Dental technology comes out of stone age :) Most of 'innovation' was around x-ray machines and nice chairs for last several years ( at least for most of patients )
when i came back, i had issues. but the imaging was really quite a bit better. the adhesives were better. the crown construction process was a lot better. cleaning processes much better. filling materials substantially advanced. mold making considerably advanced.
everything was substantially less painful, cheaper, and more well understood. maybe you can fault it for not being better faster