High Tech Micro Dentistry

Dentistry has made some important advances in recent years that we are pretty excited about. These high-tech items let us do better dentistry more comfortably.

First, we can now check teeth very closely with a tiny video camera (see below for actual photos). We can spot very early cavities that were invisible before magnification. We are able to decide if these need fixing, and they can be treated with smaller fillings, earlier and more comfortably.

We also have a laser cavity detector that can find and measure decay in pits. It can detect decay earlier, so it can be treated more easily and comfortably. It can also tell what areas are simply stained and do not need treatment at this time.

Second, we have a system called Air Abrasion. This is like a tiny sand blaster that sprays abrasive on the tooth. We can use this to treat very small cavities, less than 0.1mm wide. These are painless, and there is no “drilling” sound, just a hiss. Unfortunately, Air Abrasion is not good for larger cavities or removing old silver-mercury fillings (Yet). 

Third, we can now sterilize tiny cavities completely without drilling all the decay out using Ozone gas.

Fourth, we have new bioactive white resin filling materials that can flow into tiny little cavities and promote healing, so we don’t have to remove healthy tooth to make room for a 1mm wide silver-mercury amalgam filling.

Fifth, we have a system for deciding what kind of risk a patient is at for getting decay. We can use this information to decide whether micro-cavities can be safely watched (Low risk patients) or if they need to be filled (High Risk patients) . We have a special computerized test we can do to narrow this decision down when the cavity risk is borderline.

Some patients who are at medium risk may chose to have the deeper grooves sealed up with resin just to be sure that they don’t decay, rather than waiting until they need a regular filling. In other cases, we may use the Diagnodent Laser to monitor areas and see if they are progressing.

The best summary of this Micro Dentistry would be “Smarter, Smaller, Quieter, and More Comfortable.”