Why Is A Microscope Important In Dentistry?

Magnification enhances the accuracy of tooth preparations and margins, preventing harm to adjacent teeth and connective tissue during dental procedures and surgery. High magnification also enables better visual acuity when looking down narrow canals or when trying to identify cracks. While magnifying an image at shallow magnifications, standard loupes are an asset. However, a dental microscope delivers 400x better visual accuracy than the naked eye and up to 300x the visual information than the typical dental loupe. 

Increased magnification is increasingly becoming a more important factor as a standard of care in dentistry and is increasingly preferred by most specialists across disciplines. More than that, a greater focus is being given not just to patient health but also to dental practitioners’ health, thanks to the availability of microscopes and their inherent ability to promote greater ergonomic posture. 

This article will discuss the major advantages of implementing a microscope in your practice.

Why work with a microscope?Advantages of microscopes in dentistry

A microscope can be a priceless resource for dentists, especially in endodontic and restorative dentistry procedures focused on repairing tiny cracks or infected root pulp in root canal treatments. Studies show that dentists working without microscopes are more likely to leave small pockets of decay behind. Missed canals often mean unresolved infections, which may force dentists to repeat the procedure. Broken tools can often be left behind in procedure, which are hard to see without high magnification. 

Fortunately, dental microscopes have built-in high-intensity illumination at high magnification, allowing better visibility in otherwise hard-to-see regions of interest. Some features of tooth damage and tiny cracks are invisible without significant magnification (at least 16x magnification). Using a microscope can help diagnose and treat patients to a higher standard of care, benefiting patients and dentists alike.

In practice, using a microscope helps dental specialists in the following areas: 

• Locating tiny/hidden canals blocked by calcification
• Preparing access to prevent the destruction of tissue
• Removing old solid filling materials
• Facilitating all aspects of endodontic surgery
• Assist in crown preps and implant procedures
• Providing greater visual acuity in removing and suturing gum flaps
• Removing canal obstructions
• Photographic uses and enhanced photographic documentation
• Educating patients on the need for a procedure through microscope camera stills and videos
• Repairing perforations
• Locating cracks and fractures invisible to the naked eye

All while maintaining a perfectly ergonomic and spine-neutral posture, promoting better health for the dentist

How Microscope Dentistry Improves Preventative Care

Using a microscope in dentistry has numerous advantages - the most important being enhanced vision. A root canal opening is tinier than a hair follicle! It requires removing the infected pulp, cleaning, and filling a small passageway, not to mention the challenges of dealing with saliva, blood, and in some situations, the tongue in the way of the procedure. Though not impossible, it is very difficult for dentists to perform such complex procedures without co-axial (shadow-free) illumination and highly magnified images.

All teeth are unique, and the anatomy differs from tooth-to-tooth even in the same person. Several anatomic structures can easily be overlooked without microscopes, setting up costly and painful re-treatments.

Labomed brand dental microscopes

Labomed brand dental microscopes are specially designed with crisp apochromatic optics, an in-built ultra-bright LED light source and fluid arm articulation. These factors combine to provide the highest optical color fidelity, light integrity, and mechanical precision. Our dental surgery microscopes are robust, lean, and provide many years of carefree use, given the high degree of precision followed in our manufacturing activities. Our microscopes provide efficiency in routine inspection applications and complex dental surgeries with a consistent level of comfort and reliability. Many dentists consider Labomed among the best dental microscopes around to provide a compact solution that won’t monopolize clinic space. 

Here are a few advantages of using a Labomed dental microscope in your dental practice: 

1. Improved magnification: The Magna comes with a Galilean-style optical zoom system, providing loss-less magnification from 4x continuously to 25x (*augmentable with the use of accessory eyepieces). It also features our ABA arm, a uniquely designed electromagnetic clutch system that powers microscope positioning in a manner only otherwise seen in OR-level microscopes. This allows us to deliver to dentists a system that boasts superior positional articulation ease and a much shallower learning curve for dentists taking on microscopy for the first time. This is especially important when considering lengthy learning curves interfere throughout busy practices. 
2. Improved ergonomics: Over 70% of dentists practicing without a microscope complain of neck and back pain due to poor working posture. This often leads to costly treatment, PT, downtime for recovery away from practice, reduced workflow over time, and an overall reduction in chair-time and revenue-generating activities. Our dental microscopes emphasize maintaining an ergonomic posture, minimizing any pain/injury not having a properly upright working posture can cause. These ergonomic features allow you to extract maximum from your practice, take on more cases, improve quality of life and clinical outcomes, and practice longer without experiencing pain. 
3. Improved lighting: Our dental microscopes have a built-in high-intensity LED that provides shadow-free and homogeneous illumination with over 50,000 hours of LED life, allowing for a crisply lit field without the hassle of bulb change. Our illumination design dovetails with our optical design to ensure not just the highest light all the way to your eyes but also a very evenly illuminated field free of hot spots and light flares.