The whole tooth

THERE'S nothing like a guided tour of your teeth to make you realise why that regular check-up by your dentist is so important. The gleaming smile you see every day in the mirror is one thing - but it may be hiding a multitude of cracks, fissures, stains and caries.

They are not normally something we get a chance to see, which makes it harder for us to accept it when out dentist tells us we ought to clean more thoroughly, or that we need yet another filling or some urgent repair work.

But now, thanks to state-of-the-art flatscreens built into the ceiling of each of its surgeries, one York dental practice is offering patients a dentist's-eye view of their own that's guaranteed to have you reaching for the dental floss.

Robert Glover, principal dentist at The Mount Dental Practice in York, is only too keen to demonstrate.

I lie gingerly back in the dentist's chair, staring up at the blank screen fixed directly above my head on the ceiling.

Robert inserts a tiny camera on the end of a tube into my mouth and the guided tour begins.

The camera sweeps behind the gleaming facades of my front teeth, to reveal in enlarged technicolour on the screen above me their stained inner surfaces and worn, uneven edges. They look dreadful to me: but Robert doesn't seem too worried.

"There's a bit of a stain and the edges of the teeth are a bit worn, but there's nothing to be concerned about," he says.

The camera roves along my lower left and right molars. "There's a large filling there that's a bit worn," Robert says, indicating a gleaming silver mass in the centre of one tooth. "And there's a bit of chalky decay there," - indicating a white patch on another tooth - "but that should be reversible."

The camera switches across to the other side of my mouth and focuses on a huge filling that gleams two distinct colours, copper and silver. The two pieces of filling were put in at different times, he explains, and have coloured differently.

Beside them there's another area of chalky whiteness - an indication of early decay.

What I have just seen, Robert explains, taking the tiny camera out of my mouth, is exactly what the dentist sees when he or she examines my teeth.

The advantage of the dentist being able to talk the patient through the examination in the way he has just done with me is that he can explain exactly what will need to be done.

"Seeing is believing," he says. "If you can see into your mouth, and what's happening there, it becomes clearer to you why something needs to be done."

The technology doesn't stop with the initial guided tour of your teeth, however. Robert and his colleagues can use the information gleaned from the camera-aided examination to produce a graphic version of your teeth, showing exactly what work needs to be done and how. That, too, can be displayed on the screen above your head. And if you are planning to have cosmetic dentistry - a crown, say, or tooth-whitening - they can show you what the end result will be like compared with your teeth as they are now.

The screen has one other use too. It can be used to play soothing tapes for a patient to watch while the dentist is working on their teeth. So, instead of lying back and simply staring at the ceiling while the dentist gets to work, you can watch footage of majestic humpback whales, or images of multi-coloured fish on a coral reef, or aerial views of Yorkshire.

Because the software which controls the screen can take everything from CDs and DVDs to video tapes, you can even bring in your favourite tapes to watch.

"It means that if people are going to have a long treatment they will have something to focus on, something to watch instead of just looking at a blank ceiling," says Robert.

The screens have been in use now for a couple of months - and all the signs are that patients love them, Robert says.

They are particularly good for children, he adds.

Kids seem to be especially fond of the tropical fish tape. "They like counting the fish. They can tell me how many fish are on the screen before I've finished!"

- The Mount Dental Practice takes both private and NHS patients. Call 01347 878694.

Updated: 08:54 Monday, May 12, 2003