BETHESDA, Md. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- The first modern dental implants hit the scene in the 1950s. Though they're a better option for many denture-wearers, about 22 million Americans still have dentures -- or no teeth at all. Getting a dental implant is usually a long, arduous process, but now a new technology is changing that.

The drill. It's a sound that sends chills up the spine, but going to the dentist just got easier for people like Yolande Donaldson. "I can't imagine smiling and having that space there," she tells Ivanhoe.

Dentist Abraham Ingber, DDS, says standard dental implants take up to nine months and two surgeries to complete. Today, he'll do one in less than one hour.

"This is one of the most innovative breakthroughs to come along in dentistry in a long time," Dr. Ingber, of Ingber, Prestipino, Kravitz and Kristallis in Bethesda, Md., tells Ivanhoe.

With a standard implant, dentists cut away gum tissue to see where to place the implant. Now at an initial visit, dentists get a 3-D image of the jaw with this machine -- the iCAT. Combined with new software, detailed images are produced.

"I can literally almost de-glove the patient, remove all the skin, all the connections of the muscle attachment and just look at the jaw," Dr. Ingber says. Using those images, he creates a replica of the patient's mouth and then does what he calls "a little punch in the soft tissue."

Starting at 3 o'clock, he selects the right-size implant, and in just 12 minutes, it's securely in place. No cutting means less trauma and less pain. Then, the tooth is formed. By 3:40, Donaldson has a new smile.

"Great! I mean, no pain ... and I have a tooth," she says. "I mean, what more would I ask for?" The new technology is taking the bite out of going to the dentist.

The new implant process costs about the same as standard dental implants. The technology is not in widespread use across the country yet, but Dr. Ingber has no doubt it will be soon.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Drs. Ingber, Prestipino, Kravitz and Kristallis
The Washington Center for Image Dentistry
7830 Old Georgetown Rd.
Suite 260
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 652-2300
http://www.imagedentistry.com