Would you choose prison over a dental injection or tooth drilling? According to one sales rep, in an informal survey, most people said they would choose prison.
While this finding may be unscientific, there is no denying that most people would skip the injection and the drilling if they could get their filling placed painlessly.
Thanks to the dental lasers, this is now a reality.
Unlike drills, which cause pain, lasers create a temporary analgesic effect on the tooth. Even if the drill is needed for some final touch-up work, it is still painless for the patient.
Lasers can be used to remove and replace old composite or plastic fillings and, in general, are most effective for small to medium fillings
In my New York City dental office, we use the new Solea dental laser because it is the only one that efficiently removes tooth decay. While there have been other lasers available for this, they are slower and thus not practical.
Solea lasers remove tooth decay by pulsing a light of a specific wavelength, which is highly absorbed by the mineral content in the tooth. The laser beam is just a quarter of a millimeter in size, allowing for the precise removal of the decay and conservation of the healthy tooth structure. The laser intensity is adjustable in real time, allowing dentists to ease up on the power if the patient is sensitive.
The Solea laser absorbs water well, so it is also very efficient in extracting gum tissue, which is made up of a high concentration of water. Often, this can be done without an injection. This is advantageous for small biopsies, gum contouring, or any other soft tissue procedures.
Introduced late last year, the Solea laser has the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for cavity treatment and has gotten good ratings from patients who say it makes procedures pretty painless.
In a recent poll, over 95 percent of patients treated with Solea were able to have fillings placed with no anesthesia, and 98 percent of those patients did not report feeling any pain. This includes patients who are usually very sensitive and phobic.
This article was sponsored by Gallery 57 Dental.
Gallery 57 Dental
24 W. 57th St., Suite 701
(Between 6th & 5th Avenues)
www.gallery57dental.com
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