Meet Newport's High-Tech Dentist

Newport Beach dentist Mike McKinley could be described as a technology geek—he loves collecting all the latest devices. And that's a good thing for his patients.

McKinley, for example, uses a computerized system to administer local anesthetic during dental procedures. The Compudent system, also called the wand, is virtually painless.

“Children don’t know they are getting an injection. It’s a sneaky way of giving an injection without them knowing it,” he said.

McKinley, also known as Dr. Mike, said he is especially pleased with his Cerec Cad/Cam machine that enables him to do crowns, veneers and inlays in a single visit, rather than making patients wait two weeks and come back for a second visit. He also has his own glazing oven for crowns, enabling him to smooth and polish crowns and match the color of a crown with a patients teeth.

“Imagine sending a crown to the lab for two weeks, and then it comes back not matching, and goes back and forth until it does,” he said. "With our modern equipment, we can do it all in a couple of hours at most, which is a huge service to our patients.”

Technology aside, McKinley said the thing he likes most about his practice is making people feel better.

“They come in with major pain, maybe from a broken tooth, and then walk out smiling, he said.

And, McKinley knows, if you want happy patients, it helps to have a happy staff.

“The staff is fantastic, everyone is relaxed and happy and I’m not a slave driver,” he said.