For decades, dentistry has relied heavily on what clinicians can see: x-rays, visual exams, and probing. But x-rays can't detect structural problems until there's already been 35% to 50% mineral loss, and more than 80% of early structural issues are completely asymptomatic. That means the profession has been largely flying blind when it comes to catching problems before they become serious.
Dr. Cherilyn Sheets, a prosthodontist with a career built on aesthetic reconstructive dentistry, stumbled onto a solution almost by accident, and spent the next 15 years turning it into a technology backed by more than 30 peer-reviewed publications.
InnerView.
In this episode of The DrBicuspid.com Podcast, Sheets joins Editor-in-Chief Kevin Henry to discuss InnerView, a quantitative percussion diagnostic tool that measures the structural integrity of teeth and implants in real time. Think of it as a tiny earthquake delivered to each tooth, with the resulting data read like a seismograph, giving clinicians a visual, numerical picture of stability that no x-ray or visual exam can provide.
The technology can detect microgap defects, loose crowns, cracks, compromised periodontal ligaments, and bone voids, and it can do it in under two minutes for a full mouth analysis. Sheets shares a compelling case study involving a gold inlay that looked perfect to every conventional test but scored alarmingly high on the InnerView scan. When she removed it, she found early decay and a leaking box form and, critically, confirmed the tooth didn't need a crown after all.
Sheets also makes a point that resonates for any clinician tired of the "watch and wait" conversation: This tool doesn't replace monitoring. It makes monitoring meaningful.
