooth easily. The tools are also electric, which means that the procedure can move more quickly and efficiently. All this adds up to less time spent in the dental chair during root canal treatment, which is something that everyone wants!

Digital x-rays provide clear and readily available images that Dr. Cho uses to diagnose treatment and plan procedures. They are an invaluable tool that allows you to receive the most accurate diagnosis so you can select the treatment procedures that will best fit your needs.

Digital sensors make it simple and more comfortable for our patients when we're capturing the image.

Many patients wonder if dental x-rays are safe, and you'll be happy to know that digital x-rays emit 80 percent less radiation than traditional films taken in the past. Digital images are also safer for the environment because they require no chemicals to develop them. At Sky Valley Dental, we enjoy doing our part to keep our environment and patients safe.