110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - magazine_08 - Index

BLOOM I BY CHRIS SCOTT I PHOTOS BY RUSSELL BYRNE
LOOKING DENTAL CARE
IN THE MOUTH
A local orthodontist, Dr. Ann Marie Gorczyca, has had
an enduring interest in the study of the human face
and particularly teeth. She says that her study of
occlusion (the way the upper and lower jaw comes
together) during her orthodontic residency involved
studying the cranial/facial features of early man, looking
at skull specimens at Chicago’s Field Museum.
She learned to identify specific cultural groups
by characteristic features of such things as dental
arches and cranial facial structures.
“All of the dental cranial facial landmarks used
today came from early anthropological studies,” Dr.
Gorczyca said. “The points of the jaw line used for
reference points today were created by anthropologists
who were measuring and comparing the
skulls of early man.”
The study of teeth and skulls is no hobby for Dr.
Gorczyca; her research aided her in acquiring
knowledge and the skill necessary to prepare
herself for her orthodontic practice.
She and others used the ancient bones and teeth
in the museum to pave the way for applications of
modern technology.
THE TECHNOLOGY
BEHIND NEW SMILES
Everything changes, they say, and the rate of
64 www.110mag.com January/February 2008
THE GOAL OF MODERN DENTAL MEDICINE IS TO
PRESERVE PEOPLE’S SMILES FOR THE ENTIRE
COURSE OF THEIR LIVES.
change itself is increasing. Dr. Gorczyca points out
that digital processing for dental care applications
is one of the rapidly accelerating changes taking
place in the world.
“I’ve been an orthodontist for 17 years,” Dr.
Gorczyca said. “And there have been more changes
in the past two years in my field than in the previous
15 years put together because of the revolution
that has come about through the computerized
scanning of case models, custom-made braces, and
virtual setup.”
Dr. Gorczyca has become the first orthopedic
office in the County to use emerging and revolutionary
technology to explore the face and teeth of
living patients in ways that would have seemed like
science fiction only a few years ago.
Her patients can now have their skulls
completely scanned in all 3-dimensions producing
a virtual representation of their heads that can then
be sliced or turned along any axis.
The resulting virtual image can provide visualizations
of impacted teeth, nerve canals, and
boney ridges. The technology has made dental
treatment a lot more precise than was possible
only two years ago.
Dr. Gorczyca says that she’s excited about
the use of computers for viewing the results of
a procedure before the first cut is made or the
first appliance designed. In her words, the
emerging technology permits her to “set up a
virtual orthodontic.”
She can take and then send impressions for
study models to a company called Insignia,
which scans them into the computer, then
“moves” the teeth on the computer display to
their final position, and sends back a picture of
what the teeth and mouth will look like when
the procedure is finished.
The technique permits the orthodontist, the
patient, and his/her dentist to see the completed
result before the first step is taken.
Dr. Gorczyca said, “As long as the patient
cooperates fully, the results will be functionally
identical to the picture that the computer was
able to generate.”
The ability to see the result before beginning the
process saves a lot of time that would otherwise be
required to place the brackets on the appliance. The
technology eliminates the need that formerly
required so much effort in repositioning the brackets
during treatment in order to obtain ideal
results. The revision is no longer necessary because
the computer is able to predetermine from the
models the precise location for the bracket.