Associated Dental Laboratory Los Angeles

We are always learning. We pay attention to state regulations and advances in the field to make sure we have the most recent materials and know the latest procedures to better help our patients.

As a dental lab, we take notice of all new materials as well as how these materials are performing in the realm of dentistry. We then keep dentists up-to-date to enable them to choose the best alternative or material in all of their restoration cases.

Ryan Lochte, 2012 US Olympic gold-medal swimmer, had a decorative dental covering made for his front teeth so that when he smiled, the American flag glimmered from his mouth! The American Dental Association says that grills are made from safe materials and if they fit properly, they are okay to wear on occasion, provided you keep them clean.

CAD/CAM milling of a framework, a full-contoured crown, or an implant abutment has opened the market for digitized restorative dentistry. This is a trend that started in the 1990s and continues to this day.

One of the first companies to produce toothbrushes in American was the Florence Manufacturing Company of Massachusetts in 1885. The Pro-phy-lac-tic brush was one of their first models, distributed in boxes to help prevent cross contamination.

Are you aware that dental crowns need to be cleaned? Dental crowns do not develop cavities, but the tooth underneath can still develop a cavity. Be sure to brush and floss on a regular basis to avoid this issue.

Some patients worry that dental crowns create the need for root canal therapy. While this is occasionally required, dental crowns that are placed on teeth with undamaged nerves will not cause you to need root canal therapy.

Dental technicians are tasked with making prostheses. These have to be made with care to ensure that a patient who has lost all or some of their natural teeth can eat, chew, and talk with their new teeth just like they did with their natural teeth.

Veneers were invented by a California dentist named Charles Pincus. In the early days, denture adhesive was used to secure the piece, which meant they fell off in a very short time.

In the 1950s, Corning Glass Works strengthened glass with various forms of mica for use in dental bonding. The casted glass was heat-treated, controlling the crystallization and resulting in an even distribution of small crystals. Difficulties in processing and high fracture rates led to the abandonment of this system though.

CAD/CAM restoration differs from conventional dentistry in that a prosthesis is bonded into place within days as opposed to applying temporaries placed for several weeks! Now labs can receive data via the internet and produce pieces in hours, not weeks!

Have you noticed a dark line next to your gum-line on your newly crowned tooth? This is just the metal of the crown showing and is completely normal. A crown does not protect from cavities, so be sure to continue practicing good oral hygiene.

It's said that fewer than 10 percent of patients with crowns need a root canal treatment. If a tooth gets more decayed due to poor dental hygiene or other infections, then the nerve may be damaged and a root canal could be necessary.