A few weeks ago I broke one cusp off of my upper first molar, a tooth that had a huge filling going down the middle. Hadn't been touched in years because I had no problems with the tooth.

Went to see the dentist and he said that amalgam fillings were really only designed to last about 15 years and that over time they can become just a tiny bit loose, and then chewing on the tooth can fracture it. He said it would be no problem to put a crown on it (no root canal - yay!)

So it's been a while since I have had a dental restoration done. He prepped the tooth as usual by grinding it down and I was waiting for them to fill up those odd trays with the goopy stuff they used to use to take impressions to have the crown made. Not anymore. Now they use some kind of hand scanner to create a 3D image of all the teeth on that side of the mouth, and send that off to the dental lab, where they create the crown. The scanning process seemed pretty haphazard, with the technician holding this pencil-sized device and moving it back and forth around the teeth. There was a small screen where I could see the image being built as she scanned my mouth.

Markj would have loved it....

One of my first ever custom programming contracts was for a local dental lab. Mrs. Mark ended up working there for a couple of years before we had our first child.

They still use that program to this day. They now have 3D printer technology. I need to call Steve and talk shop!. lol

Not that long ago my dentist tried to use the 3D teeth scanning thingamajig on me, but the process kept breaking down after a few teeth get scanned, so we gave up on that. Later the dentist told me the manufacturer determined that the scanning wand was defective and replaced the wand. The whole system was rather new so I assume it’s all under warranty.

I'm reaching the crown age with old fillings too. The new dentist does the 3D printing of the temps after doing the wand thing.

Still not my favorite place to be!

The last crown I had replaced a couple years ago, there was no temporary crown. They do the whole thing in one sitting. Amazing.

Dentistry has gotten better. In my parent’s generation I think dentures were more common than they are now. Dentists have new techniques to save teeth.

A dentist, my late brother, told me years ago that dentists have done such a good job that their income and numbers are down.
That may explain their prices.

That's probably why dentists are expanding their services....Invisalign (orthodontics used to be a specialty), Botox (saw a sign in my dentist's office that said Botox $15), tooth whitening, and sleep apnea treatments, to name a few.