Advanced Dental Technology in Chicago

Also Serving Evanston & Skokie

State-of-the-Art Lasers for Dental Treatments

Sometimes it’s the technology itself that helps make a dental office a more welcoming place. Your experienced Contos Smile Center dentist in Chicago uses advanced laser technology for many common procedures, including deep cleaning, gum contouring and preparing dental crowns, dental bridges and dental implants. Our Gemini diode laser sculpts comfortably and precisely.

The central benefit of the diode laser is its ability to target small areas in the mouth without damaging nearby tissue. This minimizes bleeding, reduces the likelihood that you will need stitches for some procedures and, because the laser’s energy sterilizes the target area, lowers the risk of bacterial infection. Recovery times also tend to be shorter, as tissue heals faster after a laser procedure. As the pure energy beam cuts or reshapes tissue, it also seals nerve endings, which lowers the amount of post-operative pain a patient will typically feel.

What Can Diode Lasers Treat?

Diode lasers are highly effective for:

• Gum contouring
• Crown lengthening
• Removing lesions or benign tumors
• Healing cold sores and canker sores
• Regenerating nerves and blood vessels
• Eliminating most harmful bacteria
• Exposing wisdom teeth that have only partially erupted
• Excising muscle attachments and overgrown tissue
• Performing biopsies
• Treating root canal infections
• Improving symptoms of TMJ and sleep apnea

In addition, diode lasers have revolutionized the management of periodontal disease.

Lasers Treatment for Periodontal Disease

Periodontal disease is caused by a build-up of hardened plaque, or tartar, under the gum line. When this happens, gums become inflamed and gum pockets increase in volume, creating a haven for bacteria. The bacteria eat away at the root and the bone that secures it. At some point, you may lose the affected tooth as it becomes detached from your jaw.

Treated in its early stages with this laser-assisted deep cleaning, periodontal disease can be reversed and a healthy gum line can be restored. Left untreated, more serious periodontal interventions will be necessary, such as flap surgery or grafts of bone or soft tissue to rebuild the bone and strengthen the root.

Picture-Perfect Dental Scanning Technology

Advanced camera technology helps your Chicago dentist see the full spectrum of the mouth when diagnosing and treating a problem, or sculpting restorations.

Element 2 Intraocular Scanner

With the Element 2 Intraoral Scanner, your Contos Smile Center dentist, Dr. Contos, is able to quickly and comfortably create accurate optical models of your mouth. In addition to dramatically increasing the precision of intraoral imaging, this advanced scanner eliminates the need for plaster molds and other outdated techniques. Focused light scans the interior of your mouth to generate a 3-D representation of your teeth and gums, which is displayed in real time on an overhead screen, and stored digitally for convenient access and sharing

The scanner saves time, enhances patient comfort and allows your dentist to capture visual representations of your entire mouth with an unprecedented degree of detail. The Element 2 Intraoral Scanner is ideal for creating a digital blueprint that your dentist can use to fabricate prosthetic restorations, including inlays/onlays, copings and frameworks, single crowns and fixed partial dentures; and for fabricating posts and cores, removable partial prostheses and obturators. This remarkable scanner is also used in implant dentistry for guided surgery and in orthodontics for fabricating aligners and custom-made devices.

For more information on advanced dental technology or to schedule an appointment in our Chicago office, call (773) 973-0531 or email Contos Smile Center today. We welcome patients from Skokie, Bucktown, and Streeterville, IL.