The Smile Enhancement Center offer a new type of cavity treatment which actually does not require the use of shots or drills.  That is right, "No Shots" and "No Drills"!

This new method of cavity preparation is known as air abrasion.  It allows dentists to remove the decay of teeth without even touching them, and without having to administer an anesthetic.  Air Abrasion literally blows away cavities in a gentle and effective manner.

What are the benefits?

• Patients like the almost silent nature of this method
• There is an absence of vibration with conventional methods
• Never any burning smells

Air abrasion, "alternative to the drill" procedures are virtually painless!Â

Many patients are attracted to this non-traumatic treatment!

So what is air abrasion?

Air abrasion is the use of finely graded 27.5micron aluminum oxide powder administered under compressed air through a very fine tip. It is an atraumatic alternative to the high speed drill, procedures can often be completed in less time without the need for anesthesia. Patients response is very favorable, no pain, no vibration, no heat, no smell, no noise! We really do have the means now to get that other 50% of patients through the door!

How do we use it?

There is, as with all new equipment and materials, a small learning curve.

Unlike rotary instruments, it will only cut in the direction it is pointing, other than particles which ricochet off. Care must be taken on adjacent teeth and when preparing in the depths of cavities for this reason. Rubber dam is not essential, and can be a problem if you don’t want to use local. If I am preparing an interstitial cavity, I like to use a ribbon of rubber dam to protect the adjacent tooth. The other difference is that you must hold the tip of the instrument about 2 – 4 mm from the material being cut. This is to allow the particles to discharge their kinetic energy. If you hold it any closer, the particles bouncing back will impede the particles coming out of the hand piece, reducing cutting efficiency.

I use it for all virgin cavities, and all cavities where I need to remove an old composite. I do not use it for amalgam removal. It cuts hard tissue faster than soft tissue; consequently, it would take a long time to remove an amalgam, which is essentially a soft metal. It is very good for removing old composites and old porcelain crowns.

Microdentistry

Use of air abrasion allows for much smaller cavities to be restored, hence the term microdentistry, which has come to be used with it.

Air abrasion and microdentistry really come together in the diagnosis and treatment of early pit and fissure caries.

Before Fluoride was routinely used in toothpastes, and in water, occlusal decay was easy to detect. Now the enamel surface is much stronger and we are fooled into thinking the tooth is healthy when there may be significant decay into dentine. These teeth may not even have a sticky fissure, or show on x-ray.

We have been programmed to ‘watch’ these teeth until there is a definitive cavity before providing treatment.

There are 2 reasons for this:

1, Using the tools available would cause removal of too much healthy tooth structure, and

2. Using the drill and an injection would cause fear in a young patient.

With the techniques available now of Air Abrasion, caries indicator, Carisolve, and flowable composites, we literally can just ‘run out the fissure’ and remove any decay underneath without weakening the tooth.

Air abrasion gives us the edge when treating very young or nervous patients.

We are now finding that a number of needlephobic patients are beating a path to our door. Unfortunately air abrasion does not do everything, but it is a very useful tool in our armamentarium. It allows us in a lot of cases to start treatment on nervous patients, leaving some of the more difficult work requiring a drill and local until we have gained their confidence. I truly believe that air abrasion will improve the way we practice, just as the introduction of the intraoral camera improved our communication with patients. I think the next thing I need will be the diagnodent to show up the decay.

Consult a dentist at The Smile Enhancement Center to see if this "No Shots" and "No Drills" treatment is right for you.