Made-in-London tool takes dentistry digital

CTV London: New dental tool being developed A team at the Schulich School of Dentistry is developing a new app that could become an industry standard. Jan Sims explains.

A dental tool created in London could become the standard in dentist offices across Canada, and even around the world.

Dr. Les Kalman and his team developed the app at the Schulich School of Dentistry.

"Of course it's going to revolutionize dentistry. Any time you can take something analog and make it digital that's the way to go."

It’s a high tech version of what's known as a facebow, an instrument used to evaluate bite position for people who are being fitted for things like crowns, bridges and dental implants.

"What it does is you're lining up your patient's face with a tablet. The tablet has the app built into it,” Kalman says. “We're taking an image, a skull transparency comes over top…it allows us to figure out how to line up the upper and lower jaw so that the bite is accurate.”

Measurements are usually taken with instruments that are manually manipulated to take impressions, which are then sent off to a lab. But there are drawbacks Kalman says.

"It's a little bit unpleasant for the patient. We're working within the ears and holding it…We have a lot of inaccuracies with it.”

The virtual facebow aims to improve accuracy and more, "We're hoping the virtual facebow is going to be both more economical, more efficient and more cost-effective."

The app is designed to be very user friendly, so it's expected it will be easy for dentists and their staff to learn how to use it.

The virtual facebow is still in development, currently in the testing stages. But the results and the future for this device look promising.