Biologic DentistryWilliamsville, NY
Fast, Precise, & Comfortable Care
There are several examples of how Doctor McCarthy goes beyond the average general dental practice. She is dedicated to a mercury free/mercury safe office. She avoids the use of fluoride, uses digital x rays for less radiation exposure and even has a 3D CBCT X ray machine for more thorough diagnosis. Other special services include the use of ozone gas and using your own stem cells called PRP/PRF to regenerate tissue. The office is proud to use the CariVu and the diagnodent, a way of early cavity detection without any radiation at all. There are many differences between a biologic dentist and a general dental office because Doctor McCarthy firmly believes that keeping your mouth healthy using the least invasive, most modern equipment and materials will help keep your body healthy as well.
SMART mercury removal is available at Shannon H. McCarthy DDS in Williamsville and the surrounding area. While mercury amalgam fillings are a common form of filling among general dentists, the mercury is not healthy for the body and can cause issues over time. We can use SMART mercury removal to remove the mercury and replace it successfully. Doctor McCarthy has taken the training passed the certification to become an accredited dentist through the IAOMT.
Our team is proud to offer patients a cozy, laid-back dental care atmosphere where they can relax – but that doesn’t mean we’re behind the times when it comes to our services and technology! Our Williamsville, NY location features state-of-the-art technology that can make your treatments more comfortable, more accurate, and safer. Exceeding our patients’ expectations is important to us, and we look forward to giving you new reasons to smile through our work. Contact us today to schedule your first appointment with Dr. Shannon McCarthy!
Biologic Dentistry
Biologic dentistry is a manner of practicing dentistry that treats the person as a whole, because it sees the relationship the teeth have with the rest of the body. Many people find holistic/biologic dentists because they are looking for answers to long term health problems. Often these problems were thought to be unsolvable because no one thought to connect dental problems with the rest of the body. Once that connection can be made, answers often unfold. The body is complex and is a system of multiple moving parts, understanding this relationship between the mouth and the other systems can have a significant impact on overall health. Doctor McCarthy has spent countless hours of continuing education and study to understand this relationship in order to provide the patient conservative treatment using safer techniques in an effort to bring optimal wellness through oral health care. As a biologic dentist, Doctor McCarthy is always looking for the root cause of why something is going wrong.
PRF/Ozone & Biocompatible Bone Grafting
Dr. McCarthy uses PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrin) when providing bone grafts for patients in need – why? Because unlike more traditional techniques, this advanced material is created from the patients’ very own blood and natural tissue, making it 100% natural! During a simple chairside procedure, this new material is seamlessly installed as the perfect grafting matrix, creating dense and robust growth that can be wholeheartedly relied on.
Evaluation for Cavitational Osteopathosis with CBCT
Virtually everyone knows what a cavity is, but “cavitation” is a much less understood term in the dentist’s office. A cavitation is a hole in the patient’s jawbone that cannot be properly detected through visual inspection alone. These lesions are often found in old sites where natural teeth were extracted or underneath areas where root canals were previously performed. They can spread extensively over time and may even penetrate the sinuses without intervention. Thankfully, Dr. McCarthy uses CBCT technology to evaluate the presence of cavitation and can refer you to a skilled practitioner who can help manage this situation.
Removal of Failing & Infected Root Canal Treated Teeth
Your teeth communicate directly with your body in a variety of ways, and when root canal therapy fails or results in an infection, this communication becomes a serious concern. These types of infections have close access to blood circulation, and research has demonstrated that root canal failure may even contribute to the development of systemic disease. If Dr. McCarthy discovers troubling symptoms, she may recommend the safe removal of these teeth as soon as possible to preserve your overall quality of life.
Intraoral Cameras
We enjoy helping our patients fully understand their dental care and feel confident about their future with our practice. That’s why Dr. McCarthy and the rest of our team members regularly use intraoral cameras to capture highly detailed video images of patients’ mouths. Not only are these images useful in detecting potential oral health problems, but they’re also a valuable educational tool that helps our team point out areas of damage and more clearly explain potential treatments.
Low Radiation Digital X-Rays
X-rays are extremely important for treating many common dental concerns – after all, how else could we find problems beneath the surface of your smile? Our DEXIS digital X-ray system goes a big step beyond the traditional techniques, capturing high-resolution images that are instantly viewable with no need for tedious darkroom development. The amount of radiation patients have to be exposed to is also greatly reduced, making them safer for children and adults alike. In some instances, we can use technology like the CariVu and Diagnodent for cavity detecting with no radiation at all.
3D CBCT Cone Beam X Ray
Sometimes, 2D digital X-rays just don’t provide all the information we need about a patient’s oral structures. That’s where the revolutionary PreXion Cone Beam Scanner comes in, which rotates around the head and captures multiple images that are then constructed into a comprehensive 3D model. This helps Dr. McCarthy plan many advanced treatments with more accuracy, including dental implant placement, tooth extractions, evaluation of failing root canals, non healing areas in bone, sinus inflammation, airway evaluation and more.
E4D System Digital Impression
Many patients surely remember the traditional method for taking impressions of their teeth – uncomfortable, horrible-tasting goop that you were more than likely to gag on. At Dr. McCarthy’s practice, we’re happy to have left this outdated technique in the past and replaced it with a much simpler and more effective digital process. With E4D, taking impressions is as simple as scanning the tooth and capturing an image – the whole process only takes minutes to complete! Plus, the chances of needing retakes is greatly reduced, saving valuable time.
Soft Tissue Laser
When it comes to treating delicate gum tissue within the mouth, our team’s goal is to create precise, effective results in the most comfortable way possible for our patients. That’s why we rely on our Ivoclar soft tissue laser instead of traditional tools for periodontal disease treatment. As the laser passes over the affected area, it removes targeted cell layers and bacteria with an exceptional amount of accuracy, all while keeping bleeding to a minimum and sterilizing the area for faster healing.
The Wand™
For some patients, their least favorite part of visiting the dentist is having to prepare for an uncomfortable injection. That’s why our Williamsville practice has replaced the traditional needle with something much better – The Wand! The Wand doesn’t look like a syringe at all, and it’s designed to administer the anesthetic at a constant, soothing rate that a patient won’t even feel. Better yet, the application is much more precise, which means you won’t have to struggle with any numbness beyond what’s absolutely necessary.
DIAGNOdent Laser Cavity Detector
Cavities put your teeth at risk, which is why our team strives to pinpoint their development at the earliest stages possible. DIAGNOdent technology can expose the presence of decay much more accurately than traditional X-rays – it can even uncover spots of weakened enamel that are still undetectable to the human eye! This modern tool actually measures the amount of laser fluorescence within the tooth, creating a digital readout that clearly represents areas of concerns that may require treatment.
CariVu
In addition to DIAGNOdent, Dr. McCarthy also regularly uses CariVu for locating tooth decay and dental cracks as well as soon as they develop. This state-of-the-art device utilizes transillumination technology to render your tooth enamel transparent; as a result, any problematic areas will appear darker in color, allowing for immediate identification by our team. We can even determine the extent of the damage and whether or not immediate treatment is required.
Piezoelectric Precision Ultrasonic Scaler
When it comes to cleaning plaque and tartar from the tooth surfaces, few instruments can match the overall power, accuracy, and overall speed of an ultrasonic scaler! In the experienced hands of our team members, these hi-tech instruments will disrupt even the toughest bacteria within your smile; they can even improve the brightness of enamel surfaces with moderate staining. This technology uses the power of electromagnetic forces and rapid vibration in a linear motion. In fact, there are anywhere from 25,000 to 45,000 vibrations a second.
Centrifuge for PRP & PRF
Whenever possible, Dr. McCarthy enjoys helping her patients take advantage of their body’s natural ability to heal and repair through the use of PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) and PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrin) technology. The process is simple enough – we take a small sample of blood and then spin it in our centrifuge, which is located right here in the office. This creates a fibrin network with trapped platelets that is placed over the area of the mouth in question, resulting in faster recovery and a lower risk of overall infection.
RITA Meter
When planning to remove traditional amalgam fillings and replace them with biocompatible alternatives, the patient’s safety and health is always at the forefront of Dr. McCarthy’s mind. That’s why she uses the RITA meter! Mercury is the greatest concern when dealing with amalgam fillings, and this technology allows our team to verify the quantity of electrical current that’s being released by each metal restoration. As a result, we can devise the ideal order through which the fillings should be removed (also known as sequential mercury removal) to minimize negative exposure.
Ozone Generators
Ozone is a powerful, naturally occurring agent that can kill potentially harmful bacteria and other foreign agents. Dr. McCarthy has found in much more effective in dental applications when compared to traditional antibiotics, which is why she utilizes it for non-surgical gum treatment, cavity treatment, and much more. Our Amherst practice has an ozone generator in every single treatment room, which means that we’re always ready to help our health-minded patients smile brighter.
SMART Mercury Removal
With SMART mercury removal, we can help to replace mercury amalgam fillings that may have treated cavities in the past. The acronym stands for the Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique. SMART mercury removal involves using techniques approved by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IOAMT) to remove and dispose of mercury fillings. Doctor McCarthy believes that practicing mercury free/ mercury safe filling placement is very important.
Complete Tooth Extraction
Dr. McCarthy has performed thousands of dental extractions and uses many advanced technologies to promote better healing outcomes. We use dental anesthetic without vasoconstrictors to promote healing blood flow to the area, ozone gas to destroy bacteria and pathogens, the patient’s own stem cells called PRF and PRP as well as taking the time to remove the periodontal ligament after the extraction with a piezoelectric handpiece. In certain situations, we may be able to use demineralized pieces of the patient’s own tooth to use as a bone replacement graft.
Shannon H. McCarthy DDS is located at 777 Hopkins Road Williamsville, NY 14221.
